IMB Trustees… Hiding from the Issue?

January 14th, 2006 | Posted in » Baptist Issues

Interesting news on a couple of blogs regarding the IMB Trustees, their attempt to remove fellow trustee Wade Burleson, the baptismal requirements / tongues issue, and communication related to all of this.

Micah reports that he has been informed by the IMB that they cannot provide contact information for trustees, but rather, trustee chairman Tom Hatley must be contacted to obtain this information. Apparently, this was NOT the case in the recent past.

Also, Scott Bridwell reports that he has had a conversation with an IMB trustee, and that they are being told not to discuss the issue, but to direct all questions to trustee chairman Tom Hatley.

Don’t get me wrong… I don’t want to accuse any of our trustees of doing anything underhanded or wrong… but these reports definitely give one the impression that they are hiding from this issue, which causes one to wonder what’s really going on here.

We REALLY need to be in prayer about this issue!

7 Responses to “IMB Trustees… Hiding from the Issue?”

  1. By micah on Jan 14, 2006

    scott bridwell’s comments aer especially enlightening.

  2. By jeb on Jan 20, 2006

    secrecy by all means imb….do you realize what would happen if truth
    got in the hands of people who are clueless about what is going on

  3. By John on Jan 21, 2006

    Obviously, jeb, that’s why there is so much buzz about this issue throughout the SBC blogosphere. It’s a disturbing situation to see someone who, from all accounts, seems to handle himself with a Christlikeness most of us can only dream about (not to put Wade on a pedastal, but he is an inspiration to all of us in regard to handling adversity), be drug through what appears to be such an ugly situation.

    Of course, I don’t want to judge the other trustees. They have not made their reasons for the movement to remove Wade clear… once this comes to light (or perhaps, if it does?) we may all feel a bit differently on this issue.

    Anyway, yes, we need to make all Baptists aware of this issue… but we’ve got to do so in the right manner, keeping in mind that, although the trustees seeking to remove Wade may be wholly unjustified and in error (again, we don’t know all the details), they are our brothers and sisters in Christ.

  4. By jeb on Jan 21, 2006

    john, your are right, sensitivity in this situation is importance
    but lets dont get confused. the trustees were chosen and placed there
    to decide and think in lockstep with the leadership. the leadership
    has proven its goal is to control at any cost and they will destroy
    anyone who is in the way. thats just the sickening truth of how far we
    have moved over the last 30 yrs. wade just got in the way and he like
    hundreds before is expendiable.

  5. By John on Jan 21, 2006

    You may be correct, jeb. I, however, do not know any of our current SBC leadership personally, so I cannot speak to their character or motives.

    I guess what I’ve tried to emphasize on this issue is that first and foremost, both sides of this issue are Christians, and both sides need to treat each other as brothers and sisters in Christ. So often, our intents and motives are 100% admirable (even 100% in line with God’s will), but we lose sight of how God would have us accomplish those things He lays on our hearts. It’s this that I fear most in this disagreement… that both sides will be guilty of not submitting themselves wholly to God in resolving the dispute.

    I guess what I’m saying is this… I’m not 100% certain what God wants me to do in this, except to be unrelenting in being a peacemaker, and to continually remind both sides to love each other as Christ loves us.

  6. By jeb on Jan 22, 2006

    john, i admire your balance and desire for peacemaking.
    i too was there for a number of yrs and still yearn for the ideal.
    i dont know what is in the heart of each trustee either,
    i try not to personalize their motives. i simply try to be
    realistic in evaluating their past actions, their present directions,
    remember the people whose lives i do know who have been so destructively
    impacted in so many ways.

  7. By jeb on Jan 26, 2006

    another topic…did anyone else hear richard land say on a news program
    that “he had more in common with pope paul(infaliable, my emphasis) than with jimmy
    with jimmy carter”, a distinguished historical baptist?

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