Why I’m Done with Outpost…

August 19th, 2007 | Posted in » Baptist Issues, Church Stuff..., My Life / Family, Prayer Requests

Many of you have been anxiously awaiting this post, wondering why I decided to leave SBC Outpost. Given the controversy centered around the site in the past few weeks, that’s understandable. I’ll tell you now, though… if you’re looking for continued controversy here, you’ll probably find yourself disappointed by what I’ve got to say. It’s not in my nature.

In other words, this won’t be an expose on Outpost’s inner workings, the contributors, SBC politics, or the like. I simply want to state a couple things for the record about my motivation for hanging up my Outpost badge in order to prevent rampant speculation.

I must admit that at the time of my departure, I was disappointed and disheartened by SBC Outpost. I felt, in large part, that the site had missed the mark to which we stated we would aspire… “to provide interactive, substantive, and reflective dialogue for Southern Baptist churchmen and women to participate in shaping the future of the Southern Baptist Convention.” While there had been some tremendous dialogue on the site over the course of its existence, it appeared to me that for the most part, Outpost had become far less a tool for dialogue to build bridges of understanding, but moreso a wedge, widening the divide between Baptists. Heated passions, while good, appeared to result more often in cutting words than in iron sharpening iron.

All of this frustrated me immensely… division and discord are not something with which I deal well. It’s more my nature to try to bring peace in such situations, and I was simply discovering that I had neither time, energy, nor influence to do so… resulting in more frustration. Simply put, the site had been taking its toll.

The final straw, though, had nothing to do with the above. It’s the “teaser” I mentioned Friday afternoon here… Micah Fries, my pastor and close personal friend, is being lead by God to serve at another local church, Frederick Boulevard Baptist.

Don’t get me wrong… I’m happy for Micah. God has spoken clearly and directly about this to him, to the search committee at Frederick Boulevard, and yes, even to me. I’m completely at peace about the situation, even though it is a bit awkward, and though it presents a uncertain future for Missouri Valley Baptist.

I really don’t get it, because it’s really not my normal response to such situations. I’m one that likes to be able to take action… who needs to see the big picture so I can do my part. In this, though, all I can do is trust God and follow Him in whatever He asks me to do… and He’s given me peace about it. I’m quite excited, actually… we’ll be forced to walk by faith even moreso than normal, and I know from past experience that God shows up most powerfully in such times. Of course things will be difficult, but God is faithful and will see us through.

The reason this affects my participation at Outpost should be clear to you… I need to be free to focus on whatever it is that God wants me to do at my church.

It’s a blessing in many ways. With Outpost frustrating me, God made my response clear… to focus my energies elsewhere. God wants me to step away for a while, regain my strength, and see what’s He’s got for me next.

I don’t know for certain what this means about my future blogging endeavors. Toward the Goal will remain, of course, but other activities? I don’t know. I still believe firmly in the originally stated mission of Outpost. With talk going around about some sort of new collaborative blogging effort intended to fulfill that mission, I can potentially see God leading me to help in the effort in some manner. But I also know that God will have much for me to do at Missouri Valley in the coming weeks, regardless of the outcome of Micah’s call to Frederick Boulevard.

Time will simply have to tell, as God reveals His plans.

I will simply close with a request… pray, and pray hard. First on my mind is Micah (and his family). He’s like a brother to me, and he needs all of our prayers this week as he prepares to go to Frederick Boulevard in view of God’s calling… this has been anything but easy for him! Secondly, Missouri Valley. Micah announced the call this morning, and there are many in our church who are still processing this… some no doubt hurting. Lastly… Outpost. There is tremendous potential for God to use the site for good in our convention. Pray that God will work through it as He sees fit.

Thanks, and God bless!

(I said I’d close, but in re-reading this, I noticed that I left out one thing… please don’t get from this that I’m upset with anyone in particular in the SBC blog world, either at Outpost or elsewhere. I consider each of the contributors at Outpost a friend, and appreciate all of them, even if I don’t always agree with them completely. The same can be said of those who write in opposition to some of the postings at Outpost. Though I don’t know many of you quite as well, I know you are my brothers and sisters in Christ, and I appreciate what each of you are doing out of your love for our Savior. One day, we’ll all be gathered around God’s throne, and I would hope that we’ll all have a good laugh looking back on our silly disagreements here!)