69 TO 1

The Executive Board voted 69-1 to elect David Hardage as Executive Director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas. There are several ways to look at that vote. One way is to think that if I were the one that voted against Hardage, I would resign from the board because I am obviously out of step with the mainstream thinking of other board members. Another way is to look at this fellow as a brave soul who was not afraid to voice the convictions of his heart. Still another way to look at it is that the 69 who voted "yes" must have been wrong if there was not a unanimous vote. That, of course, is absurd.

Some will praise the one who voted "no" as a man of courage and conviction. Some of us will just believe that this guy might not have prayed about his vote enough to discern God's will, as expressed by an overwhelming majority. I personally do not think it is necessarily courageous to be the only one to vote "no". If 69 people voted "yes" because they believed it to be God's will, then the one "no" vote was obviously someone not in the will of God. Instead of saying, "God bless him", we should be looking for a way to encourage the guy to resign from the board. He is obviously not thinking like his brothers and sisters on the executive board.

Does this mean that I do not appreciate the democratic process? Absolutely not. It does mean that I am a fierce proponent of praying to seek God's will to find consensus in all matters and if 69 people all heard God say, vote "Yes", then obviously the one who voted "No" did not hear God. Of course, it is always possible that the one who voted "No" was the only one who heard God's voice and the others just went along to get along. I guess you readers will have to decide that for yourself. It is also possible that God led this fellow to vote "No" just so no one would get the impression that things are all going to be going smoothly. It is also possible that this person had a personal vendetta against Hardage, stemming from some long ago encounter with him. We don't know the real reasons for anyone's vote, but we just know it is what it is.

In any event, starting February 1, David Hardage will sit in the Executive Director's chair. I for one am very happy about that. According to Marv Knox's Baptist Standard article, his interview with David got a lot of "I don't know" responses from the new E.D. In other words, it appears he is not coming into the job with a preconceived vision and an agenda. That is a good thing, in my opinion. Formulating a vision will require some time, a lot of prayer, and a lot of discussions with staff and committee leadership. Hardage should not be expected to have a complete vision for where he wants to see the convention go in the years ahead. Of course, he could always contact some bloggers who seem to think they know what is best for the convention, me included. My belief is that David is a man of God who is led by the Holy Spirit and will form whatever vision for the BGCT that God leads him to formulate. That's what godly men do.

In spite of the fact there are some who think the BGCT is on its last legs, there are a lot of us who do not feel that way. Those who cannot see anything good in this old convention are nowhere near being in the majority and will have little to do with the future of it. Naysayers have always existed in the Christian religion and Baptists have always had more than their share. 69-1 seems to indicate that there are not many, at least, on the Executive Board. The board members positively affirmed the hard work of the Search Committee with their overwhelming vote. We should not focus on the 1, but on the 69.