Mohler: Seminaries must nurture faithfulness in a faithless world - (BP)
By David Roach & Jeff Robinson, Jun 21, 2004

"INDIANAPOLIS (BP)--Southern Baptist seminaries face the great challenge of producing faithful ministers in a faithless world, R. Albert Mohler Jr. said in a report to the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention in Indianapolis June 16.

In an age of decreasing adherence to scriptural truth, seminaries must answer the question, “When the Son of Man returns, will he find faith on earth?” said Mohler, who serves as president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky.

“We are living in a time when so many in the church are beginning to sense that there is a problem not only out there the world, but also in the church,” he said. “... In this critical turning time in human history, it is our responsibility to make certain that we do everything in our power demonstrate faith in the face of a faithless world.”

Mohler listed five imperatives to which Southern Baptists must adhere if they are to demonstrate biblical faith in the world.

First, Southern Baptists must maintain a bold vision of biblical truth.

“There is no way we will be able to demonstrate faith in face of faithlessness if we do not recover biblical truth,” he said. “This means that we must as people and as churches ... be bold all the time, evermore, courageously and convictionally before the world about what it is we believe.”

Second, Southern Baptists must renew their commitment to teach biblical truth in churches and seminaries.

The Christian teaching ministry must always be grounded in the Word of God, he emphasized. “If there is any one educational principle that Southern Baptists must embrace at this convention and keep before ourselves, it is the absolute non-negotiable, undilutable responsibility of Christian parents and Christian churches to teach Christian truth,” Mohler said. “If we do not do it, it will not be done.”

Third, Southern Baptists must experience a bold recovery of expository preaching, Mohler said.

Preachers must not merely use biblical texts as jumping-off points for their sermons, he said. Instead, they must “confront an age of biblical ignorance and biblical apathy with the vibrant living and active two-edged sword of the inerrant, infallible Word of God.”

Fourth, Southern Baptists must experience a reenergized embrace of evangelism and missions, Mohler said, adding that Christians should take joy in preaching the Gospel to the furthest regions of the earth.

“We set before ourselves that vision set before us in the Book of Revelation of that throng before the throne in eternity made up of men and women from every tongue and every tribe and every people and every nation. For the cause of the glory of God we will never retreat. We will always advance,” he said.

Fifth, Southern Baptists must raise up a new generation of leaders in the faith, Mohler said....."

It's not just our Southern Baptist friends who need to lay hold of the five imperatives listed above. These five points are imperative for the Evangelical church at large. Please note Dr. Mohler's 3rd imperative regarding expository preaching.

~ The Billy Goat ~