Texas Baptists are servant-hearted

This is back-to-school week for many. We are praying for students, teachers, administrators and all those who work in education. This past weekend, I had the privilege of participating in three different events in three different cities.

Last Friday, my wife and I were honored to attend the 35th-anniversary celebration of Dr. Michael Evans, Sr., as pastor of the Bethlehem Baptist Church in Mansfield. What a joy it is to see pastors like him who serve faithfully and minister as servant leaders!

On Sunday morning, I was the guest preacher at the South Park Baptist Church in Alvin, Texas. This is another wonderful Texas Baptists church led by a servant-hearted pastor, Chad Bertrand. Sunday night, I preached at the 23rd anniversary celebration of ABLA, the Latin American Baptist Association in Houston, Texas, which exists to serve churches.

You may have picked up on the common thread of servant leadership. In fact, that is one of the Texas Baptists descriptors: servant-hearted. I wonder how many of the others you can remember. This week I want to share with you about this value.

In his 1970 essay, leadership guru Robert K. Greenleaf wrote, "The servant-leader is servant first. It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead." While this might have been an innovative declaration in leadership studies at that time, he was not the first one to formulate such a concept.

Jesus declared centuries before, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all” (Mark 9:35). Servant leadership was Jesus’ idea before it was anyone else’s. He did not offer it as a platitude, but he modeled it with his life and death (Mark 10:45; Philippians 2:6-8).

Texas Baptists strive to follow Jesus’ teaching and example. We want to have a servant-hearted posture. We are here to serve the local church. We are here to serve the kingdom of God. We are here to serve a world that is broken and hurting.

The headquarters of the Baptist General Convention of Texas is not on Rambler Road in Dallas, TX. The headquarters is the local church. The Texas Baptists offices in Dallas and elsewhere are more of a service center than a command center.

Although many Baptists understand the concept of autonomy as it relates to churches, associations and other Baptist organizations, it is often tempting to think that the convention and its staff are gatekeepers or self-proclaimed experts who are too ready to dictate what churches or pastors should do.

It is possible, and unfortunately so, that this perception has sometimes been reinforced by some who work in denominational offices. That is why it is important for Texas Baptists to affirm that our aim is to be servant-hearted, to have the posture of service. Churches do not exist for the convention. The convention exists for the churches.

In fact, the convention is the churches organized to cooperate together for the sake of God’s mission. The support of the churches for the convention is necessary to accomplish the work we share, but the objective is not the perpetuation of the convention but the accomplishment of the Great Commandment and the Great Commission in collaboration with one another.

This means that while the convention can study, research, cast vision, develop strategy and give leadership to our work together, it should be done with a servant heart. To do so means that we pay attention to the needs of the churches, their contexts, their pastors and leaders. We guide our actions in our effort to connect these realities with the task given us by Christ our Lord.

To be servant-hearted means that we listen, not just talk. It means that we don’t dictate what churches or pastors should do. Instead, we come alongside them. We pray with and for them. We listen. We navigate. We ask questions. We point them to the Scriptures. We allow the Holy Spirit to lead. That is the kind of process GC2 Strong is designed to be, but it is also the culture we desire to develop.

To be servant-hearted as a convention is consistent with Baptist polity. We are not a hierarchical denomination. Churches, associations and Baptist entities are autonomous. Texas Baptists is an autonomous convention. We cooperate together voluntarily. We invite each other to collaborate.

Texas Baptists staff see ourselves more as learners than as experts. We desire to form learning communities. We want to connect pastors with pastors, churches with churches, God’s people with God’s mission, congregations with kingdom-minded ministries. We connect with practitioners, strategists, academicians and together we listen, we learn and we collaborate.

Our experience matters. Our skill set matters. Our knowledge matters. Our wisdom matters. But what matters more than these is our attitude. We desire to lead with humility. We want to have the posture of servants. We want the image of Jesus washing his disciples’ feet to form our way.

Thank you for the privilege of serving you!

P.S.: Some have asked about the future of the student disaster relief ministry called BOUNCE. Our communications team has prepared an announcement in this regard, which you can access here.