NRB President/COO Dr. Frank Wright

NRB 2003 Annual Convention and Exposition

Thank you Dr. Kennedy, Dr. Robertson, Dr. Bright, Mr. Chairman, Members of the Executive Committee, Members of the Board of Directors, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, Fellow Sinners:

Have I left anyone out? I don’t think so.

In light of all that has happened in this last year, I think it is very important that we get started on the right foot tonight.

So, I want each of you to do something right now. I want you to turn to the person sitting next to you and say to them: “This has better be good.”

Would you do that right now - This had better be good.

There, don’t you feel much better? I certainly do.

Let me begin by reminding you that there are only two things that live forever. Only two.

There are the Word of God and the souls of men and women.

For 60 years, the members of NRB have been rooted in that truth - and we are not about to lose sight of it now.

We are called by God to be Christ-bearers to the world.

We have been given the ministry of reconciliation, whereby God is reconciling the world to Himself through Christ and we are therefore Christ’s ambassadors.

That is our high and holy calling, and as our theme this year proclaims, this is our unchanging message in a changing world.

For 60 years the members of NRB have also been committed to proclaiming the full counsel of God - that God is sovereign over His creation.

We know that God is sovereign over His creation because he says that He will judge it.

And so it is that we are to bring the mind of Christ to every area of human endeavor - to medicine, law, education, science, business, community service - and yes to government and politics as well.

In fact, I can think of few places that need the mind of Christ more than government and politics.

This question of cultural engagement is one that has somewhat divided us in the past.

While I will not dwell on that past division, it would be foolish of me to ignore it altogether.

Furthermore, I believe that God has a message for us in this very hour related to it.

As you might imagine, I have been asked, in the days leading up to this convention, what is my view on this question of cultural engagement.

Well, being no fool and having spent seven years on Capitol Hill, I have responded by saying that both views are right.

How is that for a Capitol Hill answer?

Nonetheless, I do believe both views are right. I also believe both views may be in need of reform, and that both views will profit from a thoughtful discourse.

Clearly we must acknowledge that only the work of the Gospel has eternal consequences. As we have said, “Only two things live forever.”

However, limiting the work of the church to evangelism only has profound implications.

Few, for example, question the appropriateness of mercy ministries for the church, yet they too are decidedly temporal.

Ultimately, if we limit the work of the church, we attempt to constrain the sovereignty of God, and we unintentionally limit the mind of Christ to application in the area of personal ethics and morality only.

Yet the Scriptures clearly proclaim that God is sovereign over all of His creation.

Further, it is incontrovertible that God is the author of human government.

There are today matters of great moment in the realm of medicine, education, ethics, and morality that desperately need the mind of Christ.

There are significant public policy questions with enormous implications for the church and the culture that would profit form an application of the biblical principles.

Failing to engage the culture could eventually result in the loss of our liberty to even preach the Gospel.

Let us not be naïve about this. The threats to religious liberty in America have never been greater than they are today.

However, as we consider the nature of cultural engagement, there are important caveats here as well.

There are risks involved for the church as it engages the political culture.

Too close of a political identification with any one political party risks the loss of our prophetic influence in the culture.

Dr. Steven Carter from Yale University said as much in his important book, God’s Name In Vain.

In it Carter, who is African-American, says that the black church has lost its prophetic voice in the culture by its seemingly singular identification with the Democrat Party.

Carter warns that a similar fate may befall the evangelical church through a too close identification with the Republican Party.

Said another way, the greatest political risk we face is that the transformational message we preach begins to be viewed in solely political terms.

This has happened to me on Capitol Hill. Someone once said to me: “You want everyone to become Christians so they will vote like you Christians do.”

How sad when they see the Gospel in those terms.

Also at risk in this question of cultural engagement is our view of political solutions.

If we begin to rely on a politically pragmatic rather than a principled approach to problems and issues, we are failing to recognize the real source of our power, and we may not glorify God as we ought.

More important, however, than the question of cultural engagement itself is the impact this has had on our unity.

This leads me to the message that I believe God has for us in this hour.

As I read these texts, let me remind you that this is not the word of men, but the word of the living God:

Accept one another just as Christ accepted you, bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ; be humble, gentle, patient, bearing with one another in love.

Let me read that again:

Accept one another just as Christ accepted you, bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ; be humble, gentle, patient, bearing with one another in love.

Dear friends, if we cannot do this, our witness before a watching world is impoverished.

As I have said, ours is the ministry of reconciliation.

How can we proclaim that message with power if we cannot be reconciled to one another?

To that end, I have called upon the Board of Directors of NRB to proclaim a day of fasting and prayer for unity in the body of Christ. I trust you will be hearing more about that very soon.

And, I am calling on each of you to make a commitment to one another that this debate be an “in-house” debate.

So, while we may disagree from time to time, we must accept one another just as Christ accepted us.

And let us not forget that while these disputable matters do exist, the substance, power, and majesty of the things we agree upon are dramatic.

We believe that Jesus Christ is the only hope of mankind, and the desire of nations.

We believe we are called to proclaim the love of God in Christ, and we are called to show the love of God to the world as God ministers through us.

We also believe that Jesus will return one day, visibly, bodily, and gloriously.

When He comes, may He find us faithful and at peace with one another.

Closing

I am neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet, but I believe the future of NRB is filled with bright prospects and exciting challenges.

As the Board of Directors and our ministry team begin the strategic planning process, you will be hearing more in the coming months about our plans.

As we go forward, I humbly ask for your help, for your prayers, and for your renewed commitment to the cause of Christ.

As the great missionary C.T. Studd once said, “Some want to live within the sound of a church or chapel bell; I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of Hell.”

Dear friends, let us first renew our commitment to one another and then let us renew our commitment to go within a yard of Hell to reach the world for Christ.

Thank you and God bless you.