by Randy Harp
Is the BBFI perfect? I think we all know the answer. My first impressions of the BBFI were all positive, largely because my pastor, Don Elmore, was extremely positive about the BBFI. The more I have learned about our history and the more I have gotten involved, the more I realize we are far from perfect. While it is true what one person might consider a mistake another person would not, there is no denying that as a fellowship we have not always gotten it right. As John Maxwell says, “A man must be big enough to admit his mistakes, smart enough to profit from them, and strong enough to correct them.”
In this final word of our three-part series on “What is the BBFI?” I would like to share a couple thoughts on what our mistakes should teach us along with a few lessons moving forward.
First, our mistakes teach us we are all vulnerable. I, like you, could list not only pastor after pastor but friend after friend who has experienced a moral failure. Our normal response … “If not for the grace of God it could have been me.” I can’t emphasize enough the importance of boundaries and accountability. When a BBFI pastor, church staff, or missionary has a moral failure it affects us all.
Our mistakes also teach us leadership is difficult. I once heard someone say being a pastor was the most difficult leadership position because you are typically leading volunteers. If a volunteer or church member does not like your leadership he or she can freely walk away. I would venture to say being a leader of leaders is a more difficult task, especially when those being led are voluntarily participating in a Fellowship in which they can freely walk away. Have our leaders always made the right decision? Absolutely not. One could argue there have been plenty of bad decisions made by our leaders over the past 66 years. One of the greatest challenges of being a leader in our Fellowship is that our Fellowship is full of strong leaders who have their own opinions about how things ought to be done. Regardless of who the leader is, it is a difficult task.
I love the BBFI. I have surrendered myself to serve Christ as I serve this network of pastors, missionaries, church staff, college professors, and students who make up the BBFI. I like how one author put it, “We are products of our past, but we don’t have to be prisoners of it.” There are so many lessons we can learn as we move forward. I would like to suggest these three.
First, we must never forget our mission. In the May Tribune I summarized the BBFI this way: “From a historical, practical, and personal perspective, it is a network of leaders, voluntarily committed together, based on our mutually agreed-upon Articles of Faith, for the purpose of making disciples of Jesus Christ all over the world.” This is the reason we have a Mission Office and missionaries. This is the reason we have Bible colleges. This is the reason we have APEX, our church planting ministry, and the Tribune. Everything we do should point back to our mission. The beauty of a network of independent, autonomous churches voluntarily working together is we don’t all have to agree on everything. As G. B. Vick said, “Methods change, but the message never changes.”
Second, we must remember the value of relationships. This is one of the greatest assets of our Fellowship. The tagline for the BBFI is “Where no one stands alone.” This is the reason we have state and national “fellowship” meetings. While pastoring my first church in Michigan I remember Herb Gilbert speaking of the importance of attending Fellowship meetings. He said, “If your church can’t afford to send you then you pay your own way.” I have even heard of men several years ago hitchhiking to Fellowship meetings. Although I don’t recommend that mode of transportation, we need to remember the value of building relationships.
Third, we need to continually ask, “Do our actions and attitudes honor the name of Jesus Christ?” At the end of the day, this is really what matters most. As a Fellowship do we truly seek to worship an almighty God? Is our petition like that of John the Baptist, in that we desire for Him to increase, and we to decrease? Are we seeking to build the Kingdom of God or our own personal kingdoms? The leaders of our Fellowship must ask this question. Every pastor, missionary, college professor, and church member must ask this question.
Many people have asked me, “How much longer do you believe the Fellowship will be around”? To be honest, it breaks my heart to even have to answer that question, but my answer is always the same. We will be here until the Lord returns!