SBC 2014. Why I'm Not Going
Yup.
Right. I won't be going to Baltimore.
Three main reasons why:
First ... not necessarily in order of importance ... it costs a bunch of money. We're retired, living within our Social Security income (thanks all you taxpayers), and the Annual Meeting puts a fair dent in our budget. So, we'll be doing something else with whatever funds we'd have spent in travel, lodging, and meals.
Hopefully something more productive.
Secondly, travel is increasingly difficult. I flew so much from 1975-1984 ... 100 airports in that time alone ... that I really do not like air travel. And that was when I was in my 50's, as opposed to my current 75.
I've also spent more time in hotels than I might have preferred. I averaged a week per month in out-of-state travel during those nine years, and even the nicest hotels get old after a while.
I'll never forget one time, Peg and I were driving to Indiana on a Friday night. We stopped at Bowling Green ... we'd left after work and wanted to get to Indy reasonably fresh on Saturday morning ... and checked into a motel. When I opened the door to the room and let Peg precede me inside, I thought "Another dreary hotel room that smells like Lysol". At that moment Peg said "This is going to be such a treat!". I fell on the bed, laughing.
That's about how travel had gotten for me. And, unless it's a vacation to someplace I REALLY want to spend some time, and enjoy just being there, I'd rather stay home.
Last, there's the fact that I do not think I have anything else to say to the Convention, that God wants me to say. My personal opinion is that the SBC has built itself into whatever it is, today, and that's fine with me. I know in the past few years I've addressed directly, from the floor, the SBC's self-pride evident in "adopting" the designator "Great Commission Baptists", and how egregious that was to me in light of the cold facts of membership, attendance, and other objective evidence. I've also addressed the attempt by some to restrict what it means to be Baptist, in their taking a stand against certain sovereignly-bestowed gifts of the Holy Spirit.
And I have witnessed the Convention's reaction to those things. So I'm done with that. All my energies will be used within the local church to which I belong, and the personal ministry of those with whom I have such contact.
And travel? Only to places I want to go, to see people I want to spend time with.
The SBC has made itself into what it is, today. Whatever favor or disfavor that finds with God, is fine with me. I simply won't be involved ... as I see it now ... beyond whatever activities God puts on my plate, here where I am.
10-4, good buddies. Over & out.