An RTF Update by Josh Carpenter

“Can we do this better?” This is the question that every effective organization will continually be asking. If what we do is important enough to warrant our time and resources, we should seek to do it in the most effective way possible.

Several months ago, General Baptist leaders asked this question and received an honest answer, “Yes we can.” We can organize ourselves more effectively. We can resource ourselves in more prosperous ways. We can connect better. We can strengthen one another as individuals and churches to more effectively fulfill our mission of proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We can do better.

I’ve had the privilege to serve on the Restructure Task Force over these several months and be involved in days of conversation, debate, and prayer inspired by the notion that we can do better. There have been days that I have left meetings inspired, days I have left discouraged, and days I have just left with a headache. These are the questions that have roamed my thoughts as we have worked through this process?

IS IT WORTH IT?

Every process of change requires sacrifice. The greatest sacrifice is having to let go of something that you know for something that you don’t. It’s scary stepping into an unknown future hoping that you’ve made the right decisions and not being sure where everything is going to land. So, why take the risk? Why pay the price for an unknown result? The answer goes back to our beginning. If it’s worth doing at all, it’s worth doing our best. In the case of the church and an association of churches, like General Baptists, that means reaching more with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If the changes the RTF have proposed lead to one more church being planted, to one more country being reached, or one more soul being saved, it’s worth it. That’s what better looks like for us!

IS THIS THE BEST WAY FORWARD?

I don’t know. Will it work? Absolutely. I believe it will work well and it will make us more effective in fulfilling our mission. However, my hope is not in a new organization, new systems, or new plans. My hope for the future effective ministry of General Baptists is in Jesus Christ and the people he calls his church.

I believe in General Baptist people that have experienced the saving power of Jesus and want others to know his love. I know you. I have been raised by you, taught and trained by you, and have served you my entire adult life. I know what we are capable of doing when we come together around the cause of Christ. This new organizational structure allows us to do our work better than we have ever before, but only because it will be filled with Jesus saved, Holy Spirit-filled, General Baptist believers who want to see lost people saved. That’s what better looks like for us!

WHO WILL THIS HELP?

I am a pastor at heart. So, when I make decisions, I see people first. How will these changes affect people’s lives, direct them toward greater missional effectiveness, and give them opportunities for kingdom service that are not available now? It’s easy to ask this question as it relates to the people in the room, but in this process, it occurred to me that these decisions will have a much greater impact on the generation that follows.

The people I began to see as we discussed, debated, and prayed were my kids, your kids, the curly-headed little girl who runs to hug me every Sunday, the faces that fill the snapshots of NYC, and the little ones riding a bus to a church on Wednesday night that hasn’t yet heard about Jesus. Are we preparing a better way for them?

If you have had the opportunity to review the proposed structure changes you might find things that you like and things that you don’t. What I like most is the availability for leadership development and opportunities to serve at different levels of responsibility. I dream of the day when we will select regional, national, and international leaders for our movement from a crop of experienced, educated, and passionate leaders that were developed within our own family and systems. That’s what better looks like for us!

Can we do better? Not only do I believe we can, I believe we must.