An appropriate follow up to my earlier post is warranted, and I believe this five year old post, dated March 27, 2017, serves as a testimony that I have been following the decline of Bible fundamentalism for more than a decade.
Whether secular or religious, a transition in leadership is a critical period in any organization’s history.
Numerous examples come to mind. Churches once numbered in the pinnacle of biblical fundamentalism, have faltered after undergoing a change of pastoral leadership; some falling from their fundamentalist legacy, others altogether failing as ministries. Deacon boards and church members, demanding a change in pastoral leadership, often steer ministries from their fundamentalist heritage and too often to dissolution. Sadly, churches departing from their heritage and appeasing the carnal is continuing across our nation.
I have observed the same pattern in the last 15 years in fundamental Christian institutions. Pillsbury Baptist Bible College, Northland University, and Clearwater Christian College all faltered and failed following transitions in leadership. Many of our fundamental Christian colleges and universities have accommodated the demands for accreditation and become “board run” institutions (in my opinion reflecting the spirit of the Israelites who demanded, “make us a king to judge us like all the nations” – 1 Samuel 8:5).
Board members of those institutions share the responsibility for steering those schools from the fundamental moorings of their founders. They have moved away from their alumni and constituents, and gone adrift in a morass of pragmatic ideas that are void of spiritual principles.
Warning: Cater to the carnal and you do so at your peril.
Copyright © 2017 – Travis D. Smith
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