HOW TO INTRODUCE NEW THINGS
By Elder Adam Green
If I were going to try to introduce new practices into the church, I would complain loudly that Old Baptists are too hung up on “man-made traditions,” although I would not actually explain what man-made traditions are in the church that I find unscriptural. I would paint “tradition” in as poor a light as possible, and attempt to prejudice the new converts, the young, the weak and the uninformed against tradition with a broad definition. My desire would be to get them to equate anything I identified as “tradition” as wrong. My hope in doing this would be to color any resistance to my Progressive desire as merely traditionalism. When resisted, I would complain that I was being made “an offender for a word” and that other brethren were jealous or playing politics.
I would also attempt to paint myself as zealous. The young especially would be swayed by my expression of desire to “grow the church” or to make the United States a Christian nation, as they might not be unable to see zeal in a faithful old sister, but would think that my words and loud moans about the state of church attendance were the true mark of zeal. I would describe cautious brethren as being “in the ruts” or “frozen.” The focus of my ministry would be upon growing the numerical total of the church, and not so much upon feeding the sheep to help them to grow spiritually. My actions would be marked by a consistent pushing of the boundaries of what is considered sound practice among our people, and trying to extend those boundaries whenever possible. Young ministers always would be a favorite target of mine; and I would attempt to convert them to my way of thinking by lavishing praise, attention, and even financial gifts. Submitted by Elder Mark Green.