Faith and Family Values

Foreword by Richard Land

The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (before 1997, the Christian Life Commission) has played a tremendous role in Southern Baptist life over the decades, performing its responsibility as the “social conscience” of a people. The Commission has called Southern Baptists and other people of faith to take biblically based stances on issues such as alcohol and drug abuse, tobacco, Christian citizenship, the sanctity of human life, and racial reconciliation.

Personally, it was very important to me as a Southern Baptist teenager in the 1960s that Foy Valentine and the then-Christian Life Commission were on the right side of the race issue during a time when too many people in Southern Baptist and American life were not.

We must draw courage from our past as we confront the moral crises we face as a nation. As the William Faulkner character Gavin Stevens observed, “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.” Our past informs and inspires our future. As in the past, the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission can, and must, inspire Southern Baptists and other people of faith to be the “salt of the earth” and “the light of the world” God has commanded us to be as we seek to help “changed people change the world.”

Richard Land | President
The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission

“The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission is a remarkable ministry whose influence transcends our Convention, partisan politics, and diverse theological positions. I am amazed by and grateful for the ERLC, which has done so much on limited resources to impact our world for Christ.”

James T. Draper, Jr. | Former President
LifeWay Christian Resources

Southern Baptists are known—among many thing—for their enduring faithfulness to the Great Commission and for seeking at all costs to carry the Gospel to their neighbors—both next door and around the world.

Yet Baptists realize that a person, brought to new life by God’s saving grace, has an obligation to grow in that faith and give authentic testimony to Christ’s work (James 1:22). Keeping one’s faith in a box or sequestered within the church building dishonors God and denies our birthright as His children. As followers of Christ, we are the light of the world, and as Jesus said, we must let our light shine so that men will see our deeds and praise our Heavenly Father (Matthew 5:14-16).

As people of the Book, Southern Baptists have a rich legacy of bringing the power of God’s Word to bear on the culture and affirming God as mankind’s transcendent moral authority in all spheres of life. Beginning with the Committee on Civic Righteousness in the early 1900s and through the present-day Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, the Southern Baptist Convention has been intentional in its faithful witness to God’s Truth and its life-changing reach to all people.

This year we are celebrating sixty years of Southern Baptists formally engaging the culture. We are grateful to God for His providential care; thankful for those who have walked before us in this ministry of service; and deeply appreciative of Southern Baptists, who by their sacrificial gifts through the Cooperative Program enable us to serve them.

—The Editors

Sixty Years of Service

by Jerry Sutton

Adapted from the forthcoming book, A Matter of Conviction

A Matter of Conviction is the story of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission and its frontline role in the contemporary culture wars. Even though America has seen many dark and threatening days, the enemies we face today may very well bring the demise of our nation. If it were not for the gracious hand of God, it might well have already collapsed. Sadly, if America dies, the ERLC’s Richard Land has said, it will die from self-inflicted wounds.

The enemies we face are legion. Militant atheism, championed by writers like Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris, is gaining a progressively strong hearing among the academic elite. At every turn they attempt to assault the legitimacy of religious belief in general and Christianity in particular.

Militant secularism under the leadership of the ACLU, Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, People for the American Way, and many other similar organizations seeks to remove every vestige of Christianity from the public arena.

A burgeoning culture of death continues to influence American society. Abortion, with its ancillary components of animal-human hybrids and embryonic stem

cell research on one end of the spectrum and the right to die (euthanasia), transitioning into the right-to-kill philosophy, i.e. Terry Schiavo, continues to gain ground.

Sexual deviancy previously unheralded—attempting to normalize and defend bisexuality, transgenderism, homosexuality, bestiality, and multiple forms of pornography—continues to raise multiple millions of dollars to lobby for its sordid causes.

Mindless violence and lawlessness, along with acceptance of civic crudeness, feeds the anti-authority, rebellious disregard for order. Just listen to the words of “gangsta rap” or Howard Stern broadcasts for multiple examples of this kind of influence.

“The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention is unique in both its mission and its function. For sixty years, this influence has provided guidance for Baptists and functioned with an ear to the needs of our churches. As guardians of one of Baptists’ most cherished contributions to the social order, religious liberty, the ERLC is without peer. Today we rejoice in sixty years of ministry.”

Paige Patterson | President
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary

Idol Worship

Growing selfish materialism, which used to be called greed, drives much of America.

Divorce is acceptable, and stable marriages are the exception. And who suffers? The children. Not surprisingly, single-parent families are the number one cause of poverty in America.

An out-of-control drug culture fills our prisons and corrupts our society. Many believe we have lost the drug war.

Racial animosity and prejudice still threaten the stability of our nation.

On top of all that, we must contend with the international rise of militant Islam, its contribution of terrorism to the world stage, and the ever-present fear that it engenders.

Combined with all of these factors is the waning influence of Christianity in American society. Partly fueled by unbelief-driven liberalism and the disengaged mindset of many conservatives, in short, our nation is in trouble. On top of the decreasing influence of Christianity in general, the churches in particular, and church leaders specifically, is the vicious present-day assault on all things religious in the public arena.

And sadly, many churches are anemic in their influence because many professing Christians have bought into the passivity encouraged by the attainment of personal affluence and personal peace, to use Frances Schaeffer’s two-fold malady. Too many professing Christians find themselves living lives almost hopelessly compromised with the world. And many Christians, if honest, would confess their lives are characterized by apathy, immaturity, and self-centeredness. How can we expect to influence the world for Jesus Christ?

“What a blessing in our day and age to never have to wonder where the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission will come down on an important social, ethical, or moral issue! I join Southern Baptists around the world in thanking God for sixty years of such dedicated service and pray that in the future ‘justice will roll down like a river’ due to the eff orts of the good and godly folks leading the ERLC.”

O.S. Hawkins | President And Chief Financial Officer
Guidestone Financial Resources

Backed Against the Wall

Yet, this is not the first time in history that the Christian faith has found its back against the proverbial wall of culture and society. A Matter of Conviction traces biblical and Christian influence from its earliest days. It retells the story of how Christianity shaped Western Civilization in general and the United States in particular.

It identifies the Baptist role in the earliest days of our colonies as Baptists endeavored to establish religious liberty and moral integrity in the new world. It highlights the Christian influence in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. It articulates the Baptist role in disestablishing the state churches.

It revisits the birth of the Southern Baptist Convention in 1845 and reviews the issues that drove us to become a separate organization. Highlighting the slavery issue, it also considers the other contributing factors in this great moral crisis. It relates the devastating effects of the Civil War and Reconstruction and details the multiple moral and social issues addressed by Southern Baptists in the years leading up to the forming of the Committee on Civic Righteousness in 1907, when Southern Baptists first united to address critical issues in concert.

In 1908, Southern Baptists formed the Committee on Temperance to address what they perceived to be the greatest social ill of the day, the rampant use of alcohol, the first socially accepted drug of choice. It led Southern Baptists to work together in the Prohibition-Temperance movement, which eventually culminated in national Prohibition.

In 1913, Southern Baptists formed the Social Service Commission, which, like the Temperance Committee it eventually absorbed, was led by A. J. Barton. Needless to say, he was a champion among Southern Baptists for civic righteousness and a national leader in the Prohibition movement.

“We celebrate and thank God for the sixty-year history of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission. Families have been strengthened, precious lives of unborn children have been saved, and Christians have been mobilized to stand for the absolute moral truths revealed in the Bible.”

Hal Lane | Pastor, West Side Baptist Church
Greenwood, South Carolina, Chairman Erlc Board Of Trustees

60 Years & Counting

In 1947, the Social Service Commission received its first funding from the Convention. Before that time, Barton and Hugh Brimm, who followed him, found themselves operating on the generosity of the Baptist Sunday School Board. During those early years of funding, Brimm and Acker Miller, who followed him, began to highlight the Christian responsibility with respect to the race issues in America. Thankfully, the Christian Life Commission helped Southern Baptists move to the right side of history on this critically important moral issue.

In 1960, Foy Valentine came from Texas to head the Christian Life Commission. Although strong on the race issue, Valentine aligned himself with many of the liberal thinkers of the Southern Baptist Convention. Early in the abortion debate, Valentine associated Southern Baptists with the pro-abortion crowd, which the majority of Southern Baptists eventually concluded was on the wrong side of history.

When the Roe v. Wade decision by the Supreme Court made abortion on demand legal in the United States, it turned out that Valentine’s decree may have partially influenced their decision. Many Southern Baptists were outraged with this. Eventually, conservatives in the Convention organized with the intent of changing the direction of the SBC both theologically and socially. What became known as the “Conservative Resurgence” was launched in 1979 with the election of Adrian Rogers as president of the SBC. This put in motion a change in trustees of boards and agencies that eventually transformed the institutions of the SBC.

Seeing the proverbial “handwriting on the wall,” Valentine announced his intention to retire early in 1986. He was replaced by Larry Baker, whose tenure lasted only nineteen months. With a growing body of conservative trustees, the Christian Life Commission elected Richard Land as its Executive Director in 1988.

“Southern Baptists are people of the Word. And I am so grateful that the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission has effectively engaged the culture with the truths of God’s Word for sixty years.”

Thom S. Rainer | President And Ceo
LifeWay Christian Resources

Standing on Scripture

Land, upon his election, immediately realigned the Commission to its present pro-life posture and conservative stance on social and moral issues. Under his leadership, the Commission, which in 1997 became the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, has become a major influence for the cause of Christ in the public square. And Land, whose title was changed to president, has become one of the foremost spokesmen in America for evangelical Christians in public policy.

In 1990, the Convention, due to growing dissatisfaction with the Baptist Joint Committee on Public Affairs and its executive director, James Dunn, voted to reassign its program responsibilities and budget to the Christian Life Commission. This action contributed to the Convention’s 1997 decision to change the name of the Christian Life Commission.

In the years leading up to the 2007 anniversary marking Southern Baptists’ centennial celebration of collective involvement in the public policy arena, Richard Land and the Commission’s staff have molded the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission into a highly coordinated, efficient force. Without a doubt, the ERLC is on the front line of many of the critical moral issues facing America and the world.

“Southern Baptists’ moral conscience on public issues is voiced through the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission. For sixty years this ministry has spoken to Southern Baptists about righteousness and spoken for Southern Baptists in a listening world. Although often under-funded and over-worked, God has used the mouse that roared.”

Jim Richards | Executive Director, Southern Baptists Of Texas Convention
Former Chairman, Christian Life Commission Board Of Trustees

Matters of Conviction

In the almost two decades of Land’s leadership, he has led the Commission to become a cutting-edge instrument. With offices both in Nashville and Washington, D.C., Land’s team addresses moral and public policy issues through a number of venues. The For Faith & Family radio daily broadcast has created a constant nation-wide presence for Land to address pressing issues. Richard Land Live!, airing on Saturdays across America, is a three-hour live, call-in talk radio format where he provides extensive analysis on cultural issues.

Besides the radio media format, updates on vital issues are provided daily through the ERLC’s Web sites. Moreover, it is not unusual for Land to do in excess of 650 interviews each year for a variety of media outlets both nation-wide and abroad. Land and his team also are frequent visitors to Capitol Hill. Along with these points of influence, Land also maintains a consistent writing schedule. His latest book, The Divided States of America? What Liberals AND Conservatives are Missing in the God-and-Country Shouting Match! provides a sound balance from a distinctively Baptist perspective on church-state issues.

The ERLC’s Vision Statement looks toward “an American society that affirms and protects Judeo-Christian values rooted in biblical authority.” The corresponding Mission Statement affirms that the ERLC will work “to awaken, inform, energize, equip, and mobilize Christians to be the catalysts for the biblically-based transformation of their families, churches, communities, and the nation.”

Since the agency is the cutting-edge organization attempting to accomplish these ends, let’s work to provide the ERLC the support necessary to accomplish the task.

The stakes are high. Time is short. It is past time for the churches to intentionally engage the culture and to function as salt and light. If everyone professing faith in Jesus Christ allowed his or her values to be shaped by Scripture and in turn committed themselves to become engaged in the public arena, the ERLC’s Vision and Mission statements might well be fulfilled in a generation. Yet, the challenge is to raise up a generation for whom these things are a matter of conviction.

“The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission is making a difference in our nation and our world for the glory of God. Please pray for the work of the ERLC, that it would speak with an even stronger voice in a culture increasingly hostile to the claims of Christ.”

Frank S. Page | Pastor, First Baptist Church | Taylors, South Carolina
President, Southern Baptist Convention

Jerry Sutton is pastor of Two Rivers Baptist Church, Nashville, Tennessee, and author of A Matter of Conviction, to be released by Broadman & Holman Publishers in 2008.

Timeline

1517

Martin Luther launches the Protestant Reformation

1620

The Pilgrims emigrate to America and sign the Mayflower Compact

1644

Roger Williams pens The Bloody Tenet of Persecution for Cause of Conscience

1776

The United States becomes a nation

1788

The Constitution of the United States is ratified

1791

John Leland pens The Rights of Conscience Inalienable.The Bill of Rights is ratified

1814

The General Missionary Convention of the Baptist Denomination in the United States is formed

1834

The last “state church,” Massachusetts, is disengaged

1845

The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is formed

1857

The U.S. Supreme Court hands down its Dred Scott decision.

1861-1865

The U. S. Civil War

1907

SBC President E. W. Stephens appoints the Committee on Civic Righteousness

1908

SBC Committee on Temperance is formed with A. J. Barton as Chairman

1913

The SBC establishes the Social Service Commission

1914

A. J. Barton elected Chairman of the Social Service Commission. He will serve in this capacity until his death in 1942.

1919

18th Amendment ratified (Prohibition)

1925

Southern Baptists adopt The Baptist Faith and Message and establish the Cooperative Program

1933

Prohibition is repealed

1936

The Committee on Chaplains established during World War I becomes the Committee on Public Relations which will eventually cooperate with the Baptist Joint Committee on Public Affairs

1942

J. B. Weatherspoon replaces Barton as Chairman of the Social Service Commission

1943

The Social Service Commission receives its first funding from the Southern Baptist Convention

1947

Hugh Brimm elected as the first Secretary-Treasurer (the standard title of an agency head) of the Social Service Commission

1950

The Public Relations Committee of the SBC becomes the Committee on Public Affairs

1951

The Social Service Commission begins to publish Light magazine

1953

Acker Miller becomes the new Secretary-Treasurer for the Social Service Commission. The Social Service Commission is renamed the Christian Life Commission (CLC)

1954

The U. S. Supreme Court rules in the case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka

1955

Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat on the bus in Montgomery, Alabama

1960

Miller retires and Foy Valentine is elected to lead the Christian Life Commission

1963

Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech in Washington, D. C. The Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham is bombed, killing four children. President John F. Kennedy is assassinated

1964

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 becomes the law of the land

1968

Martin Luther King, Jr., and Robert Kennedy are assassinated. The SBC adopts the “Statement Concerning the Crisis in Our Nation”

1969

The Christian Life Commission hosts the “Toward Authentic Morality for Modern Man” seminar

1971

The SBC passes the “On Abortion” resolution

1973

The U. S. Supreme Court rules in the Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton cases legitimizing abortion on demand

1979

The Conservative Resurgence is launched with the election of Adrian Rogers as president of the SBC

1980

The “On Doctrinal Integrity” and “On Abortion” resolutions are adopted by the SBC. James Dunn becomes Executive Director of the Baptist Joint Committee

1981

People for the American Way is organized

1986

Charles Wade appoints six moderates to the search committee to recommend Valentine’s replacement.

1987

Larry Baker is elected new head of the Christian Life Commission. Hal Lane gives a “minority report” for the Christian Life Commission trustees at the SBC

1988

Richard Land elected Executive Director of the Christian Life Commission

1990

The budget allocation to the Baptist Joint Committee is significantly reduced. The Christian Life Commission receives the program assignment previously held by the Baptist Joint Committee

1991

The Christian Life Commission begins publishing Salt. The SBC completely defunds the Baptist Joint Committee. The Public Affairs Committee and the Baptist Joint Committee give their final report to the SBC

1994

Leland House, the CLC’s Washington, D.C., office, opens

1995

Th e SBC adopts the “Resolution on Racial Reconciliation on the 150th anniversary of the Southern Baptist Convention” by a nearly unanimous vote

1996

The SBC votes through resolution to boycott Disney due to its pro-homosexual, anti-family policies

1997

The CLC becomes the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission on June 19, 1997, as part of the Covenant for a new Century

1998

The For Faith and Family radio program is launched. The erlc.com Web site comes online. Richard Land’s book, Send a Message to Mickey, is released

1999

The ERLC launches its Research Institute

2001

Richard Land is appointed by President Bush to the U. S. Commission on International Religious Freedom

2002

Richard Land Live! begins airing on weekends. Richard Land’s book, For Faith and Family, is released

2003

The Lawrence v. Texas case before the Supreme Court rules in the favor of Lawrence. President Bush signs the “Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act”

2004

The ERLC sponsors the “iVoteValues” campaign. Richard Land releases his Real Homeland Security book

2005

Land releases Imagine! A God-Blessed America

2006

Light is renamed Faith and Family Values

2007

Richard Land’s book, The Divided States of America?, is released. The ERLC launches JosiahRoad.com