I enjoy reading Kevin Bauder‘s articles in “In the Nick of Time” – they are consistently thoughtful, clear and appropriate.
Today he posted an article whose seeds were planted by the recent announcement of Pillbury Baptist Bible College’s imminent closing. That closing is sad news. Dr. Bauder’s comments touch the implications that reach far beyond the city limits of Owatonna, MN.
The statement I highlighted in the title will be the most attention-grabbing clause in the article for some. It may strike with surprising poignancy, but it strikes squarely and accurately. Please don’t misunderstand Dr. Bauder (or me!) – we both write from within Fundamentalism and with a great appreciation for its hard-fought birth and often difficult stand. Let me pull a longer quote from Dr. Bauder’s article:
“At one time God raised up mighty Reformers. At another He raised up Puritans and Separatists. At still another He raised up the powerful preachers of the Great Awakening. All of those are gone now, but God is still doing His work. If someday the fundamentalist movement is relegated to the museum of theological curiosities, God will still be doing His work. He will still be God.”
This historical perspective is appropriate and necessary for the members of any human movement – no matter how godly, righteous or well-intentioned it may be. If any association or philosophy of men were destined to stand forever, it would need to have stood from the beginning as well. It is true that individuals find fulfillment in serving something higher than the individual; likewise, every movement finds its fulfillment in accomplishing God’s plan in God’s time.
While we are reminded that the end of any good thing is sobering and sad, we are encouraged that the passing of anything earthly is part of God’s design and that he and his plan are bigger than anyone or anything to which we commit ourselves. Pillsbury may be in the final stages of a difficult decline and we pray for and sympathize with them, but let us also, in the spirit of Abraham, hold such things lightly, walking in faith and looking for that which has sure foundations, whose builder and maker is God (Heb. 11.8-10).