An Open Letter to My Southern Baptist Friends

While I am generally speaking not a huge fan of open letters, as they are usually meant as a public critique of a prominent figure, I feel that this one has become necessary.  Not because I want people to pile on, but because I want this to be read by as many of my Southern Baptist friends as possible.

And by my Southern Baptist friends, I don’t mean likeminded SBC pastors I have never met, but my actual friends who are pastors in or otherwise affiliated with the SBC.  I mean the men who have invited me to preach in their pulpit while I was a seminary student, the men who stood beside me as we were ordained, and my fellow Grace Advance church planters who have planted churches that are part of the Southern Baptist Convention.  

I am not a member of the SBC, nor is my church so I pay little attention to internal SBC politics and controversies.  But there is one SBC controversy that is now spilling over into the broader evangelical world and the name of Christ is being defamed around the globe as a result.  As someone who ministers in Virginia, I have even heard it mentioned on the radio and my fear is that in the not too distant future it will find its way onto the TV news and into the papers.  It is not a complex problem and is easily solved.  It is the controversy surrounding Ergun Caner the former dean and president of Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary, former provost of Arlington Baptist College and newly installed president of Brewton-Parker College, a small SBC college in Georgia.

Dr. Caner has in the past actively sought out the lime light and has spoken at the 2010 value voters summit, briefed marines on Islam and Jihad, and toured the country speaking in countless pulpits, SBC ad non-SBC alike.  He, by his own choice, has become a public figure and a recognizable face of the evangelical church.

And that is the problem, there is considerable evidence (video and audio recordings) that he may have lied habitually between the years 2001 and 2010 in front of many congregations and audiences about his life story, specifically that he was born in Turkey, raised in predominantly Muslim nations, didn’t speak fluent English at the time of his conversion and trained for jihad around the globe including in Beirut. Just google Ergun Caner (and I suggest you do if you are unfamiliar) and you will see the scope of the controversy.

My point in writing is not to render a judgment for or against Dr. Caner.  My point in writing is to plead with my Southern Baptist friends to demand an open public investigation into these allegations and that the results be made available to the rank and file of the SBC and acted on at the next National Convention.  A private investigation with embargoed findings is not acceptable when the alleged offenses have been so public.

If Dr. Caner is found to have lied habitually he should be stripped of his ordination and removed from his position as president of an SBC affiliated college.  Also the local church where he is a member should pursue church discipline with the intent to bring him to repentance.  Furthermore a resolution should be passed urging him to drop all law suits against fellow Christians (and especially SBC Pastors) pertaining to this matter.  If Dr. Caner has not lied but merely misspoken those in the SBC who have been outspoken public critics of him should be censured, and where appropriate church discipline should be pursued.  Additionally there has been pugnacious behavior on the part of several of Dr. Caner’s defenders and critics.  If it is found that they knowingly engaged in pugnacious behavior and baselessly defamed other pastors, the SBC should urge that they be removed from their pastorate and any other SBC affiliated posts.  This whole affair is a black eye on the SBC and the evangelical Church as a whole.

I would humbly ask my SBC friends to look into this matter and to urge your leaders to look into it, and to take decisive action.  This is a matter of character and integrity and not of theology, and it must be addressed as such, there is simply no room to agree to disagree.  Please bring this controversy to a swift and decisive conclusion for the good of the SBC, the witness of the Church and most importantly for the reputation of Christ.