Dear Pastor Dever, Part 1

Dear Pastor Dever,

You said in your sermon that

"...you are in sin if you lead your congregation to have a statement of faith that requires a particular Millennial view."

Does this imply that I'm in sin if I am leading a congregation that presently has a particular millennial view in its statement of faith, even if I did not lead the charge to put the statement into its current configuration? What if I inherited that situation from a former era/pastor? Am I in sin if I do not move quickly to remove that part of the statement? What if as a condition of my calling to the ministry I agreed with and pledged to uphold the constitution and doctrinal statement of the church? Am I stuck in sin--whether I go back on my pledge to fix the statement, or I keep the sinful statement?

What about Baptist polity? Isn't it the congregation that ultimately sets the precise parameters and policies as to what kind of church it is? Why does the pastor get the blame in your sermon if the congregation is the authority? Is there no latitude within the boundaries of Christian soul liberty to specify certain non-salvation-essentials as part of the church's setup?

It seems that you are painting a wide swath of people across the world as sinners. This is concerning to me.

MAP