The Open Door

Having grown up in the home of a Southern Baptist pastor, I had a lot of great church experiences early in my life. Well before reaching the proper age to attend the events, I was involved in youth camps, youth fellowships and the like. I still remember with warm memories the Sunday night, after-church fellowships that we would have in the homes of various church members.

There was always good food, a lot of laughter, and fellowship. We would always close the fellowship in the same way. We would join hands in a circle and sing “Blest Be the Tie.” There was enough closeness and warmth in those moments to last a lifetime. The song itself speaks of the closeness of believers and the common bond that we have in Jesus Christ.

I have traveled a long way down life’s road from those Sunday night fellowships, but the fellowship is still as real and lasting as it ever was. Perhaps that is never more keenly felt than in times of crisis when your Baptist friends come calling to see what they can do to help.

Following a recent string of tornados that hopped and skipped across Georgia, I received a call from Dr. John Sullivan, Executive Director of the Florida Baptist Convention. “Bob, are you all okay?” he asked. “Yes, John, we are fine. We had some churches that were damaged, but we thank the Lord that few people were injured.” John said, “Well, is there anything we can do to help?” “John, I think we are going to be all right on this series of storms, but thank you so much for checking on us.”

I hung up the phone and it rang again, immediately. It was Dr. Thane Barnes, Executive Director of the Nevada Baptist Convention. “Bob, this is Thane. How are you all doing? Is everybody okay? We watched the tornados in Georgia with a lot of concern and prayers for everybody’s safety.” I replied, “Thane, thank you so much for your prayers and thanks for calling. We are going to be okay. We had some churches to sustain some damage, but it looks like everything is going to be able to be taken care of without too much trouble.”

Thane said, “Well, is there anything we can do to help?” “No, I really appreciate it, but I think that this time we are going to be okay.” “How is Susan doing,” I asked. “Oh, she’s doing great,” Thane replied. “She’s in North Carolina visiting with our new grandbaby.” “Well, she really is doing well,” I replied.

I hung up from these two conversations with a great sense of the common bond of love that is shared among Southern Baptists. It is the same bond of Christian love that I sang about as we held hands in that fellowship circle over fifty years ago. I thanked the Lord for my friends who picked up the phone and called to check on us. I thanked the Lord for what it means to be a part of His family and have brothers and sisters who really care about each other.

I think it is good to be reminded of the great Southern Baptist network of love that spans the nation. When our girls were driving back and forth from home to college, I said to them, “If you ever get stranded on the road anywhere in the country, call the local Baptist church and they will come to your aid.” There was a time, in fact, that we had to do just that. Kathy was driving home from college and the car caught on fire. She got out of the car quickly, and called the local Baptist church. One of the ministers came out to the Interstate, helped her with the car situation, and took her back to the church office for safe keeping until I could get there.

When I was pastor in Paducah, Kentucky, I received a call from the wife of a pastor friend in Alabama. She was traveling on I-24 and was ill. I was able to get to her and have one of the doctors in our church take care of her. In a couple of days she was well enough to travel. “Blest be the tie that binds our hearts in Christian love!”

Reminded once again of the fellowship of believers, I have asked the Lord to help me to be one who consistently cares for others and checks on them in times of need and crisis. It’s really a great part of what being a Christian is all about.