I AIN’T MOVED

I AIN’T MOVED

“But none of these things move me,”
(Acts 20:24)

“I have set the Lord always before me:
because He is at my right hand,
I shall not be moved.”
(Ps. 16:8)

The 1987 Southern Baptist Convention in St. Louis was labeled “the Watershed Convention.”  It was at this meeting of the SBC that the conservatives won the presidential election for the ninth year in a row, and by the presidential choices of conservative electees to the convention boards and committees, the balance of control tipped from the moderate to the conservative wing.  The direction of the Southern Baptist Convention had returned to her fundamental grassroots and has remained that way since the Conservative Resurgence began in 1979.
      Wanda and I were in attendance when Dr. Jerry Vines preached the Convention Sermon in 1987, which is one of the greatest sermons I have ever heard.  It was titled, “A Baptist and His Bible.”  His sermon upheld the inspiration, inerrancy, and infallibility of the Bible, and that it was the view held by the overwhelming majority of Southern Baptists.  He shared an illustration that summarized the Bible-believing, uncompromising Southern Baptist he has always been:

Old Jeb and his wife were riding in their pick-up truck to town one Saturday morning. A car passed them going in the other direction in which a young woman was cuddled up right next to a man, who was driving the car.  Jeb’s wife looked over at him and said, “When we were first married, we didn’t sit this far apart.”  Briefly looking away from the road and over at his wife, Jeb replied, “I ain’t moved!”

I like that!  Every day we are faced with decisions that can greatly alter our lives and the lives of others upon whom we have an influence, some of whom we are not even aware we are influencing. Many of those decisions ought not to be ones we have to give much thought to.  You see, for many of the issues and questions of life, you need to learn the answer before you are ever asked the question.  The Bible has already provided the exact answer to many of life’s questions.  For the ones where the answer is not exact, the Bible provides the principles that lead us to the right decision or answer.
     Having been a full-time pastor for twenty years and serving full-time in the ministry for thirty years, I want you to know that there are some basics of being a pastor, but, most of all, in being a Christian, where I ain’t moved, and I never will be moved.  Our staying firm as Christians on some of these issues and questions of our day will result in persecution in some form. But, as Paul stated when he was told of impending persecution, “None of these things move me.” Oh, that all the disciples of Jesus could testify as Paul.  If we will stay true to the Word and stand firm, the Lord has promised He will equip and empower us to endure.  Therefore, the Lord is with me because I always set him before me, so I shall not be moved.  May the words of an old song be one of our theme songs in the compromising day in which we live: I shall not be, I shall not be moved; I shall not be, I shall not be moved; Just like a tree that’s planted by the waters, Lord, I shall not be moved.