Voddie Baucham on T.D. Jakes & the Elephant Room Controversy

I've had great respect for Voddie Baucham for a long time now and greatly appreciate his perspective on the "Elephant Room 2" controversy. Of course, since I'm kind of a nobody, no one is really asking me to weigh in. However, I believe that those of you in my audience need to be aware of the situation. The doctrine of the Trinity is, without question, the central doctrine of the Christian faith. Everything else hangs on it. ER2 appears to suggest that we can afford to compromise or even "agree to disagree" in this area in the name of unity. As my readers know, unity and a greater missional collaboration in the body of Christ is one of my central calls to the Church. But, not at any cost. I believe strongly that the oneness of the Church is an essential Christian doctrine. However, it hangs on the doctrine of the Trinity. We must have our priorities straight.

So, I commend to you Voddie Baucham's recent post related to his own experience with the Elephant Room crew. I believe you will find it interesting and challenging. He has done an excellent job of getting at the issue and explaining graciously why he chose not to participate in ER2.

Blog | Grace Family Baptist Church: "This past week a firestorm erupted over the recent “Elephant Room 2.” The controversy centers around the decision to invite Bishop T.D. Jakes to participate in the event. The central questions in the debate are 1) whether or not Bishop Jakes holds to the historic, orthodox doctrine of the Trinity, 2) whether it was appropriate to invite (and feature) him without first having clarified his position on this cardinal doctrine, and 3) whether he cleared up the matter. I was scheduled to speak at Harvest Bible Chapel on the weekend following ER2 which raised significant questions about my stance on the matter. While I do not consider it my responsibility to comment on every controversy, I do recognize my duty to clarify matters with which I am involved directly, and/or those that impact the congregation I am called to shepherd. Hence, my explanation now.