Alabama pastor and International Missions Board (IMB) trustee Cecil Sanders Jr. has no doubt that the IMB’s work will move forward effectively in the time it takes to find a new leader for the organization.
Responding to the Feb. 12 request by IMB President David Platt that the search for his successor begin, Sanders, pastor of First Baptist Church, Headland, in Judson Baptist Association, said, “I know God has someone for us who will pick up the mantle and carry on. We want to make sure the main thing remains the main thing — exalting Christ in every corner of the globe.”
Speaking to the Association of State Baptist Publications (ASBP) on Feb. 14, Platt, who will continue as president at IMB until a new president is elected, downplayed his significance in the larger picture of the IMB.
‘Disciples are being made’
“David Platt made an announcement this week, but I think we are in danger of missing the most important headlines,” Platt said. “Disciples are being made. Pastors are being multiplied. The IMB is not David Platt. IMB is a coalition of 47,000 churches working together to support missionaries, some anonymous missionaries whose names can’t be mentioned in public. They are risking their lives to share the gospel. They are the IMB.”
Platt affirmed his commitment to leading the IMB until the new president is found.
“Nobody in the IMB wants to put a pause on our work,” he said. “We are moving forward in strengthening our systems and training … giving ourselves to the missionary tasks. The IMB is open for business. We are financially healthy, we are biblically strong and we are practically ready to send limitless missionaries.”
IMB trustee Jay Wolf, pastor of First Baptist Church, Montgomery, in Montgomery Baptist Association, was in India on a church planting missions trip when the announcement came but contacted Platt afterwards.
“When I sent an email to (Platt) about his decision to step away from leading the IMB he immediately wrote me back and said, ‘I wish I was in India with you, sharing Christ with those unreached people!’ David has a burning passion to share Christ’s love and light with all people,” Wolf wrote in an email to The Alabama Baptist. “While I am personally disappointed to see him step down as the IMB president, I’m confident that he will continue to serve as a missions mobilizer in coordination with the IMB.”
Platt has served as IMB president since August 2014. Prior to taking on the role, he served as pastor of The Church at Brook Hills, Birmingham.
‘Burdened’ to preach
In September 2017, Platt was granted permission by IMB trustees to take a teaching pastor role at McLean Bible Church in Northern Virginia alongside his leadership of the IMB. IMB trustee Ken Burnham, a member of Meadow Brook Baptist Church, Oxford, in Calhoun Baptist Association, said the plan was to review the status of that arrangement during the February meeting of IMB trustees.
“He wanted to be in a church with his family, which is only natural,” Burnham said. “It was a good opportunity for him with his preaching and teaching gifts.”
Platt told trustees, missionaries and staff that during his nearly four-year tenure at the IMB, he has been “burdened to continue preaching and leading in the local church,” even as he remained dedicated to global missions.
“I am more passionate today than I have ever been about getting the gospel to the nations, and I want to spend what little time I have left on this earth with urgency toward that end,” he said.
IMB trustee Max Croft, associate pastor of Agape Baptist Church, Scottsboro, in Tennessee River Baptist Association, said the news of Platt’s intent to step away from the IMB did not come as a surprise.
“I join many who thought he could not do two jobs, and he essentially said after receiving advice from friends and colleagues and through prayer and consideration, he decided he could not do both,” Croft said.
Croft said he honors the decision because Platt “has said he believes his God-given gifts are in teaching.”
“He’s truly a man of God and I believe he’s doing what he thinks is God’s will,” Croft said.
Richard Richie, an IMB trustee and pastor of Blue Springs Baptist Church, Somerville, in Morgan Baptist Association, also was not surprised by Platt’s decision.
“We’ve felt there was a steady tension going on between David’s strong desire to preach and teach at the local church level while also continuing to serve on the world platform that the IMB presidency has afforded him,” Richie said.
Platt said he had come to the realization that serving as president of the IMB and as a teaching pastor in a church was “not viable long-term.”
‘Being obedient’
“We all have parts to play, and I hope we are all playing the parts God has called us to play,” Platt told ASBP members. “I believe God has said I need to be in a different position. It’s not about where you are but about being obedient.”
Croft said Platt has done an “outstanding job as president of IMB” and was encouraged by Platt’s expressed intent to continue in some future role at IMB.
“He indicated he will keep an attachment with IMB, and I look forward to that because he does have a heart for the nations. … I hope we can keep him in some capacity with IMB,” Croft said.
Search to begin soon
Platt reiterated his love for the IMB family and told ASBP members he wants “to serve IMB in any way I can. … The specifics of what that looks like we will leave in the Lord’s hand.”
Wolf said Platt’s vision for the IMB is “straight from God’s heart” and said Platt “has done a good work and will continue to be a powerful leader in the entire evangelical world.”
Burnham said IMB trustees will discuss the presidential search process when they meet Feb. 28–March 1 in Richmond and will follow the process outlined in the organization’s bylaws for presidential searches, beginning with the appointment of a search committee comprised of IMB trustees selected by trustee chairman Rick Dunbar, a member of First Baptist Church, Madison, Mississippi.
The search team is expected to meet before leaving Richmond, and Wolf said he is confident in the process.
“God will provide an appropriate new IMB president,” Wolf said. “Ultimately we are simply joining the Father’s work. Our job is to trust the Lord, listen for His voice, act in obedience and faithfully serve as His witnesses until He calls us home.”
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