The Bloggers Who Cried Wolf!

There once was a shepherd boy tending his flock. One day he decided to cry, “Wolf” when there was no wolf. To his delight he received much attention. The town heard his cry and the people came to help him. However, they were frustrated when they realized it was a false alarm. Later, he cried wolf again when there was no wolf. And once more he received attention as the townspeople came to help. After they left the second time the boy really saw a wolf. With all of his energy he cried, “Wolf,” but this time no one came. He had lost his integrity and could not be believed.

I have always enjoyed the lessons contained in Aesop’s Fables. But the lesson of the boy who cried wolf is only a shadow of the tragedies that occur when one cries fowl erroneously. Let’s look deeper at these tragedies.

There once was a great town, which maintained a lighthouse for lost ships. A group in the town sought to extinguish the light. However, the townspeople rallied behind their leaders and rose victoriously through civil strife as they dismantled the heretical group of light-haters. The town lived in harmony for many years after this incident.

In time, a new generation of townspeople arose. This generation had not fought in the civil strife and yet they were preparing to be the next keepers of the light. One day a small group of bloggers within this generation decided to cry warnings of improprieties about the leadership of the town. “WOLF!” They cried. They received much attention. Their buddies applauded them, light-haters encouraged them, conspiracy theorists believed them and the townspeople listened. However, as their accusations were checked for validation they were found wanting.

For whatever reason the bloggers decided to cry wolf again. And again: applause from their buddies; encouragement from the light-haters; belief by the conspiracy theorists and; concern by the townspeople. However, like before, their cries were unsubstantiated.

Who knows what prompted these bloggers to continue to cry wolf…but they did. And their cries received the same reaction from many. However, in time their unfounded claims caused them to lose credibility with more and more townspeople. Furthermore, their legacy became one of tainting the town erroneously.



Obviously, this is a story of the SBC and yes this is about the bloggers who are crying fowl concerning our leadership. The unsubstantiated claims and implications continue to be voiced to the applause of buddies, the encouragement of liberals, and the belief by conspiracy theorists.

Those who are doing the crying would have us believe they are really concerned about the SBC and there are no more liberals amongst us. The validity of the first I cannot speak to, however, I assure you, there are liberals in our convention.

My grandparents were members of First Baptist Church of Richmond, Va. Their last shepherd before they passed was the current pastor Rev. Jim Flamming. I remember one weekend when I was a student at Southeastern I went to their house in the fan district of Richmond. My grandmother asked me if I really believed all the miracles in the Bible. Immediately, I replied yes. She said, “Do you really believe a fish swallowed a man, spat him up on a beach, and then, the man preached?” I said, “Yes.” She replied, “but that is scientifically impossible.” I said, “If God can create the universe by speaking it into existence, then I believe God can have a whale swallow a man, spit him up, and then, have the man preach.”

I truly believe my grandparents were saved and are now in heaven. They both believed in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ and had professed him as Lord. While their erroneous beliefs about some of the miracles in the Bible concerned me deeply, I was more concerned with whoever was teaching them such heresy.

Fellow Southern Baptist to assume there are no liberals amongst us is a most naive and dangerous assumption. There are. And they would like nothing better than for us to lower the standard of inerrancy under the guise of widening the tent.

I am convinced our President Frank Page would never allow such a lowering. And I am grateful for him and his leadership. I also feel many of the bloggers would not lower the standard, but there are some amongst us who would, and they are enjoying the bloggers crying wolf.

Perhaps our wolf-crying brethren would be better off masticating on God’s Word (Proverbs 6:16-19) than castigating God’s children.

My great-grandmother used to say, “the more you stir manure, the more it stinks.” While some may enjoy such an aroma producing activity I do not, however, I do desire to scoop it out.

BR