Roger's Newsletter Article

Adopting For The Gospel

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" Galatians 4:4-6

I was going to write an article this month on what I learned on my trip to Canada. And perhaps I will write that one soon. It certainly was an eye-opening visit and I wholeheartedly believe that God is calling Clear Creek to adopt southwestern Ontario as a mission field and to begin a church planting movement there [please see last month’s Ripple for an overview of this opportunity]. I would write this month on adopting this area for the gospel, but God is doing something in my family that is even more significant for us and may be for you. He has called our family to adopt a child or children for the gospel.

The need for adoption is profound: in the United States alone, more than 500,000 children were in foster care system in 2005, the last year for which federal statistics were available. About 115,000 were waiting for adoption. Around the world, there are an estimated 145 million orphans who need a home and family. But for us this is not about social justice, nor is it about our need to fill a void in our lives by having more children. Trust me, with four kids running around my house, there is no void! We are blessed and treasure our kids as a heritage and gift from God (Psalm 127:3) but we do not feel a need to have more. But like many Christian families, we are beginning to understand the significance of the doctrine of adoption. God has adopted us, grafting us into His family. And so for the sake of the gospel and the magnification of God, we want to respond in joyful obedience to his call to adoption.

We are, of course, not alone in this. Many of you have already responded to God’s call and adopted children of your own. And there is definitely something happening right now among the people of God, a movement of adoption for the gospel as a recent article on SBC.net shows:

“Something is afoot among Christian families and churches of virtually every kind,” says Russell Moore, Dean of the School of Theology at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, who wrote a resolution on adoption that was unanimously passed at the 2009 Southern Baptist Convention. “God is calling the people of Christ to see the face of Jesus in the faces of orphans in North America and around the world. Southern Baptists have affirmed our belief in the authority of Scripture, and the Bible tells us pure religion is defined by care for the fatherless.

“We’ve been defined by our commitment to evangelism, and there is no greater field as `white unto harvest’ right now as children in orphanages, group homes, and the foster care system, children who don’t know a parent’s love and who don’t know the name of Jesus. When Satan wars against children, we should be the ones who have compassion on them, even as Jesus did and does.

During the introduction of the resolution, Moore appeared on stage with Timothy and Benjamin, the sons he and his wife adopted seven years ago. More than 8,000 messengers met the resolution and its unanimous passage with lengthy, enthusiastic applause. “I was overwhelmed with emotion on the platform to see my sons, two little ex-orphans, looking out on a sea of yellow ballots as thousands of Southern Baptists affirmed that we want to be the people who love fatherless children,” he said.

“I realized that, in an alternative story, my boys would still be in an orphanage, not knowing even the name of Christ Jesus. But here they are, at the Southern Baptist Convention, calling by their very presence the world’s largest Protestant denomination to recognize there are hundreds of thousands of children as helpless and alone as they once were.

“My prayer is that twenty years from now there are thousands of Southern Baptist pastors, missionaries, and church leaders who started their lives as orphans, now preaching the gospel of God their Father.”

Caroline and I and our children rejoice that God might allow us to show forth His glory in this way and so we are pursuing adoption. We are early in this, and have not yet been matched with a child. The process is long and expensive and heartbreaking. And so we would appreciate your prayers.

As you may have heard me say before, everything is doctrinal. When we got married 20 years ago, I began to better understand Christ’s love for His bride, the church. When I became a dad, I began to understand what it meant for God to so love the world that He sent his only begotten son. And now as we begin this new chapter in our lives, I find myself looking in wonder at the doctrine of adoption. The more I see of God and the truth of His word, the more I am amazed at His grace poured out for me. May we respond to His faithfulness with our obedience, for His gospel and glory.

Resolution On Adoption And Orphan Care
Southern Baptist Convention, June 2009

WHEREAS, In the gospel we have received the "Spirit of adoption" whereby we are no longer spiritual orphans but are now beloved children of God and joint heirs with Christ (John 14:18; Romans 8:12-25; Galatians 3:27-4:9; Ephesians 1:5); and

WHEREAS, The God we now know as our Father reveals himself as a "father of the fatherless" (Psalm 68:5) who grants mercy to orphans (Deuteronomy 10:18; Hosea 14:3); and

WHEREAS, Our Lord Jesus welcomes the little ones (Luke 18:15-17), pleads for the lives of the innocent (Psalm 72:12-14), and shows us that we will be held accountable for our response to "the least of these brothers of mine" (Matthew 25:40); and

WHEREAS, The Scripture defines "pure and undefiled religion" as "to look after orphans and widows in their distress" (James 1:27); and

WHEREAS, The satanic powers and the ravages of sin have warred against infants and children from Pharaoh to Molech to Herod and, now, through the horrors of a divorce culture, an abortion industry, and the global plagues of disease, starvation, and warfare; and

WHEREAS, Southern Baptists have articulated an unequivocal commitment to the sanctity of all human life, born and unborn; and

WHEREAS, Churches defined by the Great Commission must be concerned for the evangelism of children—including those who have no parents; and

WHEREAS, Upward of 150 million orphans now languish without families in orphanages, group homes, and placement systems in North America and around the world; and

WHEREAS, Our Father loves all of these children, and a great multitude of them will never otherwise hear the gospel of Jesus Christ; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That the messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention meeting in Louisville, Kentucky, June 23-24, 2009, express our commitment to join our Father in seeking mercy for orphans; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we call on each Southern Baptist family to pray for guidance as to whether God is calling them to adopt or foster a child or children; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we encourage our pastors and church leaders to preach and teach on God's concern for orphans; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we commend churches and ministries that are equipping families to provide financial and other resources to those called to adopt, through grants, matching funds, or loans; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we encourage local churches to champion the evangelism of and ministry to orphans around the world, and to seek out ways to energize Southern Baptists behind this mission; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we encourage Southern Baptist churches to join with other evangelical Christians in setting aside a special Sunday each year to focus upon our adoption in Christ and our common burden for the orphans of the world; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we pray what God is doing in creating an adoption culture in so many churches and families can point us to a gospel oneness that is determined not by “the flesh,” or race, or economics, or cultural sameness, but by the Spirit, unity, and peace in Christ Jesus; and be it finally

RESOLVED, That we pray for an outpouring of God's Spirit on Southern Baptist congregations so that our churches will proclaim and picture, in word and in deed, that “Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world.”