We live in a divided culture and world. There’s no room for agreement or compromise. “I’m right and you’re wrong!” has become our calling card. The statesmen that made our government the greatest in the world are long gone. Reaching across the aisle today? Not unless you want your hand slapped.
The word, unanimous, has become an anomaly.
Mask or no mask? Vaccines or no vaccines? Has there ever been anything more divisive than what COVID has brought us in the last 18 months? It’s divided families, friends and, yes, even churches.
Our country and our world are at a breaking point because of division, and it doesn’t leave us with much hope.
News channels are so divided they do stories on what the other channel is reporting on the divisive issues. Not sure how that qualifies as news value.
And did you know only one person has ever been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown with a unanimous vote? It’s not who you might think either. It’s a relief pitcher. Remember Mariano Rivera of the New York Yankees? He’s the only one. Why? Because sportswriters never thought anybody should be unanimous. Not even Babe Ruth got every vote. Go figure.
So it’s easy to see: Unanimous is a lonely word.
Which brings me to Sunday morning, when a congregation in a Southern Baptist church in northeastern Kentucky, voted in a new pastor with a unanimous vote. The members at Unity Baptist Church in Ashland will be telling their grandchildren about the day Heath Bauer collected a circled yes on every ballot that was handed out – 148 of them in all - and not a single no vote. It’s the first time in at least the last five pastors, dating back some 50 years at Unity, that there has been a unanimous vote. In other words, it’s rare.
You can call it a miracle. I’m calling it hope.
Hope in the future for the church, hope for the community and hope for this group of believers who appear ready to roll up their sleeves for the sake of the gospel.
The church, in full agreement to bring this pastor to shepherd this flock, understands that division breeds discord. This vote shows we can put aside our differences and work together with this man whom God has brought our way. We understand the "unity" in our name should be the unity we have with each other.
When the votes were being counted and one of the deacons assigned to total the numbers realized there wasn’t a single no vote, he was speechless, too choked up to even say anything. Someone else was asked to pray for what had transpired. That’s what a unanimous vote meant to them.
And when that same deacon came to the head of the search committee with the news of the unanimous vote, he did so with a big hug and a smile, still emotional in getting the words out. Now it was the committee chairman’s turn to shed some tears, which he did while calling the candidate with the news. Electricity traveled through the church when the moderator revealed the results to the congregation that had stayed to hear the vote totals. They burst into applause with a standing ovation. It was a unifying moment if I ever saw one.
It's not that a 144-4 vote would have been bad, but a unanimous vote speaks not only for the man who has been called by God to be the pastor but also for the congregation that understands we’re better together.
We are like every other church. We have our problems and not everybody is happy about everything. But on this issue, we were in full agreement. And the word "unanimous" brought new energy and momentum, the likes even the old-timers said they haven’t seen in years.
This vote showed me and showed our new pastor that this church is ready to be led and ready to share Jesus with a lost and dying world. We say that time is running out. Now we need to live like it.
Unity Baptist was unified when it came to confirming Heath Bauer as its new pastor. He and his wife were IMB missionaries to China for a dozen years, so they have the chops. How that journey from China led to this northeastern Kentucky town is something we will talk about for years to come.
Just like the day we had the unanimous vote.
MARK MAYNARD is managing editor of Kentucky Today. Reach him at mark.maynard@kentuckytoday.com