Earlier this week and last week I had the opportunity to sit down with many fellow Southern Baptist pastors in Chesterfield county. The reason we came together was to discuss the "Great Commission Resurgence" progress report issued last month by the task force asked by the SBC to prepare the report. The final report is due in May and will be debated and voted upon at the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Orlando, FL in June. I respect all of my fellow pastors that were present, and the debate was most definitely spirited. Here are a few of my observations.
This is a critical time for Southern Baptists. We are a convention that I believe is nearing crisis. As a convention we have been stagnant regarding baptisms since the late 1950's, this in spite of the SBC having far more churches and church members and the population of the United States growing exponentially. For the first time in our conventions history we are losing membership. It is clear that we need to make some changes. The question is, will this report be an instrument to meaningful change or merely another methodological and structural attempt to increase numbers. As I write what will follow I do not wish to disparage any of the 20 gentlemen serving on this task force as they are simply doing as the SBC asked them to do at last years convention. I believe all of them to be honorable servants of God and I would not want to be in their shoes.
The 32 page progress report is interpreted by many to be a complete structural overhaul of the SBC. Their are indeed many complex and major structural changes that are suggested including a major shifting of monies to areas of the country where Southern Baptists do not have a major presence, basically outside the bible belt to large cities; a major restructuring of the North American Missions Board(NAMB); a proposal to identify all missions giving as cooperative program giving and renaming it "Great Commission Giving"; for the International Mission Board(IMB) to be placed in charge of ministering to the differing people groups of the world even if they are in the United States. More are present but you get the drift.
Those issues will be debated and settled so I won't waste my breath here. What I'd like to tell you is what I foresee happening in June when we come together as a convention. I see a major divide occurring between the older generation and the younger generation. At our gathering I was the youngest pastor present at age 45 and all but one of the other pastors present were strongly against most of the changes being proposed. I see a divide occurring between the smaller churches and the larger and mega-churches as it can be interpreted some of the money issues seem to accentuate the power of the larger churches. I see the strong possibility of this being an extremely divisive convention at a time when we need biblical unity around the person of Jesus Christ.
Some are comparing this time as similar to the conservative resurgence that strongly divided the SBC in the 1970's and 1980's. That wound up being a good thing as the SBC returned to the bible and its authority. The big difference I see between now and then is I do not believe these battles to be biblical in origin, as it was then. These will be battles of how we do things as convention, in a structural way. While the aim may be to better fulfil the Great Commission, there is no debate about the Great Commission itself, as we all agree on the principles of Matthew 28:16-20. This will not be a debate about what the bible says, but how to go about it. In my opinion, that's a big difference.
Do we need change in the SBC? Do we need some reform? I say absolutely. Are we going about it in the right way? That is the question. Is major, sweeping change that happens all at once the right way to do it? To me, this debate seems similar to the recent health care debate. One side wanted major sweeping change and the other incremental more measured change. All agreed change was needed, but the debate was about how to do it and how much should occur at once. We all saw how that played out, and how divisive it was and still is in our nation. My question to my fellow Southern Baptists is, do we want to risk such major sweeping change with no guarantees of success at the cost of a major rift in our convention? Would it be worth the cost that could occur? We all agree in the need for some changes, but will we be more effective in truly fulfilling the Great Commission if we are a divided convention and our best tool for spreading the gospel, the cooperative program, is hurt as many believe it could be?
These are tough questions we face. Personally, I lean toward a more patient, pragmatic approach. Their does indeed need to be a sense of urgency among us in reaching the lost, and fulfilling the Great Commission. But do we need to place all of our eggs in an untested basket? Would it not be prudent to roll the changes out after doing field tests to work out the bugs and see some of the unintended consequences that always come with sweeping change? This will be the focus of this years meeting.
On a last personal note, I question our focus in fulfilling the Great Commission. I strongly believe that unless a heart change occurs, and repentance from our sin and lethargy, our complacency and comfort is present; unless we as God's children are under a Holy Spirit conviction and begin to live out the Greatest Commandment and fully offer ourselves as a living sacrifice to our Lord, our effort no matter what form it may take will not have the desired result. Unless we can go out in the power of God, and not just win souls, but actually make disciples, we will simply be spinning our wheels. In order for true revival to occur in our nation and world, it must first occur in God's church. Recently I've seen many fellow pastors crying out for a focus on discipleship to go along with a focus on evangelism. If we cannot make disciples, we cannot fulfil the Great Commission. Are we putting the cart before the horse? Shouldn't we be more focussed upon seeing the lives of those in our congregations transformed than increasing baptisms. The latest statistics show of those baptized by SBC churches ten years ago, only 2 in 10 could be located. I pray for my convention as we enter this difficult time. The decisions made could have lasting impact. I pray we show love for one another and we work in the Holy Spirit, and that the spirit of this world, of pride and power, are rebuked. I pray for God to reveal Himself, and that Godly wisdom rules the day. My concern is that the flesh may reveal itself instead.
I have had many of the same questions. Thank you for this post. I foresee not only a division in the SBC but if this thing passes a collapse of all the "new work" state conventions within five years. I live in Indiana, a new work state, that receives namb monies each year to help fund the convention. We have a lot of questions up here, but are finding very few answers. The worst part of all of this is no one can really be honest. This is really about money, no matter how they want to wrap it up and present it. I am for changing the SBC to a great commission focus but not this way, it is to divisive, quick, and unexplained. Thanks again.
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