To be honest, very little.
BUT some of you might remember a post I wrote asking if the Southern Baptist Convention should change it’s name, Should We Change Our Name?. In the article I said I thought we should and then stated multiple reasons as to why.
In the much talked about sermon by Dr. Akin, Axioms for a Great Commission Resurgence, he stated the possibility of the SBC needing to change its name. Did my post really cause Dr. Akin to examine the issue and then persuade him to join the cause? Umm, no, but one thing it does mean is that it is not only me and other lowly SBCer’s that recognize the need for change.
Again, I state that I think Dr. Akin is right on this issue, as I said months in advance… 
The Southern Baptist Convention should not be a regional convention and if we are not going to be a regional convention we should not restrict ourselves with a regional name. There should be very little that is actually ‘Southern’ about us.
I am not going to lay out my arguments once again on this issue, there is no need when the person I support to lead our convention is taking up the cause. Let me just say this is another reason why I believe in the leadership of Dr. Daniel Akin.
{ 24 comments… read them below or add one }
Could we just declare Danny Akin “Emperor for Life” in the SBC? I like everything I hear him say.
As an Iowa pastor, I can tell you that a name change would be a very helpful thing for us.
I can also say I have had many discussions about this thing and one of the real problems is that EVERY possible name I could think of is taken by another denomination or is tainted in some way.
Dave Millers last blog post..Patterson, Burleson and the CR: Answering a Thoughtful Question
Don’t worry Dave… We can trust Mighty Akin with coming up with the best possible name.
Matt: the next argument (uh debate) will be what will they name it and will it include “Baptist”. I had a debate on that about 2 years ago on one of my blogs. They had all kinds of suggestions. I was led to Christ in a Southern Baptist Church in New England because it was a Southern Baptist Church (as I’d grown up in one as a child in Virginia… baptized when I was 7). Wasn’t until I was 28 did the Lord grab hold of me and plop me in that little church and bring me home. This may not be as palatable to some as it does to others. selahV
selahVs last blog post..WHEN YOU NEED TO PRAY, AND CAN’T
Mighty Akin will be able to come up with a name… If not him, one of his assistants.
In all seriousness, that is going to be an intense debate. It is a needed debate. In my opinion, it is not necessary to keep the name Baptist, although I do think it has its benefits.
Changing the name of the SBC has been considered for at least 35 years. I think it was back in the 1970s that W. A. Criswell wanted to change the name. Seems like his suggestion was Continental Baptist Convention.
Then several years ago a SBC president said let’s deal with this issue once and for all. He also was for a name change. Each time it has been voted down.
To me the biggest problem is that everybody knows the SBC and what it stands for. If we change the name it will take many years for the average person to figure out who we are. The standard explanation will be, “You know, they are the old Southern Baptist Convention.”
David R. Brumbelow
I really see no need to change the name, but if everyone feels that we should…then, so be it. But, Matt, are you suggesting that we not only drop the name “Southern,” but also “Baptist?” If anyone is suggesting that, then I, for one, will be voting against that. There’s nothing wrong with the name “Baptist.” My goodness, who does have a problem with it? And, can you imagine the turmoil that would cause Churches everywhere? You talk about stirring up trouble…Matt, you’re asking for it, Brother. People would come nearer to doing away with the “Southern,” than they would with doing away with “Baptist.”
Are you seriously saying that we should do away with the “Baptist” part of our name?
David
I haven’t heard anyone seriously suggest we give up the name Baptist in our convention (there may be some somewhere).
Had we gotten on the stick earlier, we could have been “Cooperative Baptist Convention.” But, I am afraid that that one has been tainted.
“Great commission Baptist.” “North American Baptist.” Great names – taken by small midwestern denominations.
Some have suggested Worldwide Baptist or International Baptist – but those are actually incorrect according to Baptist Polity. Each nation’s Baptist convention is autonomous. International or Worldwide would give the appearance of some sort of Baptist Colonialism.
Matt, I share your faith in the wisdom of the Great Akin (I like that name). However, this will be a test of his magical powers.
Dave Millers last blog post..Patterson, Burleson and the CR: Answering a Thoughtful Question
I’m sorry, the “Mighty Akin.” Though either name fits.
Dave Millers last blog post..Patterson, Burleson and the CR: Answering a Thoughtful Question
Dave,
Look at Matt’s comment above when he said,”In my opinion, it is not necessary to keep the name Baptist, although I do think it has its benefits.”
David
What I am saying is that the name Southern must go, I think the name Baptist is important and has its benefits, but I would be totally against something just because it didnt have the name Baptist in it. Nothing is wrong with the name Baptist, but nothing is also wrong with a Baptist denomination not having the word Baptist in it. Evangelical Free Church of America is Baptist and they dont have the word in their name.
I like the word Baptist to be in the name, but it isnt a must.
Better Baptists Convention?
but BBC is already taken…
How about The Southern-Northern-Midwestern-Western Baptist Gaggle?
Darby Livingstons last blog post..A Scalpel or a Sword: Surgery or Slaughter?
Or SNMWBG for short.
Darby Livingstons last blog post..A Scalpel or a Sword: Surgery or Slaughter?
haha…
What is wrong with National Baptist Canvention? Is it taken?
I think that’s the African American group that had legal troubles a few years back.
Voices Baptist Convention?
Great Commission Baptist Convention?
Conservative Cooperative Baptist Convention?
Not Just Southern Baptist Convention?
We Are Better than You Convention?
Why not just ‘Great Commission Convention’?
Evangelical Baptist Convention?
TN Vols Baptist Convention?
Mark Lamprechts last blog post..$5 Deal of the Day Giveaway
I actually like the first two Mark… But the third one makes me question if the Holy Spirit really dwells within you. I will pray that God changes your heart.. That must be part of the ‘old man’ you are still fighting off.
I think my heart was taken captive over the hills and yonder.
Mark Lamprechts last blog post..Keep Up With Your Favorite Blogs
Mark,
Amen!
David
The real question is this: What am I standing for? My influence will derive from what I stand for and how I stand for it. I stand for the original theology of Sandy Creek, Charleston, Philadelphia, which is the theology of the First and Second Great Awakenings, so-called calvinism or, better yet, Sovereign Grace. If we are going to have another great awakening, we must have a renewed respect and appreciation for that biblical teaching – even all seven points of PREDESTINATION, TOTAL DEPRAVITY (and I mean INABILITY), UNCONDITIONAL ELECTION, LIMITED ATONEMENT, IRRESISTIBLE GRACE, PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS, AND REPROBATION. I know it sounds ridiculous to say, but these truths, are actually THE GREATEST INVITATIONS TO SINFUL SOULS TO BE SAVED ON GOD’S TERMS. They are the most pressing, the most urgent, the most inviting, the most diplomatic, the most attractive truths in the world. THEY ARE THE TEACHINGS OF THE GREAT MINISTERS OF THE FIRST AND SECOND GREAT AWAKENINGS (who surely turn over in their graves when I call them great but these teachings only make God great – and no one else. Alas we are humans and do tend to the flesh too much). In any case just look at George Whitefield, Jonathan Edwards, John Gano, Shubal Stearns, Daniel Marshall, John Leland, John Taylor, Richard Furman, Hezekiah Harmon, George (?) ( of Sandy Creek in 1801), Isaac Backus, James Manning. Mind you, I except for the first two names, my list has been about Baptists, but the Presbyterians, Congregationalists, etc. were all a part of both events. The thought that we might have another of these visitations stirs me so profoundly that words fail. I must add such teachings are like the paradoxical interventions which some counselors use as therapy for some situations. Now, if professional counselors (Psychiatrists, Psychologists, and Counselors) can devise such strategies of treatment, then, surely, God, who is a whole lot smarter, can do an even better job with even more complex therapies. Could this be the reason why Dr. George W. Truett could say, “CALVINISM PRESSED DOWN UPON THE BROW OF MAN HUMAN RESPONSIBILITY.” In my studies in American Intellectual History, I came across a statement where one scholar referred to how the men of Iron, the Puritans, the Calvinists, were the kind of people who could stick it out. We all know how the Pilgrims were willing to become the stepping stones for others to advance the cause of Christ (or we should know it). Let us stand for the truth in the right spirit.
Dr. James Willinghams last blog post..The Climax of the Reformation
I just found this post thanks to a comment on my site from Matthew Svoboda. Thanks Matthew!
His response was in reply to a post I just wrote called “Giving the SBC a New Name”. There I give lots of reasons why we need a name change, what the positive results will be with a new name, and one suggestion for what that name might be. I hope you will check it out and let me know what you think:
http://churchethos.com/2009/06/19/giving-the-sbc-a-new-name
Nathan,
Thanks for coming by.. Although, this post isn’t my original post where I argue for the name change. I linked to it at the top.
You fellows seem not to know your past. So therefore you are very likely to be deprived of it. If so, you will lose as most Baptists already have the very essence of the truth which we need for a Third Great Awakening. No one, I repeat, no one seems to be informed on the immense loss this will constitute. If that theology produced the First and Second Great Awakenings and the origins of the Great Century of Missions (these are the greatest events in Church History since the First Advent of our Lord), then it must be the theology which will take the whole earth. Fail to be concerned about the truth, and the great event might well be delayed another century. We need to be focused here. Even most of the believers of Sovereign Grace do not really understand how it really works, how it becomes so terribly and awesomely attractive that it becomes irresistible in the most wonderful way. I do feel heart broken that the leaders do not – even the ones who believe in Sovereign Grace -, I repeat, do not grasp the vital, dynamic, liberating, compelling, winsome, attractive nature of these truths. I have said in other blogs that the truths are all apparently two-sided and apparently contradictory, and that for reason. They will make belieers balanced, flexible, creative, and magnetic. Again, no one has noticed this. Until we began to understand the nature and effect of Biblical theology, we will never know how to present its appeal. Leaders who do not know this cannot truly lead us. God have mercy upon us and grant that eyes be opened to the reality and power of the truth.
.-= Dr. James Willingham´s last blog ..The Climax of the Reformation =-.