I’m still all in on our cooperative work as Southern Baptists.
Things are not perfect in the SBC. That’s no secret. We have our issues. We always have. We always will. Until Jesus returns.
But I am still committed to cooperating with other like-minded churches for the sake of the gospel.
I attended my first Southern Baptist Convention in 2013 in Houston. Fred Luter was the president. He was re-elected for his second term at that meeting. Some guy in an ugly lime green suit was the second vice president. Sorry, Dave! The Calvinism task force presented their report. It was Russell Moore’s first convention as ERLC president. And Wiley Drake made his motions. My how we miss our most highly esteemed former second vice president! Sorry again, Dave, but I’m talking about Wiley.
I was a youth and children’s pastor and seminary student who had grown up in Southern Baptist churches but knew very little about the Southern Baptist Convention other than what I had learned in seminary. I attended the Founders breakfast that year where I heard Voddie Baucham speak. I attended almost every minute of every session and was mostly amazed and encouraged by what I saw and heard. I was excited to see with my own eyes what the SBC was all about.
That was 12 years ago. In many ways, that seems like an eternity ago. Things seem very different now. No one was talking then about defunding or abolishing the ERLC. In fact, there was a renewed excitement surrounding the ERLC. No former presidents were suing the convention. I don’t remember hearing any charges of creeping liberalism. Those who were concerned with the direction of the convention were focused on Calvinism and how many degrees of separation there were between Louisville and each new entity head.
Southern Baptists were still fighting to a certain extent. It seems that’s what we do. But the battle lines were different. And the tone of the conversations was different. We seemed to understand that though we disagreed about some important issues, we were brothers and sisters in Christ who could link arms in cooperative mission for the sake of the gospel.
I first became aware of this blog sometime around my first annual meeting in 2013. It was here that I was able to join the public conversation about all things SBC—initially as a commenter, then as a contributor, and eventually as an admin. I was pretty active here for a while, but blogging about the SBC has taken a backseat for me over the last couple years. There are a number of reasons for that, but none of them are a lack commitment to our cooperative work.
Last year, I had the privilege of serving as chair of the Committee on Committees under SBC President Bart Barber. I first got to know Bart during preparations for the 2017 SBC Pastors’ Conference, where he was one of the preachers and I was part of the planning team. I couldn’t have imagined, back in 2013 when I attended my first annual meeting, that I would have such opportunities in the years to come.
I haven’t missed an SBC annual meeting since my first convention in 2013. I’ll be in Dallas next week as we celebrate 100 years of the Cooperative Program and the Baptist Faith & Message. I did my messenger pre-registration on Monday. I calculated that my small Southern Baptist church gave over $50,000 to the CP, LMCO, and AAEO in the last fiscal year. That’s 10% of our undesignated receipts to the CP and significant special offerings for the LMCO and AAEO.
In addition, we are directly engaged with NAMB church planting work in our own community and in Puerto Rico. We are also in the process of building a relationship with an IMB family on the other side of the world.
I’ll be in Dallas because our church is deeply invested in the work of the Southern Baptist Convention. Decisions are made by those who show up. I don’t expect to agree with every decision that is made, but my voice will only be heard if I am present.
I still believe we are better together than we are apart. Our challenges are many, but our opportunities are even more numerous. God is still at work in and through the Southern Baptist Convention. I am thankful for that, and I want to be a part of it.
