Our political climate is exhausting. Must our Convention also be? (Matt Johnson)

I don’t think it’s too controversial to say that it’s absolutely draining to keep tabs on political news. The constant barrage of outrage demands our every waking moment. At times, it feels like the strategy is meant to fatigue us so that we no longer care anymore. Is the SBC operating by the same playbook?

A recent piece from our friends at Baptist News Global (link here: https://baptistnews.com/article/as-god-is-my-witness-mohler-has-changed-his-tune-on-erlc/) asserts that at least two influential Southern Baptists are planting seeds to bring yet another motion to defund the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. By my count, this would be the eighth year in a row that the Convention has been faced with this question. Each time the messengers have voiced their support for the need of the ERLC and its work. Yet, much like amendments regarding the nebulous roles of “Associate Pastor, Pastor of Media, Pastor of Kids, Pastor of Facilities, Pastor of Impressions,” the strategy of “keep pushing until the point of apathy” is at play.

Since 2017, the ERLC has undergone leadership changes not only in the president’s office, but in several VP positions, and has focused itself on being more engaged in dialoguing with Southern Baptists. Yet for some, it’s still not enough. For reasons yet to be disclosed, it seems the ERLC -though accounting for less than two pennies from each Cooperative Program dollar- is again being set to face the chopping block.

This wouldn’t be so discouraging if it didn’t highlight a larger trend in SBC life: no one dislikes Southern Baptists more than Southern Baptists. In the short time post-Covid, we’ve kicked out or pushed out: Beth Moore, Russell Moore, Karen Swallow Prior, Rick Warren, Andy Stanley, Randy Covington, Steve Furtick, and approximately 1.4 million other now former Southern Baptists (Source here: https://www.christianitytoday.com/2025/04/southern-baptist-convention-decline-churches-baptism-report/). You cannot convince me that each of these brothers and sisters was espousing heresy.

Now, dissatisfied with the herd-thinning that has already taken place, the focus on what next to hatchet while touting the action as “God’s plan” is again centered around an entity that Southern Baptists have made crystal-clear they want to be part of their cooperative work.

So what’s the end-game? I cannot think of another reason to bring this motion forward again other than this: the folks doing so believe that when we meet in Dallas, we’ll be so fed up with this question we’ll just vote their way so we can move on.

Driving those who disagree or even have a moderately different opinion to weary acquiescence is a sad and dangerous trend in our politics and in our convention. As the old adage goes, “No one will know what you’re for, if they only know what you’re against.” We are quickly becoming a convention known for what we’re against. Meanwhile, the cause of Christ beckons us to be “for.”