On Monday the Executive Committee of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission and its President Russell Moore released a statement entitled “Seeking Unity in the Southern Baptist Convention.” Brent Hobbs wrote a post here at SBC Voices extracting some of the most notable quotes from the statement.
Baptist Press has now released an article with quotes from SBC President Steve Gaines in response to the ERLC statement. I was encouraged by his comments, and wanted to pass them along here.
Quotes from Steve Gaines (emphasis mine):
“I am grateful for the statement from Dr. Russell Moore and the ERLC executive committee. They have been assigned with a very difficult task. Indeed it is impossible to please everyone regarding issues of conviction and conscience. I know Dr. Moore to be a very godly servant of Jesus Christ. He has preached at Bellevue Baptist Church and he did a wonderful job.”
“Regarding his work at the ERLC, I have agreed with most of his statements, especially those regarding the sanctity of human life, the sacredness of heterosexual, monogamous marriage and religious liberty. However, I have disagreed with some of the statements he made during the election and I especially disagreed with the tone with which he made some of those statements. I have discussed all of this privately with him. He has genuinely apologized for his mistakes and that is good enough for me.”
“I believe all of us who are recipients of grace and forgiveness should grant him the same forgiveness that we desire from the Lord. It is high time that we put all of this behind us. None of these matters will prevent Bellevue Baptist Church from continuing our support of the Cooperative Program, the ERLC and Dr. Moore. It is time to move ahead and work together to double our efforts to take the Gospel to our nation and the nations.“
I particularly appreciate Dr. Gaines’ call for us to put all of this behind us and move forward as we seek to take the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ to our nation and the nations. May we all take up this same position.
