I have two groups of SBCish friends.
I’ve got friends who think about the SBC the way Bilbo and Frodo thought about Mordor. Some have already left and others are engaging in quiet-quitting (not participating, giving less or designating). Many who have left are vocal in lambasting our denomination (or convention of churches) at every chance. Some get offended if anyone says anything positive at any time about anything in the SBC. Most of that is, frankly, related to the SBC’s failure to deal well with sexual abuse and its survivors.
I have other friends who are excited about the SBC, about it missions and missionaries, about the increased baptisms and churches being planted. We have six of the best seminaries in the land. Lottie Moon and Annie Armstrong have shown strong offerings in recent years.
As I’ve listened to reports at the convention this year, there is a lot of good going on.
Which side is right? My answer – YES.
I think we have some serious problems, but I think that by God’s grace we are still alive and moving forward. Maybe we are a Dave Miller convention. Aging. A lot wrong with me. Perhaps facing major surgery and doggone it, everything hurts, but God is still at work.
I realize that this is going to anger everyone. Those who have soured on the SBC have soured hard and to say that “PBPGINFWUY” (Please be patient, God is not finished with us yet – remember those buttons?) is offensive to them. True SBC loyalists often recoil at criticism. I stand firmly in the center.
We have problems, but I still think we have a future.
So, to everyone who’s mad at me – be nice to me. I’m getting old and my mind is slipping.
