Reflections on the SBC 2022
The Views of 1 Southern Baptist
The annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention has come and gone. Depending on whom you are listening, this was either a tragic year or a pretty good year for Southern Baptists. My voice definitely is one of the latter.
I attended the annual meeting each year from 1985-1995 and again in 2015. I did not attend this year’s meeting, but followed along online to the proceedings. Here is a summary of the main actions from the 2022 meeting.
Had I been a voting messenger, I would have voted for the man who won the election for the presidency of the Convention, Bart Barber of Texas. He defeated Tom Ascol of Florida in a runoff vote. I am grateful for Ascol’s ministry through the years, but his connections with the folks who are highly critical of most of what goes in the SBC soured me on his candidacy. Some of these people see problems where problems don’t exist.
Since I began attending the sessions, I have always loved the emphasis of Southern Baptists on missions and theological education. We have solid men leading our mission boards and our seminaries. In the past I witnessed problems in some of these institutions, but this year is not one of those years.
One of our institutions, the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) withstood a motion from one messenger to be abolished. Overwhelmingly our messengers defeated that motion. This is especially a positive move since we are living in a day that might just see the overturn of the Roe v. Wade decision of the US Supreme Court in 1973. Plus we are seeing a genuine attack on sexuality and gender in our country, it is vital that we have an effective voice. The ERLC provides that voice for us.
Of great interest this year was the report from the Sexual Abuse Task Force (SATF). Only weeks ago we grieved over the study that showed that the SBC has not dealt well with issues of sexual abuse. Hopefully the actions this year will put us on the path of repentance and reformation needed by Baptists.
Two issues caught my attention and cause me some concern. One relates to the position of pastor in the local church. Our largest church Saddleback Church in California has gone against the historic and (I believe) Baptist position of having only men serve in pastoral roles. The founder and pastor of that church Rick Warren gave an impassioned speech from the floor of the convention. Sadly he did not address the actual issue. Instead he recited all of the ways he and Saddleback have modeled evangelism and church growth strategies. Both Warren and Saddleback have much to be commended in these efforts. But it is not good that they have been influenced by modern theological thought in moving from our confessional statement on the matter of women pastors. The question going forward is how will the SBC respond to Saddleback’s shift in position. I pray that Saddleback will return to a more biblical approach to church leadership.
The other issue is one that was raised by Dwight McKissic. He called for the removal of names that commemorate some of the founders of our convention and of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary over the issue of slavery. I think we err when we ignore the many ways in which God used imperfect men in the past. If we followed this same path with regard to biblical men cited as models in the Bible, we would be left with nobody except Jesus. Certainly, Jesus is the perfect model. But so many others in the Bible and in church history are worthy of our critical gratefulness for their walks with the Lord.
So, overall I am happy to be a Southern Baptist. I am a member of a Southern Baptist church, as I have been since my teen years. I am indebted to the churches and institutions that have helped shape me in ways that I’m confident the Lord delights.
Let’s treat each other like brothers and sisters in God’s family and get on with preaching the gospel so that the nations might hear of God’s mercy. Let’s continue educating our future pastors, missionaries, and church leaders. Let’s continue standing for the dignity of life and a biblical view of sexuality and gender.
The works stand before us. May God have mercy on us, purify us, and use us to bring him glory.