Well, Sunday after our morning worship service, I am loading up our good American SUV and heading to Louisville Kentucky to attend the Southern Baptist Convention. I’ll probably stop and eat fried chicken and sip some sweet tea on the way. It is somewhat funny for me, because I have long been the anti-convention/antagonistic/rebellious type of Southern Baptist. Sort of like that kind of kid who spikes his hair just to get under his parents skin. All things considered, I am a committed Southern Baptist, I believe in the Cooperative Program, I subscribe to the Baptist Faith and Message 2000, etc., etc., etc., but I seem to always feel that these meetings are useless and I could be more fruitful for the kingdom by staying and playing softball with our guys and Wii with our students.
Fast forward to June 2009, as the senior pastor of a young growing Southern Baptist church; I usually would say emerging, but with the hijacking of this word I don’t want to be confused with those guys i.e. Rob Bell and Brian McClaren so I choose not to use the word although it aggravates me because I really like the word. Anyway, I was approached by some members of our congregation and asked some questions about our convention. Through these conversations I became aware that our people are interested in where there money is going and what our money supports. Through these conversations I have found myself getting involved the Great Commission Resurgence debate. There is more to this story, but for space I won’t give you the long version. Suffice it to say, I was convicted that Biblical stewardship necessates my involvement in the SBC so I signed the document. By the way I thoroughly agree with Dr. Akin’s message delivered at Southeastern Seminary. Here is a link if you want to listen it is worth the time. http://www.greatcommissionresurgence.com At this point I would call myself an intrigued young participant within our convention. I do have some questions.
Does the Southern Baptist Convention have a future or will the trend of powerful churches loosely affiliating with the convention continue? I don’t know what the answer to that question is. Honestly, I don’t see us returning to the glory days of denominational life. If we move in the direction of making our particular brand of denomination function the way it was originally designed to function I will wholeheartedly support it. I appreciate the missions’ focus of the Cooperative Program. I support our cooperative way of supporting missionaries. I am a graduate of a Southern Baptist Seminary and SBC helped to fund my education and there will forever be a place in my heart for that gift. I will not support a continuing good old boy network so notorious among our ranks. I will not support a weighted bureaucracy that depends upon local churches to feed it. I will not support a convention that places extra-biblical constraints on leaders.
Here are some cold hard facts though that must be acknowledged; the 20th century is gone. It is gone forever never to return. The funny thing is that many of us are glad that it is gone. The epistemological basis of the 20th century is also gone. We could debate and converse on this fact for hours, but I am convinced the epistemological foundation of this generation is contrary to modernity. Call it postmodern or postwhateveryouwanttocallit, people’s worldview has changed and we must work hard to communicate the truth of the Gospel in such a way that makes sense. This culture has shifted to the extent that in my humble opinion the methodology that drove the SBC and its churches will have little influence in this culture and it progresses. We must recapture the missional mindset of the early church not fight to hold on to a lost era. Over the next week I intend to blog from the convention. I can honestly say that I go with every intention of being a cooperating Southern Baptist. I have been very rebellious in the past, but as a more mature believer I intend to join together with other like minded individuals who desire to fight for the Kingdom!
