I realize that this is late in coming but I wanted to give my impressions and thoughts about the Southern Baptist Convention that completed on Wednesday evening. This was my fourth time attending the convention and I must say I have never walked away with more hope and excitement about the future. That’s saying a lot considering that the convention is a business meeting. Before I talk about the business matters of the convention let me say that the Pastors Conference and the worship times at the convention meeting were incredible. I walked away from each session strongly challenged, deeply convicted and burdened, and inspired to live more for Christ and His Kingdom. I still haven’t gotten over the messages I heard and I pray I never will.
There are four areas that I want to speak briefly to that were central for me at the convention:
1. The Great Commission Resurgence…We will never know the eternal impact of the work that Dr. Danny Akin and so many others did to get this to the floor of the convention. I believe the vote that allowed the president of our convention, Pastor Johnny Hunt to appoint a GCR task force was a tipping point for our convention. This task force has the responsibility for examining and looking at our current convention structures and the way we are spending monies and bring a report and recommendations on how we can improve for Kingdom impact. Granted the convention must still decide to act on the recommendations they will bring to the 2010 SBC in Orlando. Despite what may or may not happen we have at least admitted there “may” be a better and more efficient way to carry out the work of the kingdom. Hopefully, this will lead us to examine our lives and churches to make sure that we are doing everything we can in the most effective way to impact the world with the Gospel. There’s no need to wait for a top down approach. Let’s begin to have a Great Commission Resurgence in our individual lives. We don’t have the luxury to waste time or money on meaningless things when 2.75 billion people are unreached with no access to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If you haven’t taken time to read about the Great Commission Resurgence please check it out here www.greatcommissionresurgence.com. Here is a link to an article written by the Florida Baptist Witness that outlines what happened with the GCR – http://ow.ly/fZVJ.
2. The Baptist 21 Panel…I had the joy of attending the Baptist 21 Panel on Tuesday during the lunch break at Sojourn Community Church. Just a note about Sojourn. It is a church plant by Acts29 Church Planting Network and it is a SBC Church. They are in the downtown area of Louisville where many of the down and out are located. I was told some of their members are selling their homes in the suburbs and purchasing homes near the church. That is what I call Gospel centered, Kingdom focused living. It’s one thing to talk about being missional, these people are missional. I was greatly encouraged and challenged by the work that Sojourn is doing. You can check them out at www.sojournchurch.com. Now back to Baptist 21…This was a gathering mainly of young pastors from around the nation with a heart to see our pulpits, churches, and convention centered on the Gospel and focused on the Kingdom. We were able to hear a panel of men I greatly respect answer questions pertaining to the convention, missions, pastoring, and preaching. The panel included Daniel Montgomery (pastor of Sojourn Church), Danny Akin (president of Southeastern Seminary), Ed Stetzer (president of LifeWay Research and missiologist), Al Mohler (president of Southern Seminary), Mark Dever (pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church and president of 9Marks Ministries), and David Platt (pastor of The Church at Brook Hills). The time spent listening to these men was without doubt one of the highlights of the convention. A transcript of the meeting can be found at http://bit.ly/TmoGf. It is exciting and encouraging to see the heart these men have for the Gospel and the willingness and actions they are taking to make sure the Gospel is front and center in all that they do. Their love for young pastors and the younger generation shines and we will be forever in their debt for all that they have done. Another highlight of the meeting was Pastor Johnny Hunt purchasing lunch for the 600+ attendees. He has always led the way in loving, discipling, and bringing young pastors to the table.
3. The International Mission Board…The IMB has received much attention over the last few months because of the $30 million dollar budget shortfall. This is preventing us (notice I said us not them) from sending missionaries to the field that are ready and waiting to go. At the beginning of the IMB’s report Dr. Jerry Rankin was presented with a $100,000 check from the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention. There was also an impromptu offering for missions at the Pastors Conference that brought in $43,000. Dr. Rankin’s report was spot on and he offered a great challenge for each us to center our lives on the Gospel. If you missed it or perhaps you were there and need to see it again you can view it here – Part 1 http://bit.ly/cQ7dE Part 2 http://bit.ly/W0rzi.
4. The Motions…The amazing thing about the Southern Baptist Convention is that any messenger can go to the microphone at the allotted time and bring a motion. The convention meetings are known for their wild, crazy, and sometimes senseless motions. This year was no different. When the first time slot arrived for the introduction of new motions the microphones were buzzing. The scary thing is that someone who isn’t a believer and listens to the motions brought to the floor might decide I don’t want anything to do with this fanatical bunch of nuts. Fortunately, a few people don’t speak for the 8700+ messengers that were attending the meeting. Many of the motions surrounded Mark Driscoll (pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle) and Acts 29 (a church planting network that Driscoll cofounded). Some of the motions pertaining to Driscoll were vicious and slanderous attacks. I believe some of the others were made by misinformed people who really want to protect what they hold to be sacred. One of the great things about our convention is that systems are set in place to protect us from wild and crazy motions. And as is usually the case with the convention sanity reigned and the senseless motions disappeared into the night or were referred to a committee which is basically the same thing.
In closing, I’ve never been more proud to be Southern Baptist and as I stated earlier, I’ve never been as excited and hopeful for the future as we center our hearts and ministries on the Gospel and focus on the Kingdom. May God continue to use and increase His work through us as we partner together with other believers to advance the Gospel to the billions yet to here.
