Concluding Thoughts on the Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting in New Orleans

I just returned from a night of food and fun in New Orleans with my family. I held my grandson’s hand and watched his eyes dance with excitement. He was getting ready to ride a streetcar for the first time. I looked at my little fellow and realized I need to do all I can for his generation. I need to make this world a better place, and I need to be passionate about sharing the gospel so that generations to come may know Christ as Savior.

In yesterday’s post, I mentioned I was encouraged after the first day of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) annual meeting. Today I am no less encouraged. Perhaps my grandson’s generation will look upon this convention with favor when they see its import and impact. We are far from perfect, but some of the actions and attitudes of the past two days do give me hope. Let me share a few of those developments.

Southern Baptists gave affirmation that we want to work together for the sake of the gospel. Two resolutions passed that sent that clear signal. One resolution explicitly said that we would cooperate even though some of us may have different secondary views on the doctrine of salvation, and we would continue to affirm the primary issues on salvation as articulated in the Baptist Faith and Message 2000. Another resolution took the high ground and affirmed the “sinners prayer” as a biblical expression of repentance and faith, while cautioning that a memorized incantation without a true heartfelt decision for Christ can lead to false professions of faith. The convention voted by a 53% to 46% margin to affirm that churches could use “Great Commission Baptists” as their denominational identification while others continue to use “Southern Baptists. “ The relatively close vote sent two messages. First, many Southern Baptists don’t want a regional denominational name to be a deterrent to evangelism and church planting. Second, an almost equal number of Southern Baptists value the history and heritage of our current name. I pray that those on both sides of the decision can see the results as win-win. All of the committees did an incredible job that is largely thankless. I was particularly impressed with Jimmy Scroggins as the chairman of the resolutions committee. He demonstrated wise leadership, diplomacy, and integrity. Bryant Wright did a masterful job serving as president of the SBC for the past two years. He is a fair and gracious man. Bryant and his wife, Ann, deserve our gratitude for their tireless service. It has been my pleasure to work with Bryant on many occasions, and I look forward to working with him more in the future. I am so thankful that for the recommendation and affirmation of Danny Akin to preach the convention sermon in Houston next year. As I noted in yesterday’s blog, there seems to be a leadership void left by the death of Adrian Rogers. Perhaps God is preparing Danny Akin to be that leader who will bring our churches and convention together for the sake of the gospel.

The hour is late and the body is tired. The SBC in New Orleans could have gone a number of ways. We could have departed more divided than ever. We could have been ridiculed by the watching world for majoring on minors. But, in my humble opinion, neither of those are the case. We still have a long way to go to see our convention and our churches head in the right direction for the gospel and glory of God. But, perhaps when we look back on the 2012 SBC, we will see not only the election of our first African-American president, we will see a point in our history where we truly made a turn for the better.

Such is my hope.

Such is my prayer.