As I write this, I'm sitting at the Bush International Airport in Houston at 4:30 a.m. on Sunday June 13th. I'm supposed to be in a nice comfy bed at a hotel in Nashville getting good rest before attending a worship service with the Southern Baptist Conference of Associational Leaders. But yesterday was one of those unpredictable and utterly chaotic travel days.
My connecting flight from Houston to Nashville was delayed. Delayed twelve hours. I think United Airlines is stretching the definition of "delay" when that delay takes you into a new day. I didn't want wait that long so I got on standby for another flight to Nashville. I sat down to wait for that flight only get a notice on my phone that it, too, was delayed. By 30 minutes. Ugh.
Ding.
The United app now says the new flight is delayed one hour.
Ding.
Make that three.
Needless to say, I never left Houston on Sunday. While I write this I am at the gate waiting for that original flight. The twelve hour delay is almost over.
They just called my group!
The chaos of my travel is illustrative of the fear I have as I head to the Southern Baptist Convention. I usually enjoy the Convention. I enjoy reuniting with old friends I haven't seen in years. I enjoy all the booths and the free swag in the exhibit hall. I even enjoy the business sessions where you hear the praise reports of what has been accomplished and witness the mechanisms of our denomination at work. But this year, I do not look forward to the convention. It is in danger of descending into chaos. I feel that my flight might be a premonition.
I've been to several Conventions, but my first as the DOM (AMS or whatever denominational title you prefer) of our association was in Dallas in 2018. Yesterday I looked back at my notes from that Convention and read how hopeful and excited I was about the cooperation on display.
My second Convention in this role was at Birmingham in 2019. I left that gathering a bit more concerned about some issues brewing. If you recall, that convention took place on the heels of the Houston Chronicle report about sexual abuse in SBC churches. That convention also saw renewed questions about how doctrinally complementarian our denomination actually is. And then there was the passage of the infamous Resolution 9. That was the resolution that accepted Critical Race Theory as an analytical tool subservient to the Bible. At the time I felt it was a poorly written resolution and even more poorly explained to the messengers present.
Two years and one pandemic later, we gather again. The year off has done us no good. The differences and struggles that surfaced in 2019 are now raging like an out-of-control wildfire that threatens to do lasting damage to our convention. The issues are real and deserve a good debate. But the debates have turned bitter, and the rhetoric has become downright Trumpian with name-calling and political mud-slinging. It's no surprise that the largest number of messengers since the 80's are showing up in Nashville. Uber be warned!
Plane is taking off. Airplane mode now on.
There are four major, and somewhat intersecting, issues that will drive much of the conversation, debate, motions, and resolutions this week:
The sexual abuse scandal. One pastor I talked with in the airport after the 2019 convention got angry when I called it a scandal. But friends, even one sexual predator on staff or behind the pulpit of our churches is indeed a scandal. And when cases of abuse are intentionally hidden or minimized, it's a big scandal. While some good steps were taken in Birmingham, the movement to address the issue has stalled (I hesitate to use that word while tens of thousands of feet in the air) due, in no small part, to the challenges of Southern Baptist bureaucracy and local church autonomy. I do not dismiss the fact that the means for addressing and redressing the sexual abuse issues are quite complicated and messy, but we all must agree that as a whole we can do better. Pray that we will put justice for victims and prevention of future abuse above bureaucracy and politics.
Critical Race Theory. Unless you are living under a rock you've probably heard about CRT. It too is a complicated issue, and quite frankly CRT is hard to actually define, but the fact is that it is threatening to divide and destabilize our Convention. Our Convention must make take a stronger stand for racial reconciliation and biblically-driven social justice, but we also must carefully consider whether or not CRT can be an "analytical tool" we should use in that endeavor. Some believe that any use of CRT is a denial of the doctrine of the sufficiency of Scripture. Others claim CRT is harmless and definitely not the Marxist boogeyman that others claim it to be. Certainly it's more complicated than the talking points on either side, and I personally have good friends who love Christ and His gospel but who view CRT from totally different perspectives. Please pray that God provides a path forward for us to continue to fight the sin of racism while remaining steadfast in our commitment to the authority of God's Word.
Gender roles in the church. The majority of the denomination overwhelming decided to move in a direction affirming that the Bible teaches that only men are allowed to hold the office of pastor (or elder) with the adoption of the Baptist Faith and Message 2000. But the width or narrowness of that Biblical teaching has been debated. Some call themselves soft-complementarians while others are stricter complementarians. The debate has heated up in the last two years. There are big questions driving the conversation. Does Scripture limit only the office of a lead or senior pastor to men, or does that limitation extend to other pastoral roles? And how about female teachers who are not pastors but who exercise the function of a pastor such as preaching to groups of men and women? Is that within the bounds of Scripture? Unfortunately, this debate has gotten really ugly, especially on Twitter where sinful tongues wag without remorse. Please pray for God to grant us the grace to hold tightly to the Scriptures while understanding that we can disagree on secondary issues.
Transparency and accountability. Part of the problem in our denomination is that there is a bureaucratic class that has rubbed the average church-goer the wrong way. There have been questions about how the Executive Committee has handled certain things, including the sex abuse scandal. NAMB is embroiled in a lawsuit with a former denominational leader that is being appealed to the Supreme Court. Lifeway sued their former President and then retracted the suit after it caused widespread outrage. It makes me wonder if 1 Corinthians 6:1-8 has been taken out of the CSB. There have also been golden parachutes and other uses of money that have caused a good bit of concern. Of the four men running for President of the SBC, only one has made transparency part of his platform. Pray that the leaders of our denomination would remember who they are serving and practice biblical transparency and accountability--whomever becomes the President.
They just told me to put way the laptop. We're about to land.
These issue are not light or minimal; they are real and serious. But what I've seen on Twitter and blogs, and heard with my own ears is not believers debating with grace and charity. What I've heard is bitterness, rage, belittling, and dissension. As a life-long Southern Baptist it makes me sad. We need to listen to the Apostle Paul's warning:
But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another. (Galatians 5:15)
So what do I hope will happen at the Convention?
One thing: REPENTANCE!
I am praying that a genuine move of Spirit-led repentance will overtake at 18,000+ messengers and that through repentance we will once again focus on the gospel. We are all sinners saved by the grace of Jesus Christ and we all are dimly seeing through a mirror on all these issues. Therefore we need to be humble, teachable, and we need to repent of our sinful attitudes. Join me in praying for repentance.
At the hotel. Finally resting.
And with that, I am reminded that God will accomplish His purposes and will take His church all the way to its final destination. As Southern Baptists we can fret and fear and fight, but in the end, our Sovereign God will reach the nations with or without us. I just hope it's with!
