Occasionally I hear someone say, “I am proud to be part of the Kentucky Baptist Convention but not so much the Southern Baptist Convention.” The person essentially means that they love their state convention but are not as happy about our national network.
I am always glad to hear that people love the KBC, but I am concerned when I hear they may not hold similar sentiments for our national identity. We are at our best when trust is high, when relationships are healthy and when we are striving together for gospel advancement.
Why would a church want to join forces with the SBC? Why would a committed follower of Jesus want to invest time, talent and tithe in an SBC church? Why would a church planter want to intentionally plant a Southern Baptist church in one of our communities? Why would a historical Southern Baptist church want to remain SBC? Others would give different answers to these questions, but here are mine:
1. Because of our mission focus: Since 1845, Southern Baptists have been advancing the gospel together. We have done this by sending thousands of missionaries, training thousands of gospel ministers in our seminaries and planting thousands of churches across our nation and beyond. Southern Baptists have focused on a singular mission, the Great Commission, and for that reason alone I am proud to be a Southern Baptist.
2. Because of our voluntary cooperation: In his book Healthy Leadership for Thriving Organization, Dr. Justin Irving quotes an African Proverb that says, “If you want to go fast, then go alone. But if you want to go far, then go together.” Southern Baptists have chosen to go far together with the gospel. Our cooperation is voluntary and based on the biblical belief that we can do more together than we can do alone.
3. Because of our accountability systems: The SBC trustee system is designed so that duly-elected trustees are not just cheerleaders for their national entity, but also accountability representatives for the churches that started and continue to fund these organizations. Practically speaking, if a member of an SBC church has a concern with one of our SBC entities or an action taken by that organization, then we have representatives from our local churches who can help with our concern. This feels healthy to me and is aimed at protecting the investment of Southern Baptists from decades past.
4. Because of our voluntary reviews: We created the Sexual Abuse Task Force in Nashville to help us prevent sexual abuse in our churches and care well for survivors of abuse. We created the Great Commission Resurgence work group to determine if the GCR has been more helpful or hurtful to our global mission cause. We are not waiting for outsiders to judge our work but, instead, are taking those steps ourselves.
5. Because of our entrepreneurial DNA: Southern Baptists, both nationally and in their state conventions, have built hospitals, colleges, universities, six of the world’s largest seminaries, national and international mission-sending organizations, a national lobbying group, a national publishing company and more. In recent decades we developed a disaster relief organization that has become one of the top responders to natural disasters in America and more recently we set up a national and international partnership to help Southern Baptists minister together to pressing human needs. Southern Baptists do big gospel-advancing work together.
6. Because of our ownership: If you are a member of a Southern Baptist church then the SBC is your SBC. We can speak into the direction of our convention. We can fund its work through the generous and sacrificial giving of our churches. And we can pray for the success of our global gospel labor. If you are a member of a contributing and praying SBC church, then the fruit of our missionaries is your fruit and the men and women we train for ministry are part of your global gospel investment.
7. Because of our theological fidelity: Southern Baptists began as “people of the book,” and we remain so today. Many of our most epic battles have been those aimed at maintaining or re-establishing biblical and theological fidelity. The great majority of Southern Baptist churches are churches where the word of God is proclaimed and leaders are striving to lead congregations to be faithful to God’s word and His will.
For these reasons and more, I love being a Southern Baptist. We have plenty of challenges, but they are Acts 6:1-7 challenges being experienced in an Acts 1:8 context as we are trying to get the gospel to 8 billion men and women and boys and girls throughout our communities, our states, our nation and around the world. If that mission excites you, then plant yourself in an SBC church and do all you can to make our convention better than it already is.
Dr. Todd Gray 