Into The Harvest
"So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields." Matthew 9:38
False Unity & The SBC
Two years ago I attended the Southern Baptist Convention in California. The convention had been slip sliding away from standing firm on scripture in many areas in years prior to this meeting. I attended the meeting in California to see first hand for myself if there were any signs of course correction. I attended the meeting in California to cast my vote on many of these issues and make my voice heard. Unfortunately, the liberal landslide was on full display with no turning in sight.
I returned from California and called a meeting with our congregation to report in full detail everything that I had witnessed at the convention. And then under the supervision of our elders, our congregation voted almost unanimously to remove our church from partnership with the SBC.
I do not condemn any pastor who is still affiliated with the SBC. Partnership with the convention is a matter of conscience and conviction. In fact, I still pray for the SBC and rejoice in their victories. However, for our church, we just could not see ourselves unifying with a convention that seemed to compromise on standing firm upon God’s Word more and more each year, all in the sake of unity. But if unity comes at the expense of Biblical compromise, then what is it that we are really unified around?
I did not attend the Convention this year in Indiana but I have been trying to keep up with it via online reports. And it is still my prayer that the convention returns to Biblical orthodoxy. But it appears that the leadership within the convention is still more concerned with unity rather than obedience to God’s Word.
At the Convention in California a few years ago, 88% of messengers voted to remove Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church from fellowship for allowing a woman to serve in the office of a teaching pastor. The removal of Fern Creek Baptist Church for having a woman pastor was also affirmed by a vote of 92%.
I read an article this afternoon that stated pastor J.D. Greer, who is a former president and current leader in the SBC, presented his concern that the convention will lose minority churches if the convention banned churches that allowed women pastors. Greer does not believe an amendment prohibiting women pastors is needed.
In regards to the proposed amendment to ban churches that affirm women pastors, Greer said, “I remain convictionally opposed to this amendment, not because of its content but because of its attempt to undermine our historic principles of cooperation. It overturns a system that works. I don’t oppose the Law Amendment because I’m a closet moderate or soft on theological issues. I am concerned that the missional, cooperative balance that has characterized our Convention since the Conservative Resurgence is about to be overturned.”
To ball park Greers argument, he is concerned that a ban on churches that allow women pastors would fracture the missional and cooperative balance between churches that differ on their views of the roles of men and women within the church.
I’ve heard some SBC pastors say things like, “These secondary issues should not matter because what matters is the Gospel.” The problem with that statement is that the roles of men and women is already under assault in the world. And once a little compromise is made on the roles of the genders, it becomes easier to move that needle further and further away from what scripture says. Every denomination that has eventually embraced homosexuality as not being sinful began with compromise on the roles of men and women.
The SBC and Greer say that they want to unite upon missional efforts and not focus on things like the roles of men and women in the church. First Baptist Orlando was praised by the SBC at the meeting in California. The North American Mission Board stated from the stage that they were partnering with First Baptist Orlando to plant churches around the nation. The SBC and NAMB were willing to overlook the fact that FBO had LGBTQ leaders teaching in their church and affirmed transexual individuals as members of the church.
The SBC’s subtle message was, “Let’s not worry about the things we are not in agreement on. Rather, lets unity in spite of our theological differences around the banner of missional church planting.” But if the purity of right doctrine is not guarded in our church planting efforts, then we are not leading people to Christ, but further away from Him. Christian unity matters, but not at the expense of right doctrine. Because true Christian unity cannot be had unless it is centered around ‘Thus saith the Lord.”
Heath Lambert, who is the pastor of FBC Jacksonville disagreed with Greer. Lambert said, ““The real issue on this matter is the Bible. The Bible is crystal clear that the office of pastor is reserved for men as qualified by Scripture (1 Timothy 2:11-12; 3:1-7; Titus 1:6). Baptists know this. That clear knowledge makes this whole thing much easier than some of the overcooked debates around this issue would lead you to believe.”
The Executive Director of the SBC Pete Ramirez said, “What worries me is that we make decisions without thinking about the consequences for ethnic churches. There are many ethnic churches that, for translation reasons, use the title of pastor for a person. But it’s a matter of translation. It’s not that the person is ordained. It’s not that the person has a [ministry] license. We are, as a convention, putting ourselves in the business of churches and saying, ‘If you don’t change this, you can’t be part of us. This is a radical change as Southern Baptists that I think we could regret long-term as we fulfill the Great Commission.”
Yes Mr. Ramirez, fellowship in Christ is not inclusive, it is exclusive. If churches are not united around right doctrine, then there can be no true fellowship. I continue to pray for the SBC. But as it stands, they have still yet to understand that a unity at the expense of departing from scripture does great harm not only to our missional efforts, but also to our hopes of reaching people with the Gospel. It is expected to see our world depart from a firm grasp on truth. But when the church departs from truth in the name of unity, there is no difference between us and the world.
into the harvest
Into The Harvest 
Well said, Charlie. Anaheim was also my last convention and GCBC left SBC shortly after. I too pray for reformation… which begins with Sola Scriptura!