The 2018 Annual Meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention was not without its share of challenging moments. Motions were made to fully defund an SBC entity, to remove all Executive Committee trustees from one of our seminaries, and to remove Vice President Mike Pence from speaking to the messengers. From one perspective, I suppose a Southern Baptist could walk away from this year’s meeting a bit discouraged and concerned. But I’m encouraged and excited.

Here’s why…

Some SBC voices are expressing concern about a growing number of Southern Baptists who are increasingly vocal and practically engaged in important issues such as racial reconciliation and the treatment of women. There is irony here. Often those who are unconvinced about the wisdom of emphasizing these kinds of issues will express their discontent with phrases such as “cultural Marxism” or “social liberalism.” And yet, from my perspective, those working toward these issues are demonstrating a zealousness for God’s Word that is undiluted with any political or societal influence. On the other hand, the concerned group – those who are lamenting a perceived rise of capitulation to culture – are themselves embracing the marriage of a political mission with the Great Commission. Some of us who love our country and respect our vice president were hanging our heads in disbelief as a stump speech for President Trump was delivered only hours after hearing passionate sermons about the SBC’s mandate to align ourselves only and always with King Jesus.

And yet, I’m optimistic because there was noticeable tension in the room during the Pence speech. There was uneasiness. Although the vice president received standing ovations and many were enthusiastically behind his speech, I sensed the room was awakened to both the danger and the damage of any political presence in a convention hall devoted to the blessed task of making disciples of all nations. This awareness combined with the election of President J.D. Greear ensures that we will not be hearing a stump speech at the 2019 Annual Meeting in Birmingham from any politician or political party. That, I hope, will set a precedent for years to come.

I’m also encouraged by the passionate and unified principles on which the SBC continues to stand. Part of what made the Pence arrival so unfortunate is because it unnecessarily distracted from the overwhelming unity in the SBC on the most essential issues. The authority and inerrancy of Scripture, the exclusivity of Christ, the necessity of discipleship and evangelism, the work of NAMB and the International Mission Board, a priority of planting churches, and a commitment to the Cooperative Program are all positions that are rock solid and uniformly held by Southern Baptists. That is reason to rejoice.

Another encouraging aspect of this year’s meeting was the convention’s brokenness by recent developments in the SBC, especially as it pertains to the treatment of women. We heard and saw genuine repentance, multiple motions, strong seminary reports, and future collaborations to help the SBC make progress in these areas. Alongside this, on difficult motions that were potentially divisive, the messengers voted correctly. For example, the messengers correctly and overwhelmingly voted against a motion to remove all Executive Committee Trustees from the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Finally, I left the annual meeting this year excited and thankful to be a Southern Baptist. I left anxious to get back to my church that I love so much and be a better pastor. I left even more convinced of the need to evangelize the lost. I left with a renewed spirit after sitting under the preaching of the word. I left with the hope of the gospel that was once for all delivered to the saints.

So yes, the meeting this year had its challenging moments. But the future is bright for the SBC. I’m excited to see what the Lord will do.

As I prepare to leave for Dallas next week to attend an important Annual Meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention, I want to publically share the comments I recently made to Graefenburg Baptist Church.  This statement was read to our church before Paige Patterson was removed from his privileges at the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. The pastors of GBC are broken over recent developments in the SBC but trust God to work all things for his glory and the good of the nations. Grace and peace to each of you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Over the last couple of weeks, some of you might have read about a controversy that has developed in the Southern Baptist Convention. An SBC leader and President of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Dallas, whose name is Paige Patterson, was recorded during a teaching lecture several years ago and in the recording he tells the story of how he advised a lady in an abusive marital relationship to return to her abuser, pray for him, and try to submit in all things. Patterson was also on record saying some inappropriate remarks about a teenage girl.

As your pastor, and in agreement with my colleagues, your pastoral staff, we reject in the strongest terms any notion that an abused spouse is obligated or commanded by Scripture to return to their abuser and thereby place themselves in harm’s way. Abuse in a marriage relationship is an attack against the gospel of Jesus Christ because marriage is the most perfect human expression of the gospel.

Some of you here today and some of you watching online have experienced spousal abuse or are experiencing it. Unfortunately, some of you will experience it. Please hear me clearly – your pastors are here for you. We will listen to you. We will believe you. And we will do anything we can to help you get out of a dangerous situation.

I also want to say a quick word to those of you who might be abusers. Some of you might not know what to do with your anger. Some of you might deeply regret your actions, but you find yourself doing it all over again. I want you to know something too – we won’t abandon you. Jesus hasn’t abandoned you. His gospel of grace is bigger and stronger than your sin. We are here to walk with you as best as we possibly can.

My hope is that the SBC will use this as a growing opportunity instead of a vendetta against a single person. My hope is that God will use this controversy to open our eyes wider to the reality of the shame and embarrassment and fear of so many women who are in abusive relationships and have no idea what to do. My hope is that we as a church, here at Graefenburg, will not waiver for a second in our commitment to marriage and to the gospel, and yet we will fight against injustice and abuse even as we uphold those commitments.

Please pray with me, for our church, for the SBC, and for the church around the world.

Albert Mohler has written a brutally honest article in the wake of Paige Patterson’s dismissal as President of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. It will go down as one of his more important and most powerful statements on the life of Southern Baptists. If you haven’t read it yet, then stop now and take a look.

One of the most fascinating portions of the article for me personally was Mohler’s decision to return to the Conservative Resurgence in which Paige Patterson played an important role. I found his reflections to be honest, helpful, and precise. I am in, I suppose, somewhat of a unique situation in that my theological education and training in pastoral ministry afforded me the opportunity to experience both the moderate viewpoint of things and the more conservative viewpoint. I attended Belmont University from 1994-1998 – before the school split from the Tennessee Baptist Convention – and their approach to religious studies was certainly moderate. During my time there, the President of the University called a faculty meeting to ask the question, “What does it mean to be a Baptist?” It was only a matter of time before the school could no longer hold to the principles of the TBC.

And yet, I have nothing but good memories about Belmont. The school challenged me, took me into areas of study I probably never would have considered otherwise, and most importantly, the professors never dismissed me, even with my more conservative viewpoint. I’m sure that some of my professors and fellow students who attended Belmont might wish that I was not quite so evangelical in my thinking, but we respect one another, even in our different viewpoints, and I think most of us are thankful for the time we spent on that Nashville campus.

I attended the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary from 2006-2009 and am currently studying there for my D.Min degree. The program was dramatically different from Belmont and it was overwhelming (and comforting) to be around some of the most well-known and brilliant scholars in the world who actually believed the Bible is without error! My passion for my education, but more importantly, my passion for the Lord skyrocketed.

So, with that background in mind, I was amazed by Albert Mohler’s comments when he said this:

“Has the Conservative Resurgence in the Southern Baptist Convention come to this? Is this what thousands of Southern Baptists were hoping for when they worked so hard to see this denomination returned to its theological convictions, its seminaries return to teaching the inerrancy of the Holy Scriptures, its ministries solidly established on the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Did we win confessional integrity only to sacrifice our moral integrity?

This is exactly what those who opposed the Conservative Resurgence warned would happen. They claimed that the effort to recover the denomination theologically was just a disguised move to capture the denomination for a new set of power-hungry leaders. I know that was not true. I must insist that this was not true. But, it sure looks like their prophecies had some merit after all. As I recently said with lament to a long-time leader among the more liberal faction that left the Southern Baptist Convention, each side has become the fulfillment of what the other side warned. The liberals who left have kept marching to the Left, in theology and moral teaching. The SBC, solidly conservative theologically, has been revealed to be morally compromised.”

It’s hard to argue with that. Most (not all!) of my fellow students at Belmont continued to progress to the left in their theological liberalism, and I could never in good conscience recommend the school for religious studies today. But it appears their concerns about SBC power and corruption are truths we are forced to deal with now, like it or not.

As for me, I like it. And here’s why. The Southern Baptist Convention does not have the power to dilute, distort, or alter the glorious goodness and holiness of God. But God certainly has the power to do whatever he wants with the Southern Baptist Convention. Although I do not rejoice when our denomination suffers brokenness, I trust the sovereignty of God to bring us to repentance where necessary and to turn our hearts back to him and his commission.

I have faith in the SBC not because of the SBC. I have faith in the SBC because I have faith in God. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.