Future Issues facing the SBC (and each of us)

by T. C. Pinckney                                                                                                                           Vol. XXIV, No. 6, June/July 2011

     editor, The Baptist Banner

You will probably not be surprised to be reminded that God is perfect. On the other hand, some reader may be disappointed to read that we humans are not perfect. We recognize human imperfections daily when we read about such things as robberies, murders, rapes, drunkenness, abortions, automobile accidents, domestic violence, divorce, sexual affairs, teen pregnancies, governmental corruption, and so forth.

In fact, such imperfections are so common that we often shrug them off, just assuming that’s the way the unsaved world is.

What we tend to forget or intentionally ignore is that hearts are fallen even in our churches, even in Southern Baptist churches and denominational entities.

Therefore, we should not be surprised when problems arise in church and convention life. In fact, we should be surprised and very cautious if it appears that there are no problems.

We Southern Baptists fought a decades long battle for the theological integrity of the SBC. And, praise the Lord, scriptural inerrancy won!

In worldly matters, a time of victory is often a time to relax and celebrate. Not so in spiritual matters. If we accurately judge the results of Edenic sin, we know that even the best of us are imperfect. And if we have a biblical understanding of Satan, we know that he never sleeps. He who tempted Christ face to face will certainly have no hesitation to leading us astray even while making it appear to us that we act from the best motives.

There are multiple issues facing our SBC today. Following is a partial list The entries are not in any order of priority; any one of them could potentially destroy the SBC’s witness for Jesus.

– Emergent/emerging churches. The Banner has carried at least three articles on this previously. [Check our website (www.BaptistBanner.org) and look in the Doctrine and Book Review topics within Articles from Past Issues.] While proponents vary widely, basically the issue is whether we take the Bible, God’s Word, at face value, or do we try to impose upon it our feel-good interpretation? Do we adhere to God’s standards, or so we overrule His standards with our own?

– Cooperative Program commitment: this is clearly not a theological issue, but it is a crucially vital denominational matter. The Cooperative Program is the organizational lifeblood of the SBC. Without a vibrant Cooperative Program SBC missions would shrivel, our effectiveness for Jesus wither. Yet increasing numbers of pastors seem to be leading their churches to reduce CP giving. (Our SBC president’s church gives only some 3% of undesignated gifts to the CP.) Direct church missions are wonderful, but they should be funded separately and not as competitors to the CP. My personal view is that the SBC constitution should be amended to stipulate that to be eligible for election to high SBC office, an individual’s church should give at least 10% of undesignated gifts to the CP. Spiritually we should insist on theological inerrancy. Organizationally we should require strong CP support.

– Calvinism: We have carried a number of articles on this over the last year or so. And strong arguments can be made for either side. However, this debate has gone on for centuries with no convincing resolution. The essential question is whether man is free to accept of reject Christ, or did God decide long ago which people would be saved? In my (humble?) view the problem springs from the fact that we are limited while God is unlimited. To the finite human mind it seems impossible for both God to decide and man to be free to accept or reject. But the Bible supports both. Therefore, we should accept both and not be distracted by a useless and unending debate.

– Hell: Many very “nice” pastors, laymen, and theologians argue against hell, claiming a loving God would never send anyone to eternal torment. Once again, this amounts to imposing our preferences on God’s Word. And it ignores many specific biblical passages, one of which is John 3:18 “He that believeth on him [Jesus] is not condemned; but he that believeth not is condemned already because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” So, God sends no one to hell, but anyone who goes to hell has freely chosen to do so by refusing Jesus.

– Homosexuality: Although the SBC has passed strong resolutions on this subject, our country’s culture and homosexual advocates continue to press for us to relax our standards, in effect to ignore God’s Word yet again. We must stand unflinchingly on this issue. Love these individuals, pray for their souls, welcome them into our churches, and disciple them, yes. But agree that their pagan lifestyle is acceptable to God, never!

Again, the above list is just a sample of pending issues intended to demonstrate that there will always be issues until Jesus returns. Be alert. Base your judgments on the Bible, not on modern “culture”. Never hesitate to speak up for Jesus. Remember that when you stand before the throne, you will need Him to speak up for you.