Does the SBC Have a Future?
When I started seminary four years ago, I’m not sure I knew what the acronym stood for and I definitely didn’t know that there were conventions within the convention (wheels within wheels, if you will). Now, gearing up to plant a church, the prospect of partnering (or not partnering) with the SBC is something that can keep me up at night…especially in Missouri, where things are pretty messy right now. Nathan Finn has some insightful analysis regarding what’s coming down the line for the SBC.
I’m still fairly ignorant where all things SBC are concerned, but my hope is that churches can still be planted and the gospel can still go out via collaboration with even small groups of SBC people whose hearts/minds are in the right place.
April 27th, 2008 at 1:25 pm
For me, the money quote in the piece was this, referring to whether or not the Gospel is being preached:
Sometimes they actually preach sub-Christian sermons that are really just baptized versions of moralism, New Age spirituality, or especially self-help platitudes . . .
The fact of the matter is, unless a church stands for Christ crucified period, its numbers are doomed to diminish. The reason for this is that moralism and the like may be obtained anywhere, and people become the landowner or cattle buyer or bridegroom in Luke 14 — They make their excuses and go play golf on Sunday.
Cheers.
April 27th, 2008 at 7:41 pm
This was an enlightening post, for me. I’m not a Baptist, but I’ve attended Baptist Churches for several periods of my life. Both my kids were baptized in Baptist Churches.
I went to the link you included and didn’t understand what most of it was about, but I emailed it to a wonderful Baptist friend of mine who explained some of it. She thanked me for the link, and said she was going to stay tuned to see what this guy has to say.
I’ve always been comfortable with the Baptists except for the closed communion thing. I was raised in Church of Christ, and understood that the Scriptures say, “Let everyone examine himself.”
April 28th, 2008 at 10:50 am
@ R. Sherman: Good read. I think the gospel also gets marginalized via neglect, when people argue fiercely about peripheral issues and fail to continue fighting for the gospel. The center drifts away and the edges become the main thing people get impassioned about.
@ Donna: Ha, I don’t blame you for missing the main drift of that article. When I read about SBC stuff, I typically have to read the stories twice…and slowly.