“Still Strong”
“Reminder – if you’re going to believe everything you read, you should only read the Bible.” I posted this on Facebook last week after reading some of the headlines from news agencies covering the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Indianapolis. As someone there, I can tell you many were “fake news.” The churches that make up the Southern Baptist Convention are still strong in their faithfulness to the Bible and belief that only Scripturally qualified men should be pastors. We proved this again this year by overwhelmingly voting to deem a church in Virginia not in friendly cooperation with the SBC due to having women pastors. This, in effect, disfellowshipped them from the Southern Baptist Convention. We did this by adhering to the Baptist Faith and Message 2000.
You may be wondering why the Law Amendment was not passed if this is the case. This amendment to the Constitution required a 2/3rds majority vote (around 66%) at two consecutive annual meetings. It received well over this threshold last year but only a little over 61% of the vote this year, meaning a little over 38% voted against it. Why did they vote against it? I believe that the vast majority (likely around 95%) of those who voted against it did so because they didn’t believe it was necessary since it was already in the Baptist Faith and Message 2000, and since we are already using that document to remain true to the Bible’s teachings on who can be a pastor. This means that the vast majority of those voting still holds very firmly to the Word of God!
This means that the SBC is still strong on following what God has declared concerning who can and should be the pastor of a church. But we are still strong on more than just that. We are still strong in sending out missionaries. There was an IMB sending celebration during the a meeting where we celebrated the sending out of 83 missionaries from all over the world. We are still strong in cooperation. The reports from the various SBC entities show that we are as committed as ever to reaching the lost, equipping the saints, and exalting the Savior. We are still strong in praising the Lord. One of the greatest joys of being at these meetings is seeing and hearing thousands of Christ-followers singing praises to His great name together. The SBC is still strong, and the Big Emory Baptist Association is still strong. Let us give God praise and let us keep lifting high the blood-stained banner of Jesus Christ, never letting it hit the ground!
– Bro. Matt