Today has felt much lighter than yesterday. There is a spirit of unity and candor that is welcome after the last few months of social media attacks and political grandstanding.
It seems that after the votes for Pastors Conference Pres and SBC Pres the crowd has thinned and the mood is lifted. While I am grateful for how it is today, I am concerned that some only attend and participate for the goal of taking the platform. (I hope it’s more about needing to travel back home.) However, I hope that that the SBC will continue to be filled with pastors, messengers, and churches who are unified in the gospel and it’s mission.
On the fact that the law firm the Executive Committee hired has posted pro-LGBTQ+ agenda…
In response to the call to sever our current relationship with our legal counsel.
Our current EC legal counsel is addressing the convention. She is sharing that her work place is secular, and it is her mission field. Though her employer is worldly, she is a faithful Southern Baptist and TN Baptist, who like everyone else in the churches that make up the SBC tithes and contributes to the CP.
Her point is that the CP funds that pay for legal counsel, are given by church members who make their living in the marketplace, just like her… and that her work place is her mission field.
This is a perspective that has been missing in the recent criticisms and complaints.
Our lawyers are deeply committed Christians who are faithful Southern Baptists, and they see themselves as missionaries in an obviously difficult and dark world.
One of the most powerful and insightful moments of #SBC22
Tony Evans addressed the messengers. His primary focus was the new Unify Project of the SBC. But, because it is gospel centered it has applications across the spectrum of church life and Christianity.
“It was the failure of the pulpit that led to the chaos of the culture.” – Tony Evans
The only resolve to the chaos in the culture is the wisdom of God manifested in and through the church.
“If God can’t get the church right, the culture won’t be right.”
If we have a false unity, we will not hear from God or be used by God. All throughout scripture we see that purity and unity impact our walk with God and the effectiveness of our ministries.
I shared this and hope this little phrase helps: The best guard rails for decision making are the Word and the Mission… too many want to make decisions out of frustration, anger, or hurt. We can’t operate from those places and be healthy.
The parliamentarian, Barry McCarty, took a moment of privilege to remind everyone that this isn’t Twitter and there is a necessary and required amount of decorum as we meet. Probably one of my favorite moments…