By Gregg Boll
In this first article I want to address cooperation and unity around the gospel. In the next newsletter (Part 2) I plan to share some of the decisions made during this year’s SBC Annual Meeting and the impact upon faith and practice in our churches.
Every year in June, representatives we call messengers from around 47,000 autonomous, self-governing churches come together at the Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting. There we are reminded that we belong to a much larger family of believers and that we voluntarily cooperate to do the Great Commission; together we engage unreached people groups and under-churched areas near and far with the gospel, we plant churches, provide disaster relief, and educate the next generation of pastors, missionaries, and teachers. It would be fair to say that the nearly 13,000 plus messengers who showed up at this year’s annual meeting demonstrated an amazing level of agreement about the gospel, the Church’s mission, and the Bible. I think the consensus of most of us who have been around Southern Baptist life for any length of time is that we are happy and pleasantly surprised that so many churches willingly continue to work together year after year for the gospel. I’ve been a part of this faith family since 1985 and I can tell you that the forces that seek to fracture and divide us are always present. We know we’re not perfect; we know we have issues that continually need addressing. Yet, year after year at our annual meeting, for those who have eyes to see, we witness the genius of the Cooperative Program that some wise saints of old were led to adopt years ago and it is still working. We would do well “not to move the ancient boundary which your fathers have set” (Prov.22:28). What I have consistently witnessed is the messengers in every situation and with every vote affirming the authority and inerrancy of the Scriptures and attempting to align our faith and practice with God’s Word. If that ever changes, I’ll let you know.
I thought an article on the value of gospel cooperation not only to be timely but urgent given the current climate in the SBC. I know there are some who are less enthusiastic about the outcome of this year’s convention than me. A few churches have left the SBC over the last few years for various reasons, and it is safe to assume that a few others are thoughtfully deciding whether they should remain an SBC church. When the issues we care deeply about don’t get resolved to our satisfaction in an annual meeting we’re going to feel some anger and alienation from the family. I get that. Not every vote has gone my way over the years, either. I am only attempting to encourage you to appreciate what we have: (1) a polity which gives everyone a voice and a vote; (2) a cooperative Kingdom effort that results in massive gospel impact upon a world of darkness and lostness; (3) that we agree biblically and practically on far more than we disagree about. Satan loves it when we get preoccupied majoring on the minors rather than the mission. You’ll never find any group of believers, in any denomination, who agree on every fine point of faith and practice. Just as we do with our earthly family, let’s choose to remain committed and vigilant to working on the imperfections while not failing to celebrate and enjoy one another and our fellowship around the gospel. In a world which has become increasingly intolerant of the church and our message in my lifetime, we should deeply cherish and value every fellow believer. If the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever, it stands to reason that we ought to love and enjoy those He has redeemed for eternity.
