Just as people facing death evaluate their priorities for what remains of life, it’s time for the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) to do its own "death check" and become better stewards of "the mysteries" with which they are entrusted, said North Carolina pastor Al Gilbert in the 2008 annual convention sermon.
Preaching June 11 during the SBC annual meeting in Indianapolis, Gilbert, pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Winston-Salem, N.C., said, "The denominational doctors have told us we’re sick. Some said we’re dying."
Pulling from the text in 1 Corinthians 4, Gilbert said the apostle Paul describes "how should I live as though I’m a dying man."
The SBC faces a challenge of evaluating denominational priorities, he said, because just as his generation is about to "pass the baton to the next generation, they’re telling me they don’t want it."
He encouraged pastors especially to consider themselves as servants in the manner of "under rowers" as Paul pictured them, those chained to the oars in the bowels of a ship. To be good stewards, Southern Baptists may well have to reorder their priorities to include significantly more funding for international missions, he said.
"If we were to do a death check, could it be that we would say we must radically reorganize this convention if we are going to win the world for Christ?" he asked to a round of applause.
The message of Christ "is not just for America," he said. "We have a global messiah. He deserves to be preached to all the peoples of the world."
To make that world vision possible, Gilbert said, Baptists must move beyond a conservative resurgence to a Great Commission resurgence. To fund that, he said, "We must find a better way to fulfill our stewardship." (Editor’s Network)
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