A Southern Baptist Theological Seminary dean says the North American Mission Board (NAMB) isn’t working.
Speaking during a panel discussion on the Great Commission Resurgence at Southern Seminary in Louisville, Ky., Oct. 23, Russell Moore, dean of Southern’s school of theology and senior vice president for academic administration, was one of four panelists. Also on the panel were Jon Akin and Nick Moore, Highview Baptist Church, Louisville, Ky.; and Chuck Lawless, dean of the seminary’s Billy Graham School. The panel was led by Southern Seminary President Al Mohler.
“The North American Mission Board doesn’t work because the IMB does a very good job of filtering people out, saying you’re called to missions, you’re not. You’re able to do this, you’re not,” Moore said. “When we put you on field, you’ll be on fire and we’ll see to it that you succeed. NAMB doesn’t have that kind of track record.”
Akin added it is the IMB that attracts and keeps young people as part of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC).
“I talk to young people [and ask them], ‘Why is it you’re in the SBC, what do you love?’ The No. 1 answer is IMB. Another entity is not named ever,” he said. “I think we’re caught up in doing a lot of good things but need to prioritize the best things so our people will be excited about it.
“The giving program needs to be on the table in terms of what we need to shift, and I think we need a Bible, church-planting network and, again, the IMB is the fund-raising mascot,” Akin said. (TAB)
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