Future of SBC

As a second-generation bivocational Southern Baptist pastor who holds to traditional Baptist beliefs, [Dr. Terry’s July 19 editorial] further increased my already deep concerns over the future of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) as a whole. 

It seems to me that as the Neo-Calvinists accelerate their efforts to expand their influence within our membership, traditionalists like me are called upon to be patient and tolerant and to avoid conflict at all cost. I am becoming more and more convinced that this is not the correct course of action. 

I fear that in years to come we will find ourselves asking why we did not stand firmly and fight for our convention and our beliefs. If statistics are true and 85 to 90 percent of Southern Baptists do not embrace Reformed theology, then should we really stand silently by and allow the other 10 to 15 percent to take the reins of leadership within the SBC? 

Should we not be concerned when individuals with whom we disagree theologically now head the North American Mission Board, LifeWay Christian Resources, and at least two of our theological seminaries? 

Should we joyfully continue to finance and support their no longer covert efforts to take theological control of our denomination, plant hundreds of new “Reformed” churches and train countless new purveyors of what Al Mohler termed “the shape of the future?” 

Should we do so in the name of “evangelistic cooperation,” particularly in light of the fact that since the resurgence of Calvinism within our denomination baptisms and church membership have steadily declined? 

Should we smile and nod and provide the structure and financial means to those who seek to redefine who we are as Southern Baptists and who claim intellectual superiority over those who do not agree with their teachings? 

What I cannot understand is why those who so devoutly embrace Reformed theology do not associate themselves with the Presbyterian Church or, better yet, join together and seek to revitalize and reopen the hundreds of Primitive Baptist churches that sit empty all across the country. Why would they desire to associate with the intellectually inferior anyway?

Steven Stamps
Fayette, Ala.