Convention Sermon — ‘There’s life in this tent,’ ‘soul of convention at stake’

Ted Traylor challenged Southern Baptists to move forward in cooperation and unity for the sake of the gospel — reflecting the preceding historic moment when Steve Gaines became Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) president with gracious consent from fellow nominee J.D. Greear.

Traylor, in the annual convention sermon June 15 in St. Louis, Missouri, drew from Psalm 133 to poignantly repeat the words of the psalmist David in the first verse of the passage: “How good and pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity.”

Traylor, pastor of Olive Baptist Church, Pensacola, Florida, said the appeal for unity was first sounded in the SBC preamble written in 1845, which used three words to describe the organization of the denomination — “eliciting,” “combining” and “directing” for one effort, the sake of the proclamation of the gospel.

‘Reason we exist’

“The reason we exist — one reason — is to take the gospel to the world,” Traylor said.

But Traylor admitted “we have issues.”

Referencing comments from outgoing SBC President Ronnie Floyd, Traylor said, “What once was the battle for the Bible has become a battle with one another. The very soul of the convention is at stake.”

He quoted Southern Baptist David Dockery, president of Trinity International University in Deerfield, Illinois: “Southern Baptists need a new spirit of mutual respect. We need to move from controversy and confusion to a new consensus and renewed commitment to cooperation.”

Traylor said, “Dr. Dockery has got it right. We need to move to Psalm 133 — ‘How good and pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity.’”

There is room in the tent for all Baptists, Traylor said, as long as doctrine is uncompromised. “There is no real unity existing where disagreement is not allowed,” he said. “There’s life in this tent.”

Traylor identified three truths found in Psalm 133:

• Unity is released, much like oil poured upon the head or the Mississippi River and its tributaries. “We have to release our resources, going to the oceans of the world.”
• Unity is refreshing, like the dew of God falling on His people, or as seen in one brother in prayer for another.
• Unity is rewarded. “God commands the blessings of life when we are one.”

  (BP)