I think today will go down as a very decisive moment in the Southern Baptist Convention’s (SBC) history,” Al Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., said during a news conference following the vote to pass the Great Commission Resurgence (GCR) Task Force report.
“This morning … I prayed the denomination would head toward hope, and I believe that’s what happened today.”
The SBC overwhelmingly reaffirmed its intention to spread the gospel throughout the nation and around the world, members of the GCR Task Force told reporters June 14.
At least “75 percent to 85 percent or above” of messengers to the SBC annual meeting ratified the task force’s seven-part set of recommendations, GCR Task Force chairman Ronnie Floyd said.
The task force drafted the recommendations to turn the convention’s focus toward “penetrating the lostness” of the world. It received stiff opposition from Morris Chapman, retiring president of the SBC Executive Committee, as well as leaders of some Baptist state conventions and others who fear the changes will erode financial support for the convention.
“We thank all Southern Baptists for believing in the Great Commission,” Christ’s mandate to spread the gospel across the globe, Floyd said, as he was flanked by five other members of the task force.
“The convention vote was very clear,” stressed Floyd, senior pastor of First Baptist Church, Springdale, Ark., and The Church at Pinnacle Hills, Rogers, Ark.
“As a convention, we have made some basic statements,” added Mohler.
One of those clear statements is the convention’s priority for telling people all over the world about Jesus Christ, insisted Roger Spradlin, co-pastor of Valley Baptist Church, Bakersfield, Calif., and new chairman of the Executive Committee.
Spradlin noted the convention voted to move 1 percent of the Cooperative Program, the SBC’s unified budget, from the Executive Committee to the International Mission Board (IMB). One percent of the IMB budget translates into 46 missionaries, who will present the gospel to people all around the world who never have heard of Jesus, he said.
“That represents more than dollars on a spreadsheet,” he added. “It represents the heart” of Southern Baptists’ passion for the gospel.
Danny Akin, president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C., has experienced that passion through two sons who have served as missionaries among Muslims.
“I saw the lostness of the world. I wanted us — brothers and sisters — to catch a vision for what matters to God,” he said of his motivation for the recommendations.
For the past year, every member of the task force has been changed by his or her experience, reported Ken Whitten, senior pastor of Idlewild Baptist Church, Lutz, Fla.
“We have taken a look through the Lord’s eyes to the lostness of the world,” he said. “Lostness has broken our hearts.”
That brokenness and concern extends to America, Spradlin said, pointing out his state, California, is home to 30 million people who do not follow Christ.
“You can’t think about lostness without it impacting your heart,” he noted.
Passage of the task force’s report was “another step in the right direction” toward energizing the younger generation of Southern Baptists, Akin said.
Even though the recommendations encountered spirited opposition, Floyd predicted Southern Baptists would rally behind the decision and move forward together.
“When Baptists have spoken, Baptists get their hearts in line,” he said. “We are optimistic the convention has spoken.” (Editor’s Network)
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