A clear lesson from the 2017 Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) annual meeting in Phoenix is that causes carry the day for Southern Baptists, not personalities.
That point was illustrated as International Mission Board (IMB) President David Platt, SBC President Steve Gaines and SBC Executive Committee (EC) President Frank Page led messengers to reaffirm foundational stones in the corporate life of Baptists. As each spoke, they were the latest in an ongoing parade of leaders who have rallied Southern Baptists to these Christian disciplines in the service of the gospel.
Tuesday evening Platt told messengers a poignant story of a little girl in Nepal destined to spend eternity without God unless a missionary goes to tell her about Jesus. As Platt spoke I remembered others who had stood on the SBC stage before him. The late Baker James Cauthen, former missionary to China and legendary IMB leader (then known as the Foreign Mission Board), was noted for asking messengers what kept them from serving overseas. Frequently convention aisles were filled with pastors and their families volunteering for international missions as Cauthen called out the called.
Exhorting evangelism
Keith Parks, who followed Cauthen, regularly reported the increasing number of international missionaries as the number of long-term missionaries almost doubled under his leadership.
Jerry Rankin consistently exhorted SBC messengers to give and go, frequently highlighting the need for missionaries by introducing Christian leaders from other lands.
Now the voice was Platt’s but the cause he pleaded was the same as it has been since 1845 when Southern Baptists created their first international missions organization — rallying Baptists to make Christ known to every tongue and tribe that all may know Jesus Christ is Lord.
Prayer was the theme of the annual meeting but evangelism was the meeting’s focus. In his printed welcome to messengers, Gaines declared, “We have the opportunity to share Jesus and make disciples as never before.”
But evangelism appears to be waning among Southern Baptists. The number of baptisms continues to decline dropping 4.89 percent in the past year.
For several years the convention’s emphasis has been on planting churches to do evangelism. The result — Southern Baptists have 600-plus more churches and church-type missions but nearly 15,000 fewer baptisms.
Even the structure of the North American Mission Board (NAMB) in recent years has reflected a greater emphasis on church planting than on evangelism.
But NAMB President Kevin Ezell promoted a new GCR at the SBC annual meeting in Phoenix. This time GCR stands for “Gospel Conversation Resurgence,” Ezell said, a reference to SBC leader Johnny Hunt’s 2009 emphasis labeled Great Commission Resurgence. Ezell told messengers Baptists should have “gospel congregations having gospel conversations.”
But it was Gaines who proposed establishing a new denomination-wide task force to study how Southern Baptists could be more effective in personal soul-winning and evangelistic preaching — an idea approved by messengers.
Gaines reinforced his push for evangelism by having noted Pastor Greg Laurie of Harvest Christian Fellowship speak to messengers about growing an evangelistic church and giving an evangelistic invitation.
As Gaines and Ezell promoted personal evangelism and evangelistically focused churches, they too stood in a long line of Baptist leaders who led Southern Baptists to prioritize sharing the good news of Jesus with family, neighbors, friends and beyond.
Stewardship emphasis
Page’s touchstone was Christian stewardship. About 20 years ago stewardship, especially financial stewardship, was a major emphasis among Southern Baptists. There was an SBC Stewardship Commission and most state conventions had a stewardship department.
All of that went away as stewardship was left to the churches to develop and the denominational assignment was added to the responsibilities of the EC president. Unfortunately, at the same time there has been a decline in stewardship as members give less money to churches and churches give less money to causes beyond themselves.
Total receipts of SBC-related churches dropped about $85 million last year, according to SBC figures. The percentage of receipts shared by churches through the Cooperative Program dropped to 5.16 percent, the lowest percentage on record.
Page told messengers that one reason for the drop in giving is that church members are unable to give. Many families live in financial crisis spending $1.26 for every $1 they make.
Page announced a new partnership with financial guru Dave Ramsey to offer churches programs to help members learn to live within their means. He announced an additional program with LifeWay Christian Resources to help churches teach Christian stewardship.
Continued efforts
So important did convention leaders consider the topic that they devoted an entire hour to promoting Christian stewardship. It has been a long time since the subject received such focused attention from the SBC platform.
Again Page stood in a long train of Baptist leaders who went before him promoting financial stewardship and stewardship of life.
Southern Baptists believe in missions and evangelism. It is often said that if one scratches a Southern Baptist, then the person will bleed missions and evangelism. If a church does not promote missions and evangelism it may be a Baptist church but it is not the kind of Baptist church typical of Southern Baptists through the years.
The transforming power of the gospel is supposed to change believers. It is supposed to change values, habits and lifestyles. It is supposed to change how one invests in the kingdom of God. Financial stewardship is critical to missions and evangelism and to all that Christians do together through their local church and their denomination.
Through the years Southern Baptists have understood that missions, evangelism and stewardship go together. Each impacts the other and each depends on the other. So no matter whose voice promotes these causes from the SBC platform, Southern Baptists respond because we believe in the causes promoted.
Our loyalty is to Jesus Christ not someone whose style is the current vogue. And our commitment is to do what Jesus commands by tithing, by sharing the gospel and by making Him known to the ends of the Earth.
We understand it is the causes that carry the day not the personalities.
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