On Wins and Losses, and Channeling Solomon, Chesterton, and Churchill
There is a time for everything under the sun. That is one of the great lessons we learn from the Preacher in the book of Ecclesiastes. There is a time to plant, a time to pluck, a time to break down, a time to build up, and even a time to lose (3:6). God, in His sovereignty, has appointed a time for every aspect of our experience on earth. It is our job to recognize the times and make the most of them.
We can then extrapolate that there is a time to stay in and a time to leave the SBC. It is our job to recognize the time and act. This year’s annual meeting feels like a defeat for many of us. The three major issues all went in the opposite direction of how I voted (financial transparency, ERLC reform, and the Law-Sanchez Amendment). Many had the same experience. I have seen the sentiments of some who feel there is no hope left for the SBC. I disagree. Now is not a time to go. Now is a time to be concerned about the current state of our Convention, roll up our sleeves, and get to work.
Now might be the time appointed to lose. Or, it might be a time to bring Heaven down to Earth and fight what appears to be a losing battle, only to miraculously not lose. As G.K. Chesterton reminds us, “The one perfectly divine thing, the one glimpse of God’s paradise given on earth, is to fight a losing battle – and not lose it.”
However, despite the outcome of the annual meeting, it’s still good to be a Southern Baptist. And that’s because the SBC is not reducible to “big votes.”
The Wins
Despite some losses, Baptists still won at the Annual Meeting. Let me begin in an area that we might not naturally be inclined to celebrate. The singing was quite good. Many think that our annual business meeting should have a greater emphasis on business. I agree. However, if we are going to worship, I am delighted that we worship congregationally. The team from Hickory Grove chose great songs and led them with an emphasis on congregational singing. That’s a win!
We also commissioned 56 missionaries to go to the uttermost parts of the world. Fifty-six. That is amazing! The IMB Sending Celebration is rightly a highlight of the convention. If you skip that part to peruse the Exhibit Hall or grab a coffee, don’t do it next year. We allocate hundreds of millions of dollars annually for this very purpose. More than that, we pray to this end. The harvest is plentiful, and the Lord of the harvest raised up 56 new laborers. Celebrate that.
We solidified our faithful majority. That was an appropriate title for the CBL event Tuesday night, and it only became clearer after the Law-Sanchez Vote. We are the majority. Even in a meeting where the average Southern Baptist church is vastly underrepresented, their conviction on defending the biblical teaching of a male-only pastorate rang true. The faithful majority made their voices known, even if the vote didn’t meet a supermajority.
Lastly, the CBL event Tuesday night was a win for sure. It was a joy to join hundreds of like-minded Southern Baptists for fellowship and encouragement, and to be equipped to think more biblically and baptistically about the significant issues facing the Convention. If you didn’t attend, I regret to inform you that you missed out. Make sure to watch the videos when they become available!
The Losses
Yes, there is a time for losing, and (apparently) that time for change-oriented Baptists was Wednesday, June 11th!
The loss on 990 Transparency was a shame. I am convinced, as Rhett Burns has argued, that greater transparency would help increase CP giving. More giving means more missionaries, scholarships to seminaries, churches planted, and many other benefits. Despite those who argue that supporters of 990-level transparency want to know salary numbers so they can be financial “voyeurs” or turn the annual meeting into a line-item review, we actually want the CP to thrive.
The longer our leadership rebuffs calls for basic, industry-standard financial transparency or best practices (such as Ethan Jago’s amendment to end conflicts of interest among entity trustees), the more I fear that CP giving will decline. I feel like Gandalf when he’s trying to get Bilbo to give up the One Ring at the start of The Fellowship of the Ring: We aren’t trying to rob you, we are trying to help you.
The ERLC lives to fight another day. Of course, it would have lived for another year had the vote to abolish gone through. That was the point: to send a message of much-needed reform. Even though the vote didn’t clear 50%, I have to believe that message has been sent. Whether it is heard is another question entirely.
I considered putting this in the “victories” column. On the surface, 42% of messengers wanted to abolish the ERLC. This was a simple majority vote threshold. We only needed to clear 50%, and we came close to achieving it. If a vote were held at my church to fire me and 42% of my congregation voted for my removal, even though I survived, I wouldn’t feel good about it. I’d probably resign the next day, and I assume most of my fellow pastors at other local churches would do the same.
For that reason, even losing this vote felt like a win. But this was not a win. I am concerned that the leadership at the ERLC may not respond in kind. Maybe we’ll see minor changes. However, I worry that ERLC leadership will be satisfied with a narrow victory, spike the football on Baptists of goodwill pointing out significant problems with their advocacy and funding sources, and continue to dismiss legitimate concerns. This will result in no meaningful changes being made, and their divisive presence in the SBC will continue unabated. Only time will tell.
The vote on the Law-Sanchez Amendment was the biggest disappointment. In the months leading up to the annual meeting, it seemed as though the tides had turned. The argument last year was that the Law amendment was “unnecessary.” However, between annual meetings, we discovered a few examples of churches with female pastors that seemed to prove the amendment was indeed necessary. Then the messengers voted, and the results remained the same. A majority, but not a super majority.
The most significant area of concern during this debate was Jeff Iorg’s argument. He argued that passing this amendment could leave the Credentials Committee vulnerable to defamation lawsuits. Unfortunately, that farcical argument likely swayed many to vote against the amendment or abstain from voting. Iorg misled the messengers. Only God knows his intentions for doing so, but whatever they were, he got the outcome he wanted, putting him at odds with 60% of the messengers.
Never Give Up
I’ll admit, we are in strange times as a Southern Baptist Convention. Power brokers appear to be consolidating their influence and resources. What’s worse is that the heartbeat of the Southern Baptist Convention is virtually nowhere to be found at the annual meeting. While 89% of SBC churches have fewer than 200 people, it appears that these churches are vastly underrepresented in our gatherings. And that seems to be of their own doing. No one stopped them from coming.
I’ve written before about why it’s crucial for “small” SBC churches like mine (which are actually average SBC churches) to attend the annual meeting in June. These words ring as true today as when I first wrote them: “It’s our job, brothers, to hold the SBC accountable. The size of our church does not exempt us from this critical task.”
I believe these churches can be reached and rallied into action. Now, more than ever, we must not give up. Now is not the time to leave the SBC or stop attending the annual meeting. Now is the time to show up. On the Sunday morning after returning from Dallas, I had one simple message for my church: We need to send more messengers to Orlando.
Designate your SBC giving to entities you trust. Ask your church to adjust the budget to ensure representation at the annual meeting. Ask members to take time and attend. Use surplus dollars to cover travel expenses. Ask certain members to give explicitly to send messengers.
The only way to get through a time for losing and secure a time for winning is by persistence. Do what you can. Do whatever you can. Show up in Orlando, and bring a friend (or 500). And, as Winston Churchill told us, “Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in, except to convictions of honour and good sense.”
Or, more succinctly, win or lose, never give up.
