Maybe I’m too Conservative, Too Traditional – but I don’t agree with all this Name Change – Image Building –  Political Correctness business that is so much a part of our World Today. Our leadership seems to think that the reason the Southern Baptist Convention is “plateauing” in Baptisms and Membership is because of our name and our sins of the past.  Could it ALSO be because of our CURRENT sins, our watered down Gospel, our Prayerlessness, our lack of Love for our Lord, and our apathy about the Great Commission?

      All of the reasons that we have given for needing to change our name could also be said of the Roman Catholic Church.  “Roman” is regional – but they seemed to have figured out how to have a global reach with a regional name. And the Roman Church is certainly NOT without Scandal – but you don’t see them trying to change their name or worrying about their market share of the worlds Christians. 

      I was a manager at Davisons when it changed its name to Macy’s back in the mid 1980s – I don’t know what the total figures were – but some of our accountants told me it was in the millions. And it will cost millions for the SBC to change our name on every contract, to change our logo on every product, and to change every sign on every church “from sea to shining sea”.  And with a convention that is constantly informing the churches that we are short of funds for missionaries – it doesn’t make sense to spend millions of Cooperative Program dollars on a Name Change – because at the end of the day – whatever name we choose – people will still say “they’re the group that started in 1845 in Augusta, Georgia in an argument over SLAVERY.” 

      And while it is part of our human psychology to dwell on the negative, the Southern Baptist Convention has managed to do a few things RIGHT along the way. The SBC from it’s beginnings has been a “bottom up” instead of a “top down” organization – which has enabled our seminaries, mission boards, and other agencies to be accountable to the people. This acccountability has enabled the SBC to remain loyal to the Bible while many other denominations have slid down the slippery slope into liberalism. 

      In 1925, the Cooperative Program was developed to provide a lifeline to our missionaries serving around the world. The Cooperative Program has been the envy of other missionary sending denominations. And even though some may refer to us as a racist regional denomination, the Lord has blessed us and used us to bring many people to faith in Jesus Christ from  “all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues.”

      So, inspite of our sinful start, God in His sovereignty has chosen to bless the efforts of a few faithful men and women in the mid 1800s who founded the Southern Baptist Convention. The Lord promised in 1 Samuel 2:30 to honor those who honor Him and He has blessed the SBC to grow from humble beginnings to the “world’s largest Baptist denomination and the largest Protestant body in the United States… It is also the second largest Christian body in the United States, after the Catholic Church. (source = Wikipedia)

      Isaiah 14 refers to our God as being in “heaven.. on the farthest sides of the North” which makes every man, woman, boy, and girl on planet earth SOUTHERNERs…. Southerners who desperately need to go NORTH when they die! So that means there is still much work to be done by the SOUTHERN Baptist Convention!