On Wednesday Night, August 15^th, we will discuss the future of the Southern Baptist Convention. Dr. Gerald Harris, the Editor of the Georgia Baptist newspaper called “The Christian Index”, recently attended the SBC in Dallas, TX and filed the following report.  He says “The SBC is undergoing a seismic shift.” Southern Baptists of the past were “all about evangelism and missions, but in the last decade it seems that we have changed our focus and the decline in baptisms… have been precipitous.” He quoted Dr. Chuck Kelley – President of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary” – who explained “the SBC is in the midst of a decline that shows no sign of either slowing down or turning around.”

Dr. Harris blames the decline of the convention on “new emphases subtly infiltrating Southern Baptist life [which] seems to be social justice, the social gospel, feminism, tolerance, and intolerance.”

In his report about the SBC in Dallas, Dr. Harris defines these issues as follows:

*Social Justice – While we should show compassion for all people – the socialist idea that there is no social justice until everyone is equal is misguided and dangerous.

*Social Gospel – Churches should engage in providing help for the needy such as clothes closets, food banks, health clinics, etc. – but these ministries are not our primary objective. Our objective is to share the Gospel. Often churches provide these services and never tell people about Jesus.

*Feminism – Under the banner of social justice, some of the messengers at the convention in Dallas seem to think it is time for women to be ordained as pastors and deacons. Apparently there were rumors at the convention that SBC Bible Teacher, Beth Moore, should become president of the SBC in 2020.

*Tolerance – There was a time when the LGBTQ lifestyle was universally condemned in Southern Baptist Churches. Now, because of the influence of the media and sensitivity training in schools and corporations, our churches are getting comfortable with what the Bible calls sin.

*Intolerance – Once we become “tolerant” of the liberal point of view – there is no tolerance for the more conservative point of view. Example: Vice President Mike Pence was invited to address the convention in Dallas; but before he spoke, there were three motions to try to prevent him from speaking and when he did speak some walked out of the convention center to protest his presence.

In summary, Dr. Harris quoted the late W. A. Criswell who predicted that Christianity would be virtually extinct by 2000. He believed it would happen because so many preachers had “lost the conviction that the Bible is the Word of God.” Dr. Harris believes that maybe the Conservative Resurgence of the 1980s postponed what Dr. Criswell thought was inevitable.

Dr. Harris is convinced that “the Southern Baptist Convention is not just changing; it has changed.” What do you think?

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