Affinities, Alliances & Agendas in the SBC: Part 2

Let’s face it.  Some folks are easier to like than others.  For some of my fellow Southern Baptists, I am one of those folks!  When it comes to cooperative missions and ministry in the 21st Century, simply being “Southern Baptist” is no longer sufficient to bind us together even though it is the most efficient avenue to fulfill the Great Commission.  While we might sing “bless be the tie that binds” (at least those who know it) and give the right answer to who should ultimately bind us — JESUS — we know from personal experience that voluntary partnership and cooperation must be based on a shared mission, vision, goals, and beliefs.  However, even that is not always enough to bind us together.  What Southern Baptists must possess, in addition to these four areas, is an affinity for one another which makes serving side-by-side possible.  We might have to love one another as brothers and sisters in Christ and we should at least like one another, but no one can make us become best friends who want to do stuff together — in this case, The Great Commission.  At least not when we have more than one best friend to choose from.

For all the talk about Calvinist conspiracies and Baptist Bogeymen, there is obviously an effort well underway to reform the Southern Baptist Convention.  It is not secret, unless, of course, you count unilaterally sealing GCR Task Force records for 15 years secret.  Unlike the Conservative Resurgence, which inspired grassroots Southern Baptists to help restore Biblical fidelity and accountability to the SBC and her institutions, this generation of reforms, known as the “Great Commission Resurgence,” has been an establishment-led movement which has sought to consolidate power and control in an ever-smaller number of leaders.  Just who are these leaders who seek to implement a radical redefinition and reformation of the SBC?  That question, “Who Is Reforming Us?”  is one that Rick Patrick and others have been asking. Unless and until we can answer that question, we will not be able to fully understand the reforms that are being implemented at lightning (i.e., non-conservative) speed.

The simple answer would be, “The Calvinists!”  While Reformed Southern Baptists (whatever one might mean by using the word “reformed”) are no doubt an integral part of the current reformation movement within the SBC, the changes that have taken place — particularly since the GCR — cannot be solely attributed to our Calvinist brothers and sisters.  Of course, publicly talking about even the perception (much less reality) of the rising influence of Calvinism within the SBC will surely get you forty lashes (or, at least, a verbal tongue lashing accusing you of McCarthyism, which is, other than being called a Nazi, the last refuge for liberals).  That some within the current establishment leadership of the SBC seem comfortable adopting the political tactics of the Obama-left in this country should give all Southern Baptists cause for concern.

Before my Reformed brethren start lovingly and gently correcting me for my errors, let me add that this reform movement, of which Calvinists are a part, is by no means limited to the Reformed wing of the SBC.  Despite some high-profile Calvinists within the Convention, their numbers, notwithstanding the Founders Movement, would simply not be able to radically alter the course of our Convention within such a short period of time.  If that is the case, then how can this movement possibly have any success at implementing a radial reform agenda for the SBC?  In a word, alliances.

What we are witnessing in the SBC is not primarily a Calvinist vs. non-Calvinist battle for the heart and soul of the Convention, but rather a battle between competing agendas and visions for the future of the Convention.  One side is comprised mainly (not exclusively) of large church pastors (both Reformed and non-Reformed and Celebrity Pastors of all stripes) and non-large church pastors who seem to be both younger, more restless and more Reformed.  This alliance, which seems to have been born following Frank Page’s defeat of Ronnie Floyd in 2006, is neither nefarious nor conspiratorial.  It is, however, highly political.  Nothing wrong with that.  It is what it is.  One of my readers summed up the underlying problem with this particular alliance:

“I think our biggest problem, that is an overarching principle with all of this is the issue of Christian celebrity and authoritarianism. I think it all goes back to that in some way or another. Power politics. And some are just very good at it.”

You got that right, sister!  Some are just that good at power politics.  Since Frank Page’s stunning defeat of Ronnie Floyd in 2006, there have been some who have re-grouped and re-doubled their efforts to maintain the positions of leadership to which they have become accustomed.  They have used the system to implement a radical agenda and new vision for the SBC.  I don’t believe that this was done for illegitimate motives, but there were times when it appeared that questionable means were used to accomplish the ends.  However, elections have consequences.  If the establishment alliance can win at the Annual Meetings, then they can continue to implement their agenda, an agenda that they believe will have a positive impact on the churches of the SBC.

There are others on the opposite side who themselves have begun to form alliances.  This other alliance, of which I would consider myself a part, is comprised mainly (not exclusively) of non-large church pastors who seem to be older (if 45 is old) and less Calvinistic (inconsistent Calvinists like myself, non-Calvinists, and the few truly anti-Calvinists) and, who are more likely to be supportive of the Cooperative Program, local Associations, and State Conventions.  I’m well aware that I am painting with a broad brush, but this is how I see the alliances and agendas which continue to form in response to the GCR’s radical redefinition of the SBC.

They say that “politics makes strange bedfellows.”  Perhaps that’s true, even in the highly political climate of the Southern Baptist Convention.  But, there’s nothing strange about grassroots Southern Baptists of all varieties — Reformed, semi-Reformed, non-Reformed, anti-Reformed, large church, small church, urban church, rural church, traditional church, contemporary church — forming an alliance to stop the radical redefinition and reformation that we believe will ultimately weaken our cooperative missions and ministries.  With a Name Change likely to be revealed next week, this is not the time to stand down.  It is past time to speak up and remind OUR leaders what it means to be a cooperating Southern Baptist!  If not now, when?  If not you, who?