Theology, Mission, Family: Reflections on #SBC22

The Southern Baptist Convention did the right things this week in Anaheim.

This week, the Southern Baptist Convention met for its annual meeting. We reaffirmed our commitment to our theology, mission, and family

Theology

Southern Baptists once again affirmed that we are decided if uneasy evangelicals. Classical evangelicals have four basic values: the cross, the Bible, the Great Commission, and social action. Our network is decidedly evangelical. As I’ve said before, about one-third of our fellowship is a faction that tends toward neo-fundamentalism. Again, I don’t use neo-fundamentalism as a mean way to call names, but as a specific definition of (1) holding secondary issues tightly; (2) having a suspicious posture toward the surrounding culture; (3) championing a political conservatism that tends to align quite consistently with GOP politics.

Candidates most representative of the neo-fundamentalist mood consistently received about 34% of the votes. This is a vocal and significant but definite minority faction in our network. Many inclined toward neo-fundamentalism were quite disappointed by the results. Many lament the “drift into liberalism.” This is expected from a mood of neo-fundamentalism, because it veers hard-right. Anything to the left of neo-fundamentalism is liberalism and everything is to the left of neo-fundamentalism. My guess is that a slice of this faction will actually leave the SBC. But many will stay and continue to be discontent that we are an evangelical rather than fundamentalist network.

Mission

We commissioned 52 missionaries for the work of God in the world. My wife Laura and I were in tears seeing the folks who abandon the love of their earthly home for the love of sharing Christ with the nations. Couples and singles stood behind a screen, seen only in shadow, sharing their calling to places where sharing Jesus is dangerous and illegal. This is why we cooperate. This is why associating with the SBC is worth it. We distribute $200,000,000 to missions and theological education every year.

Family

The most pressing point entering the annual meeting was how to respond to the recommendations of the Sexual Abuse Task Force. The Task Force coordinated and commissioned an investigation into one of the key entities of the SBC, the Executive Committee. The report was gut-punching. The Task Force in response recommended two initials step toward righteousness. They recommend another task force to help coordinate abuse response and prevention, to take the next steps. They also recommended the creation of a database where churches could report and discover abusers in our midst. I spoke from the floors in favor of adopting these recommendations. Here’s that I said:

My name is Danny Slavich and I’m a messenger from Cross United Church in Lighthouse Point, FL. I became a Southern Baptist by choice 15 years ago because of Southern Baptist theology, mission, and family. Because of our theology, mission, and family, we should adopt these recommendations.

Theology: it is exactly the point of our cooperative ecclesiology to work together for common, godly goals. A mission board or a seminary aren’t biblically mandated or even directly sanctioned. In fact our Baptist forefathers debated whether such institutions were biblical or necessary. Yet together we have decided that institutions like mission boards and seminaries are indeed a helpful way to accomplish what is commanded in Scripture. So also a cooperative effort to dislodge abuse, abusers, and enablers from our midst is a cooperative action that helps us accomplish what is commanded in Scripture: to protect and love those God loves and protects.

Mission: what good is the genius of our cooperative program for funding missionaries and theological education if we let harmed people go unhealed and risk harm to still more others? The question isn’t how much abuse response costs in terms of missionaries, the question is the incalculable value of a single soul who bears the image of God. Let the alone the cost to our witness for not responding strongly to sexual abuse. Some ask if we can afford to do this when the fact is that we can’t afford not to.

Family: not a single one of us would respond the way some Southern Baptists have responded to someone abusing our own children. We are a family, and a family that doesn’t protect its members and its children is offensive to God.

These measures are a small step toward repentance and healing for our network. I encouraged my brothers and sisters to adopt the recommendations.

I rejoice the recommendations passed overwhelmingly. Seeing the relief and gratitude from survivors of sexual abuse shows that we did the right thing.

Now, Southern Baptists return to the headquarters and frontlines: the local church. Let’s get back to the work God has called us to.