2 of 2

Southern Baptists have also failed to react quickly to population patterns in the U.S. While most Americans now live in cities and suburbs, almost half of Southern Baptist churches are in rural areas.

"The problem is not a lack of evangelistic fervor," Hall said. "It's location, location, location."

Some stalwarts of the Conservative Resurgence, like Morris Chapman, president of the SBC's executive committee, have also failed to sign on to the GCR.

Chapman said it's fine to focus on evangelism. But he warned that moving away from Baptist methodology was dangerous. "To hide the light of the gospel under the bushel of cultural compromise is a grievous sin against the Holy Spirit," he said.

A flashpoint between GCR opponents and supporters was Seattle megachurch pastor Mark Driscoll. Though not a Baptist, he has won a following among many young Baptist ministers and church planters, particularly those who share his Reformed theology. But Driscoll’s history of using risqué language, and the fact that he drinks alcohol and talks about sex, angers those who say his approach undermines his message.

There were five motions made against Driscoll, including a motion to have all Southern Baptist entities report any contact with Driscoll or the Acts 29 church planting network he is a part of. That motion was sent to Southern Baptist agencies for review over the next year, as well as a separate motion to ban any speaker who cusses or drinks.

Janice Johnson, a messenger (local church representative) from Winchester, Kentucky, was suspicious of Driscoll. Her church gives money to the convention in order to support missionaries, and she didn’t think that a “cussing pastor,” as Driscoll has been labeled, should have any contact with agencies that received Southern Baptist funding.

Johnson cites the Southern Baptist belief in regenerate church membership—that Christians should live holy lives, and avoid suspect behavior like drinking, cursing, and sexual immorality. “I was saved when I was 24, and came out of that old hippy lifestyle” she said. “It was refreshing to be set apart from the world, and leave that bad language behind. It’s a different way of life to serve the King—we are supposed to be live holy lives.”

Spencer said that many younger preachers were disillusioned with the convention, in part because of a recent decision to cut back on overseas missionaries because of a $30 million shortfall in the SBC's annual Lottie Moon missions offering.

His plan for revitalizing the SBC?

"Propose real sacrifices to send missionaries to the field now," he said. "The younger leaders do not believe you are about the gospel and missions. They think you are about the preservation of the [denomination], not the extension of the Kingdom."

Copyright © 2009 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

first page |  2 of 2

share this page

June (Web-only) 2009, Vol. 53