Tightropes and Tensions: The SBC Circus

On June 11th, a man with a long-tailed jacket, top hat, and red bowtie will step over the center ring and call the Southern Baptist Convention to order. Holler at the popcorn guy for an overpriced bag and get ready. The spectacle is about to begin.   

Maybe that's unfair. Let's look at it through the lenses of perception.  

Most people outside the Southern Baptist Convention think the SBC is like the Roman Catholic Church, with its Vatican in Nashville and an annual election for the pope. Most people inside the SBC want to believe the convention is like a gathering of franchisees of the Los Pollos Hermanos fast-food chain, all trying to agree on the harmonization of the brand. But reality says otherwise. The SBC is really like the International Association of Beet Growers. Members include Schrute Farms and Monsanto. Nobody can agree on GMO, non-GMO, labor policies, seed regulation, or anything. Dwight Schrute can take to the floor calling for a resolution in favor of anti-Stevia-labeled ninja throwing stars--something he has done for the past six years without winning a majority.     

If this year is anything like its predecessors, people will offer resolutions on topics important to a small minority. There will also be a resolution condemning abortion, an SBC position that will surprise nobody. Nothing much more will come from the resolutions that pass unless there's more about Critical Race Theory. A boxcar of business motions will come from the floor and then be forwarded to entities and committees where little will be done. Someone will move that we audit NAMB, telling them to be more transparent with funds, and Kevin Ezell will explain how that's expensive or impractical. Undoubtedly, the ERLC has upset someone, and that somebody is going to microphone 2A to voice his concerns. Considering that it's the 85th anniversary of the death of Annie Armstrong's cat, Lottie, someone will motion that we add "Bring Your Pet to Church Sunday" to the SBC calendar. The six SBC seminaries will report everything God is doing on their campuses, but messengers will only listen to the President of their alma mater and then use the remaining time to hunt the showroom floor for another free coffee mug, which will go unused. Still, one person will take to microphone 4B to ask the President if his respective seminary has "gone woke." And, of course, there will be a lot of talk about women in ministry, sex abuse, and racial reconciliation, with limited action produced by all the hot air.       

A day is coming, if it's not already here, when not only will outsiders care nothing about the SBC, but they will also find it laughable. Without returning to a stronger identity and purpose, those inside the SBC will attend annual meetings in the shadow of faithful days gone by. 

Despite my cynicism, I offer an earnest plea. I am a pastor of an SBC-affiliated church. I've attended these meetings and have unused coffee mugs to prove it. I've served on committees within this national organization. I was also an officer in my two-state convention, even serving as the President through COVID and the volatile year that followed. The SBC could be a grand association of Bible-believing, Bible-preaching churches that advance the gospel of Jesus Christ worldwide and educate future pastors. It could be. But that's not what she is today.  

Today, so many Southern Baptists are advocating for a monochromatic organization that they fit well within. Factions are drawing lines. There are lines everywhere. There are lines across lines. There are smaller lines inside larger lines. At the same time, others are advocating that we draw no lines, which in a way, is still drawing lines. Everyone is drawing lines. This post is my way of drawing lines. Nobody is exempt. And once the lines are scratched out, we all advocate for our preferred hue within the boxes we've drawn. All the while, the SBC is chanting that we can do more together than separately. I don't know. It all looks pretty separate to me. 

Is this what we've become? Maybe this is what we've always been. 

At this point, more would be done for the Kingdom of God if the SBC cut along all those lines and splintered into a million pieces. Each would stop worrying about holding the others to their distinctive. Each would have much more time to serve the Lord as they are called. We'd stop trying to leverage huge piles of CP dollars for our pet projects and steward resources within our biblical beliefs. Maybe this is the year when the giant scissors come out.  

Or there's an alternative. Instead of being a 3-ring circus with all our acts vying for the spotlight and applause, we could rally around a strong identity and purpose. Everyone says they want this, but each wants to define the SBC identity and purpose. Each wants a say. However, we don't need another leader to stand up and tell us what's best. We all need to take a seat. We must pray and ask the Lord what he would have the SBC be. Then, come June 11-12th, let's see if God has moved in the messengers so they come together around a shared, God-given vision. A people who pray and seek this Lord is who we should be, right? If not, please, someone, make the motion that we start cutting it up.