My hopes for our One Sacred Effort

During his video message to Southern Baptists where he shared that he would not stand for reelection as SBC president, Ed Litton used a phrase that I’ve heard throughout my time in Southern Baptist circles: one sacred effort. That phrase originates in the 1845 constitution when the SBC was founded in Augusta GA. And for almost 180 years it has been the drumbeat of our convention of churches. It’s what has sparked the largest missions-sending agency in the country, undergirds six of the strongest theological seminaries in evangelicalism, a church planting movement taking the Gospel to cities across the country, and billions invested in the Kingdom.

If you’ve done any look into the history of Southern Baptists, the sacred effort hasn’t always been a neat and tidy one. Our convention’s founding was under the auspices of allowing and protecting slave owners during the contested period of abolition. Many of the early statesmen in the SBC actively served in their states’ secession from the Union and actively served in the Confederacy (Williams and Jones book Removing the Stain of Racism from the Southern Baptist Convention goes into much detail about the worldview of white supremacy and slavery). Since then, whether it’s been embezzlement, theological controversy, a Disney boycott, accusations of liberalism (and actual theological liberalism in the 1950s-1980s), near bankruptcy, and more conflict. If there’s anything that our Convention enjoys as much as the Cooperative Program, it must be drama.

President Litton’s announcement wasn’t surprising, and I for one am glad that he has served this year as SBC president. He oversaw the formation of the Sex Abuse Task Force, advocated for the will of the messengers with the Executive Committee, will leave his footprint in his appointments that will be felt for years, and most of all has allowed Southern Baptists to get to know the better Litton, his wife Kathy. I’m also glad that he chose not to stand for reelection. I would gladly raise a ballot for him in Anaheim, but his decision puts the Convention ahead of himself. I don’t believe his decision was a capitulation to the Twitter mob, but rather an earnest desire to not be in the way of the SBC moving forward.

However things shake out in Anaheim, and the messengers will speak and their voice will be heard, the one sacred effort will continue as we see churches planted, missionaries sent, and the Kingdom expanding. These are the five things I’m hoping and praying will happen out of our time in Anaheim:

1. We will rally around the Great Commission and the Greatest Commandments - We’re a fractured convention and like many family fights it’s painful to watch. We cannot continue to divide against ourselves. Our cooperative relationship is held together not by agreement on secondary or tertiary issues, but in our shared devotion to the Great Commission and our common faith in Christ. We must move towards the Great Commission with a Greatest Commandment ethos: love of God and love for neighbor. In Christ, we are family. We must act like it.
2. We will speak truthfully about one another - The number 9 has been a lightning rod in the SBC since Birmingham. But my concern isn’t about a non-binding resolution that has no bearing on the activity of our churches, but on the more important 9: the ninth commandment. It’s more than not lying, it’s not bearing false witness. When we make sweeping generalizations, malign one another with out-of-context clips, when we look under every rock for a hidden liberal (seriously guys, this is getting silly), or when we throw terms like drift or lump any discussion of race as CRT, we are not bearing a Gospel witness to ourselves or to the world around us. We cannot think we’re immune from James’ words about the tongue in James 3.
3. We will swallow our pride, listen, and act - When the Sex Abuse Task Force presents its report, it will likely hurt. We will see the ways our churches and our Executive Committee have failed for years. We must not stand in pride, but must put on our sackcloth and weep for our failures. We also must not think we are immune from the SBC’s original sin of racism. It’s still there in our churches. We must not in our pride hide from what our minority brothers and sisters are saying to us.
4. We will be served, not led - Our Convention is unique in that it is bottom-up, not top-down, in its leadership structure. The seat of authority, and the heart of the SBC isn’t at 901 Commerce in Nashville, but in every local church. That’s our headquarters. That’s our leadership. We are not led, but we are served, by those we elect or who work for our agencies and entities. Whoever the next Executive Committee CEO is must be a servant first, not one who sees himself as a de facto SBC pope. I’m so thankful for the diligent work done by trustees on the EC who worked to make sure the messengers, not lawyers or bureaucrats, won the day with regards to the SATF. And that must continue. I pray that ushers in a new day of service from those whose names are in the program.
5. We will stand with whoever is elected SBC president - The partisan spirit happening around our country is not something we are immune from in SBC life. We are more divided now than we have been in 40 years, and unfortunately it’s not a theological divide but a political divide. When we reduce the SBC presidential election to a numbers game of which tribe has more people in the room, we shouldn’t be surprised that the election process feels more like a worldly election than the affirmation of a person to serve in a largely ceremonial and appointment role (as Bart Barber says, the SBC president says the things, appoints the committees, and listens to the parliamentarian). When the messengers speak in Anaheim, we cannot do what the world does and use terms like “not my president” or dig up dirt or stir division. We must stand with, not behind, whoever will preside over the 2023 gathering in Charlotte.

Our fellowship has never been uniform. There have always been affinity groups. Our fellowship has room for 1 pointers and 5 pointers. Our fellowship has room for churches who worship with a band and for churches who use a pipe organ and robes. Our fellowship has room for Christians of every stripe who can rally around the Baptist Faith & Message and our common commitment through the Cooperative Program to reach the world for Christ. We must return our eyes to our one sacred effort for the sake of the Kingdom, for the good of our communities, and ultimately for the glory of God.

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