Late last night, my wife and I arrived home from the Southern Baptist Convention Pastor’s Conference and Annual Meeting. We were both dragging, as the Convention capped off an exhausting couple of weeks for us. It’s good to be home.
This year’s Convention continued the recent downward trend in attendance. The last messenger count I heard was less than 9000. As Southern Baptists, we like numbers and we hate to see declines in anything. But here’s why I think fewer people at the Annual Meeting is a good thing. It means that the issues we are dealing with are not as contentious as they have been in the past. If you remember, attendance peaked during the years of the Conservative Resurgence as both sides tried to stuff the ballot box with friendly votes. Now, there is not an issue on the table that invites us to “politic” in that way. No matter what the blogosphere seems to indicate, there is simply not that much controversy in our Convention these days. That is a good thing.
That relative lack of controversy is brought on by consensus concerning what is most important—the inerrancy and infallibility of God’s Holy Word. Sure, every year a KJV-only messenger will rail against modern translations—particularly the Holman Christian Standard Bible. People will continue to propose ridiculous motions. Those things will happen—but, praise God, we’re not having to battle over the nature of Scripture. And by His grace, we will continually hold steadfast to that commitment.
If that happens, we can all put up with a little bit of silliness in our midst! Over the next few days, I hope to post some of the best and worst moments of the meetings.
This year’s Convention continued the recent downward trend in attendance. The last messenger count I heard was less than 9000. As Southern Baptists, we like numbers and we hate to see declines in anything. But here’s why I think fewer people at the Annual Meeting is a good thing. It means that the issues we are dealing with are not as contentious as they have been in the past. If you remember, attendance peaked during the years of the Conservative Resurgence as both sides tried to stuff the ballot box with friendly votes. Now, there is not an issue on the table that invites us to “politic” in that way. No matter what the blogosphere seems to indicate, there is simply not that much controversy in our Convention these days. That is a good thing.
That relative lack of controversy is brought on by consensus concerning what is most important—the inerrancy and infallibility of God’s Holy Word. Sure, every year a KJV-only messenger will rail against modern translations—particularly the Holman Christian Standard Bible. People will continue to propose ridiculous motions. Those things will happen—but, praise God, we’re not having to battle over the nature of Scripture. And by His grace, we will continually hold steadfast to that commitment.
If that happens, we can all put up with a little bit of silliness in our midst! Over the next few days, I hope to post some of the best and worst moments of the meetings.
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