GCR Report Impressions, Part 2

This is the second part of my continuing effort to weigh in on the Great Commission Resurgence interim report that was given in Nashville on Monday, February 22nd. My assessment will consist of several more parts over the next few days.

The strongest part of the report was the introduction. It conveyed an attitude of humility and called for convention-wide repentance. It acknowledged our full dependence on God and recognized Jesus’ love for the local church. The report was very clear in stating that the focus of ministry in the Southern Baptist Convention is not the convention—it is the local church. All Southern Baptist entities, whether local, state or national, exist to serve the local church. That is biblical, Baptist and historically Southern Baptist. The introduction did a fine job in bringing the real problem into focus. As Southern Baptists, our problem is not budgets or boards or bureaucracy. Our problem is that the vast majority of the world is lost and have never heard the gospel of Jesus Christ. Our problem is that, although we are the largest and richest evangelical denomination in the history of the world, we are failing in our mission to accomplish the Great Commission. The task force recommendation to better facilitate the accomplishment of the Great Commission includes six components. The next post will consider the first component.