Younger Leaders and SBC Politics---It's About Missions (UPDATED)

One of the things that is often said about younger leaders* in the Southern Baptist Convention (YLs) is that we are turned off by the political wrangling and infighting that have characterized SBC life for the past several decades. Ironically, in recent months many YLs have engaged the SBC political process in response to a growing effort to narrow the parameters of cooperation within the SBC, which excludes faithful, God-called SBC people from certain areas of service, and to suppress dissenting voices within the SBC. Dozens of blogs have been started, meetings have been scheduled, research has been conducted, attempts have been made to persuade people to allow themselves to be nominated for office, letters have been written to state papers, and contacts with SBC leaders have been made. Unfortunately, at times tempers have flared, words have been carelessly used, and personal attacks have been made.

Obviously, not all YLs have jumped on the political bandwagon. One of the primary critics of the recent political efforts of YLs is Steve McCoy. Steve is definitely not supportive of the status quo within the SBC, but he does not believe that the political process is the best way to change the SBC. He believes that we need to focus less on changing the structure of the SBC and more on changing our local churches, specifically by leading our churches to become truly missional. As our churches, which comprise the SBC, change, the convention itself will gradually be transformed. Steve has made it clear that he is not advocating a withdrawal from the process of the SBC, but his point is that we should not look to the political process as a means of effecting real change within the SBC.

I don't know of anyone who disagrees that the key to bringing about a true missional resurgence or reformation in the SBC is to follow the path Steve advocates. Indeed, I would surmise that this is the means that most YLs would prefer to use to transform the SBC. Furthermore, I would guess that most of us agree that this is the only way to really bring about genuine long term change within the SBC.

So if most YLs would prefer to change the SBC by leading local churches to become truly missional, why has there been such a focus on the political process in the past few months? The answer can be given in one word: MISSIONS. The recent trends in the SBC toward exclusion, narrowing the parameters of cooperation, and suppression of dissenting voices have had their biggest impact on our missions work, especially on the international level. A large number of missionaries feel a need to comment anonymously or under pseudonyms out of fear that if they stray too far from the party line they could be terminated. SBC people who have been called by God to the missions field are now being told that they cannot serve through their own denomination's missions boards, not because of any character issues or heretical views, but because they do not qualify according to some extrabiblical doctrinal standard. A missionary couple serving in one of the most unreached areas of the world is in the process of being terminated because of their work with other missionaries who are in agreement with the doctrines articualted in the BFM2000. I do not think it is an exaggeration to state that if these trends are allowed to continue then the SBC will face a severe missions crisis within the next decade, if not sooner.

This is why so many YLs have reluctantly engaged the SBC political process. We are not seeking power or prestige for ourselves. Most of us are simply committed to doing whatever we can to reverse these trends as quickly as possible, for the sake of our missions work. These trends are adversely affecting our missions work NOW, so we need to act NOW. If we wait until we bring about reform by reforming our churches, the damage to our missions work will already be done. So yes, let's be committed to the task of reforming our churches and work toward a true missional resurgence that transforms every aspect of SBC life. But let's also commit ourselves to doing what we can to ensure that we do not allow our missions work to suffer before that happens.
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* I am using the term younger leaders in a generic sense. I am NOT referring in any way to the Younger Leaders Initiative that was started by Jimmy Draper in 2005. The Younger Leaders Summit on June 12 in Greensboro has absolutely NOTHING to do with any of the political efforts that are being made by some of us YLs.

[UPDATE: The IMB administrative staff has decided not to terminate the missionary couple mentioned above, so they will be allowed to return to the field.]