My time at the “Sexuality and Covenant” conference as a reporter was valuable. It allowed me first-hand observation of what happens when Scripture’s authority and clarity is subjected to competing authorities. What I witnessed before the altar of “conversation” was a fellowship cementing its sexual ethics away from Scripture and elevating experience in its place.

It’s fun being the rebel; that is, until, you become the establishment.

As a member of the “Generation Y” population, I never witnessed the scuffle that led to the Southern Baptist Convention’s divide between the denomination’s moderates and conservatives.

As a 20-something seminary graduate, the heritage of the conservative-moderate crisis loomed heavily over my time at ground zero of the crisis: Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. The story, controversy and ultimate comeback of Southern Seminary saturate the school to present day. Students are reminded that doctrinal drift is no more than a generation — or, in some cases, one publishing contract — away. And before signing the Abstract of Principles, professors are solemnly warned that deviating from the school’s confession will result in their termination.

Some view an academic culture like that as stifling or given over to hysterics. I call it sober-mindedness. It is also a preventative from conversations that outrightly thwart biblical authority.

After attending “A [Baptist] Conference on Sexuality & Covenant,” co-sponsored by the moderates disgruntled with the SBC’s conservative direction — the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship — I have a message to tell my fellow 20-somethings within the Southern Baptist Convention: The Conservative Resurgence was a battle worth having and a hill worthy dying on.

Though I don’t wish to stoke any remaining fires of the conservative-moderate divide, readers should know what went on at the conference. Positive things were said, especially David Gushee’s address on re-emphasizing the idea of “covenant” to our marital and ecclesial ethics.

Troubling things — actually, very troubling things — were said, too. Like the plenary address by an openly gay divinity student who emphasized that LGBT relationships contribute much to the idea of “covenant,” such as obliterating gender norms. The student went on to suggest that “when no predefined gender roles exist to unthinkingly guide how intimate relationships are to be fostered, the potential — at very least — is present for covenants forged not according to centuries of gender role residue, but through commitments to mutuality and equality.”

[Editor’s note: This article is incomplete. The source for this document was originally published on bpnews.net—however, the original URL is no longer available.]