A Southern Baptist pastor is urging younger Baptists who may have doubts about the denomination not to abandon ship just yet. “I’d urge you not to be caught on the sidelines in this strategic hour of battle.”
As the Southern Baptist Convention prepares to embrace the Great Commission Resurgence this month, Pastor J. D. Greear wants fellow SBC members to know that the new movement is “something of God” and has nothing to do with saving the denomination.
“I want to address those of you who, like me, have a Baptist past but have often found yourself wondering, regarding the Southern Baptist Convention, ‘What is the point? Aren’t denominations a thing of the past?'” the Raleigh-Durham, N.C., pastor said in a recent commentary.
“I want to try and persuade you that this movement, the Great Commission Resurgence, is something of God, is valuable for the Kingdom, and worth the investment of your time,” he said. “I do so simply as a pastor of a young Southern Baptist church.”
Greear was part of the Great Commission Resurgence Task Force which drafted a report on how the SBC – the largest Protestant denomination in the country – could work more faithfully, aggressively and effectively together in fulfilling the Great Commission. The final draft was released last month and will be considered at the SBC Annual Meeting in Orlando, June 15-16.
The report includes recommendations that include structural changes and a call to repent of pride and disunity. With some 4 billion people in the world having little to no access to the Gospel, Southern Baptist leaders are seeking to adopt the recommended changes and urgently engage the “lostness.”
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