One Man’s Perspective on the Current State of SBC Life: Resolution 9- Part One

     
​     One of the four changes I mentioned in my opening article in this series is that Southern Baptists have become the most ethnically diverse convention of churches in America. The good news is that we have done a great job of celebrating that reality. The bad news is that we have struggled to embrace it. If you have not read my previous articles, let me ask you to stop right now and read the first two before you move to the next paragraph. For the sake of time and space, I will not repeat the significant provisos I laid out in those articles.
 
      The Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32) is one of the most familiar of Jesus’ parables. In it Jesus describes a young man at a low point in his life: “He began to be in want. Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate” (14b-16a). My question for you is, “What caused him to be in such dire circumstances?”
 
     Having grown up in a culture that exemplified the Protestant Work Ethic, my answer has always been that “[He] wasted his possessions with prodigal living” (13). A few years ago I heard a missionary talk about how other cultures understand the same parable. It was only then that I was able to see that the parable actually contains three distinct reasons for his circumstances.

• I was familiar with the first one: Prodigal living, or as I was taught, because he did not steward his life and resources wisely.
• The second was that something happened that was out of his control: A natural disaster occurred. “There arose a severe famine in that land” (14).
• The third was he found himself in a situation that had no family or societal safety net.  “No one gave him anything” (16).

     The missionary indicated that as he experienced different cultures, the people would point to the one reason that best fits their life circumstances. He added that no one ever mentioned all three.
 
     In SBC life, we increasingly find ourselves engaged in debates and at times divisive conflicts because of the differences created by our diverse cultural views of issues. I believe that a significant portion of the debate on Resolution 9 that was passed at the 2019 SBC Annual Meeting has been caused by our cultural diversity.
 
     When I was sixteen, my family moved from northeast Wyoming to northeast Oklahoma. I had already accepted Christ and was an active church member and practicing young Christian, but I was quickly told that some of the things that were part of the social fabric in Wyoming were pagan and unacceptable activities for a Christian in Oklahoma. That experience and the privilege of serving the culturally diverse churches of Heartland Church Network have helped me to see that culture plays a significant role in how we view life and do church.
 
     Resolution 9 specifically addresses two sociological theories: Critical Race Theory and Intersectionality. For some of us, these were terms we had never heard before we read the resolution. For others, they were terms we had heard, but not topics that we have actually studied. For yet others, they are terms that evoke deep feelings; however, those emotions can be found at opposites ends of the debate. Cultural differences have generated vastly different definitions for the terms and thus reactions to the resolution.  
 
But before I jump into the already heated debate, let me remind you how we got to where we are today.  

• June 2019: the messengers at the SBC Annual Meeting in Birmingham, AL approved Resolution 9, “On Critical Race Theory and Intersectionality” (CRT/I). It was an edited version of a resolution submitted by Stephen Feinstein, pastor of Sovereign Way Church in California.
• February 2020: Because of concerns fueled by social media debates related to Resolution 9, a Baptist Press article entitled Q&A with the 2019 Resolutions Committee was published: https://www.baptistpress.com/resource-library/news/qa-with-the-2019-resolutions-committee-about-resolution-9/
• The 2020 SBC Annual meeting in Orlando, FL was canceled due to COVID so nothing could be addressed in a formal manner.
• The on-line debates continued and The Council of Seminary Presidents (the six presidents of our SBC Seminaries) issued a statement on Nov. 30
• Marshal Ausberry, who is president of the National African American Fellowship (NAAF), first vice president of the SBC, and pastor of Antioch Baptist Church in Fairfax Station, Va., issued a response Dec. 11 on behalf of NAAF.
• On January 6, a zoom meeting was moderated by SBC Executive Committee President Ronnie Floyd which included officers of the National African American Fellowship of the SBC, presidents of the six Southern Baptist seminaries, and SBC President J.D. Greear. An overview of that meeting and the joint statement made after it can be found at the following link: https://www.baptistpress.com/resource-library/news/naaf-leaders-seminary-presidents-hold-honest-and-open-conversation/

      My prayer is that as you review, or read for the first time, the information on the above links that you will begin to develop clarity and objectivity in the midst of a complex and emotionally driven debate. Remembering, as you read, that your understanding is through your own cultural lens. As is always my request, if I have said anything that has confused or offended you, please reach out to me for clarification and dialogue. My commitment to you, and before God, is to have an honest open dialogue using Biblical principles as the only bedrock upon which we can build an enduring relationship. 

Yours in Christ,
Mark R. Elliott, DoM

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