GCR, SBC, CRBC

Those are a lot of letters up there! Cross Road Baptist Church (CRBC) is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). There is a movement among some leadership to have a Great Commission Resurgence (GCR). I’ve read the document at greatcommissionresurgence.com and have signed on to it because I agree with the tenets laid out in it. Johnny Hunt, SBC president and pastor in the Atlanta area, is one of the main drivers behind GCR. I like Johnny Hunt as a preacher and a person (based on what little, very little, interaction I’ve had with him).

But many do not like his “attack” on the convention bureaucracy and have become very vocal in these days leading up to the annual meeting to be held in Louisville, KY on June 23-24. I’m sorta glad that CRBC scheduled Vacation Bible School (VBS) for that week so I have an excuse not to be there for the fireworks. But I’m sorta gonna miss the fireworks!

Whenever a finger is pointed toward someone with a bit of criticism, people pointed to tend to get defensive. I understand that. What I don’t understand is the tone of the rhetoric being thrown around. The general media will have a heyday with this as they try to find ways to make the social conservatism of the SBC look bad. We (the SBC, generally) think that abortion, homosexuality, gay marriage, to name a few issues on the front burners these days, are biblical. And if not biblical, then wrong. So anytime national exposure of problems within the SBC can be overexposed, the media will do it.

Christianity is being marginalized in our society. I read today that North America is the only continent where Christianity is not growing. Why is that? Partly, it is because evangelical denominations, like the SBC, won’t focus on what is most important: spreading the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ alone. Another reason for the stagnation of Christianity on our continent is that many formerly-strong denominations are allowing the culture to define their morality/ethic rather than the Bible. This is why the SBC and churches like CRBC take a hit when we speak out for decency and human life and the one-man/one-woman marriage issue.

The GCR is an attempt – a good-faith attempt, I believe – to focus our convention on what really matters. That is not saying that we are completely off focus and that every entity is at fault and that each church is missing the mark. But it is to say that the task of the Great Commission is so important that we should be willing to turn the magnifying glass toward ourselves and change what should be changed and champion what we are doing well.

Let me give you three more letters.

A – admit you are a sinner and repent of your sins.

B – believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and what he did on the cross is the only way you can receive forgiveness for you sins and gain eternal life in heaven.

C – confess that Jesus Christ is your Savior and Lord and commit to live your life in a way that embodies that confession.