Dr. Lawless’ Open Letter to Young Southern Baptists
I just finished reading Dr. Chuck Lawless’ Open Letter to Young Southern Baptists. I found it posted at Between the Times. You can also read the letter at Dr. Lawless’ website. Dr. Lawless honestly notes some of the difficulties facing the denomination while encouraging young Southern Baptists to support the Cooperative Program, remain focused on the Great Commission, and become engaged in SBC life. I found his letter very encouraging. It is definitely worth reading. There are many exciting things going on in the SBC and I’m glad to be a part of our denomination. I just wish that more of our folks knew what the SBC is about.
I wasn’t raised in a Southern Baptist Church. I came to the SBC as a teenager out of an independant, fundamental, baptist church and knew very little of the Southern Baptist Convention. Even after joining a SBC church, I still wasn’t aware of what the Convention did. I didn’t know a lot about the International Mission Board, the North American Mission Board or any other of the agencies or programs of the convention. Very little if anything was mentioned of these efforts in church services. I just wasn’t aware of what the SBC did. It took a seminary education at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary to make me aware of what the convention has to offer. I believe that more of our folks would become involved and contribute if they were aware of SBC activities.
We could learn a thing or two from our independent baptist brethren. I distinctly remember missionaries visiting the independent baptist church in which I grew up. I remember them speaking to Sunday School classes, our children’s ministry, and the congregation. They told of the wonderful things that God was accomplishing on the mission field. People gave, in part, because they made a personal connection with both the missionary and the mission. When I joined the SBC, I rarely heard from the missionaries and evangelists. Instead, I read bulletin notes and occasionally heard a plea from the pulpit to give money when we took up a collection for Annie Armstrong or Lottie Moon, neither of which I knew anything at the time. We could benefit tremendously by intentionally keeping our congregations informed about SBC life, particularly concerning foreign and home missions.
I think many of our folks, especially younger Southern Baptists, share the confusions that I had prior to seminary. They don’t know what it means to be Southern Baptist. They haven’t heard anything about Southern Baptist History. They don’t know what Southern Baptists do. No wonder they view the SBC as irrelevant. I hope that Dr. Lawless’ Letter encourages our younger leaders to become engaged with the SBC, capturing the Great Commission vision which has defined the convention. I hope that we capture that vision and keep it before our congregations as we cooperatively reach out to world in dire need of Christ.
Technorati Tags: Great Commission, SBC, Southern Baptists, Missions, Evangelism, Dr. Chuck Lawless
