My View of the SBC Annual Meeting 2018

Kingdom Culture and Focus Prevailed

My wife and I attended the Southern Baptist Convention that met last week in Dallas, Texas.  I want to share what happened, as I know you have likely heard or read things in the news that may seem troubling to you.  Let me assure you, all is not how it seems.  Yet in all, there is usually a grain of truth.

I went into this year’s convention meetings on my face before God begging for unity, wisdom, and peace.  I was troubled in my spirit over major issues that we would be facing that could split us apart if we let our personalities, personal desires, and personal agendas get in the way and hinder our reliance upon God, Himself.

There were two major issues that I knew we were facing.  We would be electing a new president, as Steve Gaines’ term came to an end, and we would be dealing with heartache and heartbreak over the firing of Dr. Paige Patterson as the president of Southwest Theological Seminary in Ft. Worth, Texas.

From the start of the Pastor’s Conference, beginning Sunday evening, the whole meeting was filled with challenges from our pastors and leaders to put aside yourself and let God alone be exalted.  Tony Evans, Sunday evening, preached that we must be Christians first and foremost and not let secondary and tertiary biblical ideology or opinion, the color of one’s skin, or a difference to any political thought or party define who you are.  Jesus Christ defines who you are through His blood, His sacrifice, and His power.  Any other identities are worthless in the scope and measure of eternity and have no place as a cause of division within God’s family.

Tuesday morning the business of the convention convened.  Much was done, but for the sake of time I will deal with only a few here.  If you would like to know more details, I would be happy to set up a time to go into more detail with you.  We were made aware that the White House had reached out and requested that Vice President Mike Pence be allowed to address the Messengers.  The offer was accepted based upon the biblical principle of hospitality and respect that God requires we show to civic government, which God Himself has ordained and put in place.

This seemed to cause much unrest among the Messengers.  However, the reality was this, with motions being made to:
Disinvite the Vice President from speaking
Request that the time given to Vice President Pence be replaced with a time of prayer
Request the Vice President to format his address in a particular manner

In regard to the VPOTUS address, the convention Messengers overwhelmingly supported his address and voted down the very small group with negative denunciations against those that God has in that position.  One note on VP Mike Pence’s address, and I have a full copy, which I bought, if you are intersted in watching the full address.  Our Vice President stated clearly that the work of the pastor and the church is more important, powerful, and will have longer impact than anything that happens at the White House.

My greatest concern was what would happen in the voting of a new president.  Both candidates are men who love God, lead well, and have a heart for the propagation of the gospel of Jesus Christ to every tribe, tongue, and nation.  God blessed us with a new president in J.D. Greear with an approximate 70-30 vote, and I have not heard any ugliness or harsh rhetoric out of anyone in regard to this election.

The final major issue that was voted on was dealing with the Executive Team of the Trustees of Southwestern Seminary.  The motion was made to remove them.  All of them.  After debate, which was intense, we were reminded by the widow of one of our pastor’s that the #MeToo movement does not determine who we are, should not determine how we live, and can not determine or have any place in deciding what happens in Kingdom culture.  The convention did not remove the EC, instead we have sent their decision for firing Dr. Paige Patterson back to the entire trustee board for review and to report back to the convention.

Those are the issues the media focused on.  It did not focus on celebrating GuideStone’s 100 years of providing care to thousands of soldiers of the cross.  It did not focus on the 16 resolutions passed.  It did not focus on the Disciple-Making Task Force Report that stated the lack of Bible engagement is a critical factor in failure of making disciples.  It did not report that the Evangelism Task Force put out a report on how to improve evangelistic efforts across the nations.  It did not report over 3,000 professions of faith across Dallas and thousands more at Harvest America.  It did not report on NAMB and IMB mission efforts.  I could go on.

You see folks, what makes us Southern Baptists are not our differences.  

What makes us Southern Baptist is a definitive decision to voluntarily cooperate together for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  With one of the worlds largest mission forces and over 47,000 cooperating churches with over 15M people involved, we are able, in the essentials to have unity, in our non-essentials to have liberty, and in all things to show the world that we love one and all.  Warsaw Baptist Church is autonomous, and with that autonomy we choose to be Southern Baptist because we believe that together we can do much more for The Cause of Christ than we ever could hope to do on our own.

Respectfully submitted,

Rev. Joshua Goepfrich