“Baptist Identity: Is
There a Future?”
Gregory Alan Thornbury, Ph.D., Director of the
Charles Fowler, Ph.D., Vice President for Development and Church Relations
When a joke becomes cliché, it needs to be retired. But one wisecrack that just won’t die is the old saw about the legendary ability of Baptists to disagree. Put two Baptists in a room, so the saying goes, and you’ll get three opinions. Although this well-worn remark still produces an occasional chuckle, lack of common conviction is no laughing matter.
Today, Southern Baptists live in a world of breathtaking
developments in the culture war. The
rapid normalization of homosexuality and the very real possibility of same-sex
marriage, the massive assault on the sanctity of human life in
But at the same moment our age presents us with an unprecedented opportunity to be salt and light, Southern Baptists face an internal crisis of growing proportions. Much ink and talk has already been spilled on the question, but few will deny the poignancy of the following queries: “Are we living in a post denominational age?” “Do Southern Baptists collectively possess the mutual passion for truth that will be required to confront the encroaching darkness enveloping the West?” “Are we committed to the Great Commission enough to take the Gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth?”
Before we too quickly and glibly give comforting answers to
these questions, we need to pause for sober consideration. Recent indicators seem to forecast impending
trouble. On
Southern Baptists would do well to embark upon a season of reflection about the doctrinal, moral, and evangelistic commitments that bind us together. They must consider which alternative they will choose: a common future together with shared convictions about how to confront the evils attending our age, or increasing fragmentation, churches isolated from one another, and a weakened cultural presence.
On Monday and