Open Letter to Southern Baptists

Friends,

Like many Southern Baptists I discovered yesterday that Dr. Al Mohler would be nominated to be president of the Southern Baptist Convention. Here is my response to that news.

As Southern Baptists, we are truly a blessed people. We are blessed with the heritage of sound Biblical doctrine that has been passed down to us and is expressed well in our current “Baptist Faith and Message.” We are blessed with mission agencies that allow us to fulfill both the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20) and the Great Commandment (Matthew 22:37-40) given to us by our Lord. We are blessed with great leadership among our pastors, presidents, and boards.

I have the privilege to serve on such a board. As a trustee of NAMB, I see how God is at work in our mission agencies. It is because of such work that our church gives 10% to the Cooperative Program each year. We have been recognized for the past three years as the leading C.P. giving church in Kentucky—we rejoice to be able to give and consider it an honor to give to this “one sacred effort.”

As Southern Baptists, we leverage these blessings best when this convention and its faith statement provide an umbrella where those who agree on the Baptist Faith and Message can cooperate—even when they have differing opinions on other issues. By never compromising our standards as spelled out in the “Baptist Faith and Message” we retain our banner of truth. By giving grace and consideration in secondary and tertiary concerns we retain our unity and partnership in ministry. In an environment where Biblical truth is defended and shared in humility and love we represent our Lord well and effectively fulfill our divine mandate.

There are leaders within this convention who bless us with their strengths and abilities. However, strengths have weaknesses and those with abilities have deficiencies, but what makes this convention strong is that leaders are allowed to lead where they are strong and able to trust others to be strong where they are weak.

At Southern Seminary, we have a president that effectively articulates cultural and theological issues and provides a strong voice for evangelicals. As one who holds a more reformed theology, I appreciate Dr. Mohler’s insights and the foundation he has provided with the outstanding conservative professors at the seminary here in Kentucky.

I appreciate and applaud his academic and theological strengths but his weakness as a unifying leader concerns me—particularly at this pivotal time in our convention. When I learned that Dr. Mohler was seeking to lead this great convention, I was troubled. Although I affirm Dr. Mohler’s theology and passion, I do not believe what he can offer is what this convention needs in a president.

I have no interest in being S.B.C. president, but I am convinced of the qualities that this leader must possess. This convention needs a unifier. This convention needs someone who can build bridges not segregate camps. This convention needs a man with a pastor’s heart and a pastor’s attitude that can gather pastors and challenge them to lead their churches to cooperate together for the cause of Christ. This convention needs someone known for their commitment to global missions. I believe this convention needs a pastor who is leading a church that gives an exemplary percentage to the Cooperative Program, that is reaching the lost, and that is on mission locally and around the world. Finally, in this time of convention confusion, I do not think we need an agency head to be involved in the process that leads to the appointment of his own trustees.

Dr. Mohler is a good man, even a great man, but he is not the man for S.B.C. president. He has the heart of an academician and the attitude of one who contends for the truth. Right now we need a president that is a shepherd; one who can compassionately bring the different camps that call themselves Southern Baptists together to cooperate. This is a time to come together. We need a bridge builder.

We need men like Dr. Mohler in the academy, to stand watch at the wall and keep doctrinal error from staining the fabric of our faith that so many have worked so hard to clean. We need him to lead professors to train sound theology at Southern Seminary. We need him to continue to consider theories and concepts of faith. That is where he serves us well. For that we are grateful.

Southern Baptists need Dr. Mohler as a seminary president, but not as the president of our convention. I want Dr. Mohler at Southern Seminary and on CNN, but we need an S.B.C. president who has led a local church, regularly participates in international mission trips, does not polarize the conversation, and is known as a “unifier.” The man we need is a proven pastor who is reaching the lost, giving sacrificially to the Cooperative Program, and leading his people to be on mission for God.