We are commanded by God to “come out and be ye separate” (2 Corinthians 6:17). We are commanded to “separate ourselves from the congregation that is about to be consumed by God” (Numbers 16:21,26). We are told to “touch no unclean thing” (Isaiah 52:11). We are commanded to “come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins and take part in her plagues.”
(JD Hall – Pulpit & Pen) This is an open letter to Southern Baptists who continue to support the Cooperative Program and fund its grievous errors. That caveat, in italics, is important. I wrote this as an email to a Southern Baptist pastor and I’m making it available as an open letter to all Southern Baptists who spit upon the Bible’s clear teaching regarding separating from error. I especially direct this to pastors, who should be leading the congregation away from sin and not into it.
Friends,
The time has come and gone for your conscience to be fully decided on the issue of compromise in your denomination. As a former Southern Baptist – as one who was once where you are now – I looked at members of apostate denominations and derided them for decades for partnering with spiritual lawlessness. So did you. We both looked at United Methodists, Episcopalians, those belonging to the Presbyterian Church USA, American Baptists, the United Church of Christ, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America and told them they were sinning by continuing to support organizations that deny or disobey the Holy Scriptures and who flaunt their rebellion. But now, you are one of them.
In the days of the Conservative Resurgence, Southern Baptists kicked out of their seminaries, schools, and institutions the very same kinds of people with the very same kinds of liberal, progressive, and ecumenical agendas who now run most Southern Baptist institutions. The Conservative Resurgence ran the liberals underground, but it did not drive them out. Being of their father, the devil, who is also the father of lies (John 8:44), they just claimed to hold to the Baptist Faith and Message while giving it insincere lip service. Demanding a high view of Holy Writ didn’t really permeate beyond the upper echelons of denominational power; other than high-profile leadership positions, the SBC never exorcized itself of liberal demons, with leftists and progressives remaining entrenched down into the grassroots. The denomination worshipped at the altar of mammon, refusing to diminish their nickels or noses by separating from those belonging to the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship or those who denied essential doctrines. To this day, you can find “Southern Baptist” churches who ordain female clergy, “affirm” homosexuality. and deny inerrancy. The SBC has not removed them from fellowship under the guise of church autonomy, as though this Baptist distinctive is a license to sin, or as though it somehow prevents the churches of the SBC from separating from wickedness.
If a liberal kicked out of the SBC in 1987 got into a time machine and visited 2019, they would rejoice under the assumption that the liberals won. Today it is not uncommon for Southern Baptist churches to have female pastors. At least three seminaries place women in pastoral degree programs. Most of them permit women to preach in classes designed to teach homiletics (at least one requires it). Two seminaries seem overtaken by the Social Gospel – the same ideology swallowed alive and ripped the soul out of the mainstream denominations mentioned above (even though they now call it ‘Social Justice,’ which is a Marxist term wed to Jesuit Liberation Theology, and in many ways is worse than Rauschenbusch’s Social Gospel). Southern Seminary is turning into a climate not altogether unlike that which Mohler invaded during the Resurgence. The gay Anglican priest, Sam Allberry, is being promoted by SBC entity heads Albert Mohler, Danny Akin, Jason Allen, and Russell Moore. The SBC is today where these liberal mainstream denominations were 30 years ago. How you fail to see it amazes me.
So then, I level charges of sin against you. In particular, I level this charge of sin against Southern Baptist pastors, who will be held to a higher account (James 3:1).
Research
Progressive (Social Justice) “Christianity”
Disclaimer: The Christian Research Network supports a range of views. Some of the articles we post are for informational and research purposes. The content of a post doesn’t necessarily reflect the views of CRN’s team. Moreover, the views of individual authors don’t necessarily reflect the views of CRN’s team.