Is Anything Wrong with the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) Denomination?

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective

As someone who is a member of the Southern Baptist Convention, there are things that deeply concern me. Off the top of my head, here’s a short list:

1. heretical teaching
2. leaders with six-figure salaries
3. secular business practices inside the denominational headquarters
4. a large array of beliefs/practices encouraged and allowed – both biblical and unbiblical
5. people in leadership positions are more like corporate CEOs and managers than servant-leaders

I’ll stop with those five points. Would you agree with me that since the birth of the actual invisible Church, error has always been a problem. Jesus warned against it. The apostle Paul spent most of his time writing epistles to fight against it and teach others in the church how to stand against error. Others throughout the New Testament writings also warned of problems that would develop if/once error gained a foothold in churches.

We can look no further than Galatians, 1 & 2 Corinthians and Revelation 3 to see just how serious error was to those who stood on the front lines. It has always been a problem and always will be a problem until Jesus returns and sets things straight.

However, in today’s society and within Christendom itself (the visible Church), there are often varying opinions about this, that or the other thing. A lot of those opinions deal with the non-essentials of the faith, like what type of music should be used during worship or whether or not musical instrumentation should be part of that as well. But there are also other areas that require our constant diligence in order to keep the local body free from error.

Today, the error is often so surreptitious, so sneaky, and often so divisive that people are often unaware that it has even made inroads. When they do become aware of it, arguments are not that far behind because people often react to something based solely on how they feel about it, not what God’s Word states about something.

A case in point is the way Jonathan Cahn twists Scripture in an attempt to prove his points for his books, The Harbinger and The Shemitah. I’ve written numerous articles on what I believe are the problems associated with both books and in general, Cahn’s outlook and understanding of Scriptures. Usually, people have already decided what they think about it and if they disagree with me, their vehemence toward me is apparent. In short, Christians today simply do not know how to rightly divide God’s Word. They don’t because they have been trained to go mainly by how they feel about something and as I’ve said repeatedly, going by feeling is the worst way to make a decision.

Because of this, there are groups of people within the SBC denomination who believe that if Jonathan Cahn is preaching about it, it must be great. Others believe that SBC pastor Rick Warren also consistently upholds truth and only truth. They aren’t interested in hearing anything negative about the man because to them, it’s all lies or misunderstandings.

Now we have the movie, “War Room,” which though it purports to teach about the importance of prayer, the truth seems to be that it does so by using methods that are mystical in its approach. The fact that at least two individuals associated with the movie – Beth Moore and Priscilla Squire – are proponents of Contemplative Prayer only gives further proof of the problem. However, many within the SBC see no problem at all. Both Moore and Squire are “nice” people, they have a tremendous presence with their video messages, and both are fairly easy on the eyes as well. But what is their message and why is it when someone questions their message that people become angry as if critiquing people like Cahn, Moore, and Squire is verboten? It shouldn’t be. If it was good enough for the apostle Paul (Acts 17), it’s good enough for anyone claiming to be a Christian (including me).

But because of the way people too often feel today (directly tied to emotional virtue), too many think it’s best not to say anything to upset the apple cart. We must live in peace, even if that means someone next to you believes error. Wrong, error should be nipped lovingly in the bud before it sets down root and grows. Unfortunately, this is not usually done from what I have seen within the SBC.

The other issue I have is the often large financial packages that pastors, youth pastors, and worship pastors receive today at the local church level. It’s kind of interesting that Jesus had no place to lay his head (and neither did Paul often), but today’s “servant” pastor makes a ton of money, has an expense account, and a retirement account. Now, I’m not saying that the worker is not worth his wages, but why has the SBC become more like a corporate structure? Why are people at the SBC headquarters being paid six-figure (or more) salaries to sit in an office and pontificate on their social media site? It’s a bit much to say the least, yet it continues and has become the norm. In some ways, the upper echelon of the SBC seems very much like the Jewish religious leaders of Jesus’ day, who were far more concerned about impressions, salaries, position, and influence than teaching the Israelites the truth about God.

While we’re on the subject, take a peak around the Internet and look up Dr. Russell Moore or Ronnie Floyd. These guys are two of the top people in the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) and they make a ton of money off the tithes and offerings of parishioners within the SBC. Moore is in charge of a $7 million budget for his office alone (president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention). How can this be, especially when another branch of the SBC – one that oversees missionaries – is having to call back hundreds of missionaries from the field because of a huge budget deficit?

It’s beginning to smell like a whole lot of questionable practices all the way to full-blown heresy to me. But people like me who ask questions will be marginalized, ignored, or castigated and denigrated as someone who is out of touch with what God is allegedly doing in and through the SBC. I wrote a note to Dr. Russell Moore and we’ll see if he takes the time to respond. I have my doubts, but if he does with anything, I’ll certainly let my readers know.

So given the situation within the SBC, what is the average parishioner to do? The only option I know of is to leave the SBC and find one (or an independent church) that truly preaches the gospel and adheres to the biblical foundation created in God’s Word.

Several years ago, when Rick Warren’s “Purpose-Driven Church” was just taking off, like many, I took the time to read his book. I was actually expecting big things since it came to me so highly praised. I was sorely disappointed and there is good reason to be. I went to the pastor at the time and expressed my concerns. He seemed open to what I had to say but nothing changed. I sent him another email later, which he ignored. Eventually, I sent him one stating we were leaving the church and his immediate response was something along the lines of “Okay, I understand and may the Lord be with you!”

Sometimes, all you can do is leave in the hopes of finding another congregation of people who actually uphold God’s Word to the highest standard. I believe that this may become the norm for even more Christians as time goes on, who will find that quite possibly, going back to the first century way of meeting in people’s homes for church is the only option available. It is sad to watch a denomination crumble. That appears to be what’s happening to the SBC and there’s actually a great deal more we could discuss, but space doesn’t permit. You can start with this article, if you’re interested, but there is plenty on the ‘Net.

If you are an authentic Christian, you have an obligation to not only flee immorality, but sin of all kinds. If you are unable to make any headway at all, then sometimes, the best and only thing to do is to leave for new pastures. I hate it, but sometimes that’s the only option.

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective