Thread by @da_horton

The SBC is headed for an unnecessary "civil war", all in the name of a pseudo-conservative resurgence. In the meantime, baptisms are down. For those outside or inside the SBC who are not aware of the Conservative resurgence please read this book (amzn.to/3pkKaAg)

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The Conservative resurgence sought to purge the SBC of legit liberalism (but still had blindspots w/ sins of its leaders). The book (in post 1) explains how the "SBC" works, & the process of leadership position appointments produce transformation inside the convention.

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Inside the SBC Seminaries were Professors who denied the Inspiration and Inerrancy of Scripture, the literal resurrection of Jesus, and all other essentials of the Christian faith. Liberals were in key leadership positions and the Conservative resurgence took them head on.

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Today, there’s an expressed fear the SBC is once again under attack by Liberals, Communists, Marxists, et al. In order for a war to be justified there must be an enemy, thus the identified enemy of the SBC is none other than Critical Race Theory (CRT).

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In a time of war, two existing enemies who, put their differences on hold, in order to form an alliance to defeat a common enemy is called “Co-Belligerence”. An easy example of this is the USA & USSR, putting aside beef, to form an alliance & defeat Nazi Germany in WWII.

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The irony of the current issues inside the SBC is that those who declared war on CRT and its supposed adherents inside the SBC, have become Co-Belligerence anyone who agrees with their view, even with James Lindsay, a known scholar who is also an Atheist.

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Yet, they refuse to consider, via Common Grace, the research of other unregenerate souls that highlight legal & systemic realities regarding systemic racism (the systemic sin of partiality) and White Supremacy, simply because it doesn’t fit their cause.

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Naming White Supremacy is not an indictment on every person of European descent (see: bit.ly/3c9Cb2Q). SBC'ers who're anti-CRT evade White Supremacy in order to lump regenerate SBC messengers who speak out against it as “CRT” thereby branding them as the enemy.

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I have 20 suggestions for all inside SBC Life w/me. We should:

(1) Pray for the SBC.
(2) Keep on praying for the SBC.
(3) Read the BF&M 2000 (bfm.sbc.net/bfm2000/) (4) Realize Critical thinking is not a sin. (5) Study the History of the SBC (slavery & beyond)

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(6) Pray for the SBC Entity leaders.
(7) Listen to why pastors/churches left.
(8) Pray for these pastors/churches.
(9) As “Great Commission Baptist” is normalizing, look at the nuances of the Great Commission that intersect with our current issues in SBC Life.

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Nuances like:

(a) ethnicity & discipleship (panta ta ethne = every ethnicity) so deconstructing "race" & affirming ethnicity is not sin

(b) obedience to Jesus’ spiritual & social commands (see: bit.ly/3fseFjq)

(c) Jesus’ faithful presence with His true Church.

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(10) Realize the Great Commission is NOT the whole Story of the Bible.

(11) Preach the whole of God’s story; Creation, Fall, Redemption & Restoration. This will help all inside the SBC see false dichotomies (ex: gospel proclamation vs social action) are not necessary.

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(12) See how the Great Commission helps us break out of the Black/White binary. Kingdom citizenship will better be reflected in doing so. Plus, Kingdom reflection doesn’t erase/ignore the ‘Blackness’ or ‘Whiteness’ of our brothers/sister of African & European descent.

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(13) As the SBC reflects Rev. 21:24-26, we will see SNAPSHOTS of various ethnicities, leveraging their forms of capital, as worship to our One Lord, Jesus Christ!

(14) Confront the sin of Partiality that’s being practiced in our local churches...

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so repentance and the fruits thereof (2 Cor 7:9-11) can be born. Note: It is not only people of European descent who practice this sin, all humans from every ethnicity can and do. CRT may not point this out, but Scripture does.

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(15) Understand: Scripture, qualified Leadership (1 Tim 3; Titus 1), the Lord’s Supper (1 Cor 11), and Church discipline are the tools Jesus has equipped His Saints with to preserve the purity of His bride from all sin, including the sin of partiality.

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(16) Pray for the SBC 2021 and every messenger. Outsiders love to share their commentary, but SBC messengers are the ones who shape the rhythms of SBC Life.

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(17) Don’t believe lies saying Jesus’ followers who engage CRT are; Liberal, Communists, Heretics, Marxists, etc. Instead, look at the solutions they propose. If it advocates what Christ has commanded in Scripture, this serves as evidence we are working for our Lord Jesus.

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(18) Realize the SBC doesn't = the global church. We’re a small sub-set of Christians cooperating together in mission for Jesus’ name to be made famous, not our online arguments.

(19) Make plans to serve as a messenger for your church & attend the SBC in June if God wills.

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(20) Pray every SBC member, in every SBC local church, evangelizes & loves their neighbor for the glory of Jesus alone. Pray our evangelism & baptism numbers are greater than numbers of online, private mtgs, & sidebar arguments.

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We do not have to a “civil war” within the SBC. We can realize there are genuine Jesus' followers inside the SBC who engage CRT in their career fields, call sin....sin, propose gospel-infused solutions, preach Christ, all the while never compromise their Christian faith.

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Not every issue is a "heretic/orthodox" issue. Christians can use the gift of rationality God has given us as image bearers to eat the meat and spit out the bones.

I mean, we're okay with some of our own doing this with the words of James Lindsay right?

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Lastly, it's through cooperate prayer, adherence to God’s Word, receiving the testimonies of our family in Christ, from every ethnicity, who have genuine hurt from within our convention, we can seek the Lord’s face together, be empowered by His indwelling Spirit to...

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tear down the walls that segregate us, confess our sins to one another, and make our repentance and the fruit thereof more known than the controversies and fractions we fall out over.

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Lord, we need your help to accomplish these suggestions. May we do this for your glory and to give your Kingdom greater representation throughout North America.

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