Thoughts from the Pastor's Conference of the Southern Baptist Convention

Wow, what a day! I count myself blessed to be among the pastors at this year's Pastor's Conference and Southern Baptist Convention in Louisville, Kentucky, where our leaders are calling us to personal repentance and corporate renewal. On Monday, I had the opportunity to be challenged by men from a variety of church settings, differing generations and opposite ends of culture - united around the singular, unifying cross of Jesus Christ.

To say that any one of these impassioned sermons was better than the last would be a disservice to God who spoke through each of these men, but I do want to share with you some of the insights I gleaned:

Powered by the Holy Spirit, and driven by a passion to see us as a denomination make an impact on our world, Ed Stetzer used his exhaustive research to remind us that we must engage the lost and dying world around us to be found faithful to God's call on our lives. He spoke of the differences within or convention, but spoke of them in terms of allowing each difference to focus each church and individual on a different aspect of those who are lost - unified around Christ.

A Few of his sound bites include "the nations need our witness, not our conflict" and "we argue about tertiary issues while the world waits on the Gospel."

He was followed by Frances Chan of Simi Valley California, who opened with the comment "every time I opened the book, and then looked at my church, I saw two different things." This set the tone for his impassioned plea for us to evaluate our motives as well as our methods. Challenging us to recall how powerful God is, he told of what stated has become our unspoken belief "God moved in mighty ways [in Acts], but don't get used to it, that was then."

Probably one of the most indicting statements came when he took the antithesis of Southern Baptist life and used it as an analogy of what we have become when he said we have "Blackjack Christianity." Informing the audience comprising the same convention that has repeatedly repudiated all forms of gambling, he said that in the game of blackjack, the player is concerned only with the dealer and himself with no concern for anyone else at the table. The player doesn't care if the guy next to him hits 21 or busts. Could it be that we are concerned only with our life and God and could care less about the others at the table of life?

Former pastor, presidential candidate, and governor of Arkansas, Mike Huckabee spoke about the direction of our country as a whole and the need for genuine leaders in all aspects, but got good laughs from his quip, "What a shame that Barak Obama didn't listen to Fred Luter for 20 years instead of Jeremiah Wright," and his confession that one of the major changes in his life over the past 20 years was the change from a PC to a Macbook. He explained the change was because a file on his PC became "corrupt" and the whole computer crashed. If we let leadership become corrupt, we are destined for a crash - in the family, the convention, the nation.

After a long day of challenges, the evening culminated in an appeal from Johnny Hunt, president of the SBC for us to focus on our own spiritual renewal, for as the pastor goes, so goes the church. If the pastor is concerned for the lost, the church will be evangelical; if the pastor has a heart for missions, the church will have a heart for missions; if the pastor serves, the church will serve. He challenged us to search our hearts and make a renewed acceptance of our call to follow God and lead His people.

Wow, to give just these insights seems an injustice to all that God is doing in the SBC this week. Please pray that God is glorified in all that takes place and that we leave Louisville as a convention keenly focused on living out God's call of love to a lost and dying word, with an eagerness to serve them and share with them the joy of His salvation!