SBC "Controversy" Over the Emerging Church

Ok, other bloggers are already on top of this so I will save my comments for later. For now I will just direct you to Marty Duren's post about Missouri Baptist Roger Doran. Roger Doran seems to be an alarmist with bad facts and broad brush strokes trying to stir up the convention with a statement presented to Lifeway via the SBC executive committee.

For specifics about who Doran is and to determine whether he has any credibility at all I suggest you read the "truth about Roger Doran." See Joe Thorns commentary on the guilt by association angle present in Doran's remarks.

What kills me about all this is as a Southern Baptist I know we have a powerful network of cooperation and incredible resources to proclaim the gospel and see people transformed into the image and likeness of Jesus Christ, yet consistently we find ourselves busy proclaiming what hairs to split instead. I do not believe (maybe too naively) that Roger Doran has much sway with anyone but what I do fear is that there are some in leadership of the SBC who will take up his torch who do have wield power.

I consider myself to be on the side of the conservative resurgence and would whole heartedly align myself as such. However, in recent years I have wanted to ask the leaders of the movement if they realize they won. They accomplished what they set out to accomplish yet it appears to me they still look for fights and act as if they are ever trying to find ways to narrow the theological framework to a stifling degree. This concerns me because while there are those out there that say this is not going to happen I still find convention leaders drawing lines in the sand on issues like alcohol, women in ministry, Calvinism, tongues, baptism, etc. that push more and more people to take sides on issues that should be able to coexist within the larger body of what it truly means to be Southern Baptist.

Is there a term for someone who is obsessed with being "the most conservative." I fear it is an almost intoxicating desire to be right on every issue across the board, when in reality some views are debatable. This syndrome drives people to believe you are not like Jesus if you are not like them in every way. I am not saying theology is not important. I am saying there should be room for debate, room for different positions with in the conference. At this time I believe their is this breathing room within the SBC but I also feel that their are those in leadership that are still trying to constrict the convention ever tighter.