Mohler prepares for second run

Louisville, Ky. | R. Albert Mohler Jr. was to be nominated for president of the Southern Baptist Convention in 2020, but the annual meeting was canceled due to COVID-19. Mohler will accept the nomination again in 2021, he has announced, and recently spoke with Baptist Press about a range of issues, including unity in the SBC, a generational shift in leadership, and whether the denomination is experiencing theological liberal drift. Here are a few excerpts from the interview:

Differences in the SBC

The Southern Baptist Convention is a convention of churches dedicated to the fulfillment of the mission of reaching the world for Christ, and establishing healthy churches across the United States, and training ministers for the next generation in equipping our churches for that work. And the SBC is not intended, it was never intended, to be the primary arena for determining what every single Southern Baptist church would believe about every single issue.

There’s a theological consensus that is necessary for our cooperation, and where that’s endangered it needs to be strengthened. But the SBC is a confessional denomination. And where we stand together is what we articulate in The Baptist Faith and Message and what we express together, and then we respect one another and join in fellowship with one another and eagerly try to reach the world for Jesus together.

Passing the leadership torch

We have an army of young pastors, which almost no other denomination has. We need to celebrate that fact. We need to understand they wouldn’t be here if there hadn’t been a Conservative Resurgence, they wouldn’t be here if we didn’t have healthy churches, they wouldn’t be here if we weren’t driven by the Great Commission. But now they are here, and it’s our responsibility to pass the torch and to celebrate the fact that we actually have convictional young pastors coming along who will be taking the reins of our churches in this denomination. And that sets us in radical contrast to the mainline Protestant denominations.

But that generational shift—we don’t make a decision on whether a generational shift happens, it happens. But we do make a decision about whether it happens graciously and healthily, faithfully. We’ve got some big decisions to make there. There’s a lot of work that needs to be done.

Supposed ‘liberal drift’

The idea of a liberal drift is frankly so irresponsible it’s very hard to take that seriously. You have six institutions that stand without hesitation for the inerrancy of Scripture, for the exclusivity of the gospel, for the totality of biblical truth. And not only do so officially and confessionally, but so naturally that these are not even issues of controversy on our campuses, and that’s the way it should be. And the generation that fought for and won the Conservative Resurgence should look at the seminaries, and the fact that these young pastors who are coming are thoroughly committed to these truths, and will be even more deeply grounded in these truths during the time they’re on our campuses.

Look, there are legitimate issues. I share the concern of even a group like the Conservative Baptist Network, I share their concern that we are in danger of losing a theological inheritance. But I do not agree, and Southern Baptists have shown they don’t agree, (or) that they suspect they have denominational leadership trying to move them in that direction, nor do they have institutions that are rebelling against that.

In the lengthy interview, Mohler also addressed:

• Critical Race Theory and the SBC’s stance

• the influence of social media on denominational unity and decisions

• creating a pipeline for new leaders

Seminary leader will seek SBC presidency at 2021 meeting Read

The state of Nevada added protection for same-sex marriages to its constitution in November, but also exempted clergy from participating in the ceremonies. The constitutional amendment—approved by 62.5% of voters—institutionalizes the right to same-sex marriage regardless of the 2015 Supreme Court decision legalizing it nationwide. “We did appreciate the protections that they were putting for pastors who would refuse to conduct same-sex marriage,” said Kevin White, executive director of the Nevada Baptist Convention, “but at the same time, we’re deeply concerned that these protections could easily be removed and place biblical pastors in legal battles that could destroy churches financially.”

High Court mulls foster care case

The U.S. Supreme Court on Nov. 4 heard oral arguments in Fulton v. Philadelphia, a case concerning whether the city of Philadelphia violated the First Amendment by excluding Catholic Social Services from the foster care system, based on the agency’s beliefs about marriage. Reporting on the oral arguments, the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission noted that Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh said if two constitutional rights are at odds—religious exercise and same-sex marriage in this case—the government should try to accommodate both sides. The City of Philadelphia has not sought reasonable accommodations, Kavanaugh said.

Religion restrictions hit record high worldwide

Government restrictions on religion in 2018 were at their highest level since Pew Research started reporting on the data in 2007. (2018 is the most recent year for which data is available.) Of 198 nations and territories studied, Pew reported, 56 have “high” or “very high” levels of government restrictions. The study, which also analyzes social hostilities toward religion, found of the world’s 25 most populous countries, India, Egypt, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Russia had the highest overall levels of restrictions.