There is quite a bit of intra-SBC debate over what exactly constitutes a “young leader” in the Southern Baptist Convention. Some folks apparently use this terminology to mean any younger SBC pastor, staff member, missionary, or professor. I suppose this is true in a sense–anyone who is serving in a “vocational ministry” (for lack of a better term) is a leader. With this understanding, the claim is most certainly true that the SBC is losing many younger leaders. But this is a pretty wide usage of the word “leader.”
Others use the term “young leader” to mean younger Southern Baptists who are widely recognized to be leaders in the convention. In this usage, a young leader pastors a prominent and growing church, or is a widely respected professor or missionary, and has probably served in some appointed position within the convention (a trustee board, committee, etc.). The problem with using “leader” in this way is that it is also too broad–who determines which churches are prominent and which young bureaucrats are gifted?
Both of these usages point to what I think is the heart of the matter: for may people, a “young leader” is someone younger than you whom you like. So some Southern Baptists are concerned that we are losing “young leaders” because some of their friends have left. Others want to know which “young leaders” we are losing because all of their peeps are still around. This leads to folks talking past each other.
I’m sure there are also other ways the term “young leader” is being used, but I think its enough to begin this post by acknowledging that there is no one way Southern Baptists use the term. What a surprise to find diversity in the Southern Baptist Convention!
For the record, I’m going to try to clarify how I am using the term “young leader” in future posts, because, frankly, I have used the phrase in both of the above ways.In this post, I’m thinking of young collegians at Southeastern. Almost all of them will go on to be leaders in the first sense. Many of them may be leaders in the second sense.
Every semester I spend the last night of my Baptist History and Distinctives class taking open questions from the class related to current events in the Southern Baptist Convention. I promise the class I will be honest with them, though I tell them I cannot guarantee they will agree with my answers. Many students have remarked that the Q&A is the most interesting 75 minutes of the semester. Anyway, having now taught this class for two years, I thought I would share the questions most frequently asked by some younger future leaders in the SBC. The questions are more or less in their order of frequency, not importance.
1. What is all the fuss about at the International Mission Board? (Variation: What do you [NAF] think about the new IMB rules?) (Variation 2: Is there really a problem with missionaries who are speaking in tongues?)
2. Will the SBC split over Calvinism? (Variation: Do you think they will “kick out” all the Calvinists one day?)
3. Will the SBC still be around in X number of years? (There is variation in the number of years, depending upon who’s asking the question. The most common time frame is ten years.)
4. What do you [NAF] think is the biggest issue in the SBC?
5. When will the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina become really conservative? (Variation: Is there any hope for the Biblical Recorder?)
6. I’m not a cessasionist–is there a place for me in the SBC? (Variation: I don’t have a problem with speaking in tongues, but I don’t personally do it–can I be a missionary?)
7. Why is the SBC so obsessed with alcohol? (There are a lot of variations on this question.)
8. How would you [NAF] lead a church to begin practicing church discipline?
9. What do you think about SBC churches that do not use “Baptist” in their name?
10. What do you think about the Acts 29 Network? (Variation: What does “the SBC” think about the emerging church movement?)
11. Why is our convention “run” by megachurch pastors while small church pastors are virtually ignored? (Variation: Why do the same 10 guys preach at all the conferences?)
12. Who will be the next president of the SBC?
13. Is Duke Divinity School liberal? (Duke is about 30 miles down the road.)
14. Is the CBF going to die out? (Variation: Will the CBF ever “return” to the SBC?)
15. Is it true that you said on your blog that __________________? (Endless variations!)
There are certainly other questions. Almost every semester I am asked what I believe about an array of doctrines and several practices. But the above list summarizes the most frequently asked questions about the SBC (and related issues), to the best of my recollection. I don’t know what the future young leaders are asking at our sister institutions, but these are the things at least some of them are asking here.
