I will cooperate to proclaim the Great Commission with anyone who proclaims the gospel of Jesus Christ, regardless of denomination, tradition, ecclesiology (including both ends of the Baptist spectrum), or soteriology.

Will I cooperate with Calvinists? Of course. Will I cooperate with those who speak in tongues? Certainly. Will I cooperate with congregations served by female pastors? With no hesitation. Will I cooperate with those who believe in (gulp shudder) 7-11 contemporary choruses on Sunday mornings? Absolutely, even if I have to blast J.S. Bach and John Rutter from my car speakers while leaving their parking lot to let them know what music in heaven will really resemble.

I have little patience with those who believe that their particular interpretation of Scripture renders everyone with a different interpretation a heretic. As I said previously, some of the issues hurled about by the powers-that-be — including the position of women in ministry and private prayer languages — rate so low on the heresy scale they’re not even mentioned in the basic doctrines of the early Church. However, I’ll still join those who proclaim the unvarnished gospel to a tarnished world: That Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary, lived among us, died for us, and rose from the dead to gain our victory over sin and death.

I wish I could believe those on the GCR Committee feel the same and would operate with no hidden agendas. However, I’ve lived in the SBC my entire life, and we don’t understand limited war; the defense of any nuance of our beliefs becomes a total brawl that leaves most people disgusted. Most likely, someone (or several) in the group already has an agenda to pursue, meaning that, sooner or later, this committee will degenerate into the same. If the committee members avoid the usual pitfalls, the report itself will cause the eruption.

Meanwhile, while the SBC shoots itself on the national level, the local congregations out here in the provinces far removed from Geneva will quietly continue cooperating with our local Methodist, Anglican, Catholic, and Pentecostal families to serve our communities, living and preaching the gospel of Christ to those with whom we live and those we love unconditionally – just as Christ commanded.

John Alexander
From the Southern Baptist Outback

Robert I Masters
From the Southern Baptist Geneva

Not enough to warrant a charge that we deleted comments intentionally. You “are” still recovering from the old SBCOutpost days.