Union, Unity and the Gospel

by Joe Thorn on December 19, 2006

I read last week that Dr. David Dockery, president of Union University, had written a booklet called, One Gospel: Toward a Southern Baptist Consensus. It calls for a theological agreement “around which Southern Baptists can cohere and advance the proclamation of the Gospel, while avoiding fragmentation and division.” This is offered in light of the division and controversy growing between some of the groups that make up the largest protestant denomination in the world. Dr. Dockery even lists the more easily identifiable groups saying, “The convention in 2006 often seems to be a disconnected group of fundamentalists, evangelicals, revivalists purpose-driven churches, pietists, quasi-charismatics, programmatic denominationalists, moderates, culture warriors, social justice types, and Calvinists.” The booklet is particularly relevant to the current tension resulting from the resurgence of and resistance to Calvinism in our Convention.

Dr. Dockery presents a theological exposition of the gospel in six parts. By gospel, he means more than the good news of the arrival of the Kingdom of God, but includes critically related doctrines that undergird the gospel message. The six sections are 1) God as Creator and the place of men and women in God’s creation; 2) the fall of humanity into sin; 3) God’s provision in Jesus Christ; 4) God’s salvation of men and women from their estranged, guilty and dreadful plight; 5) the community of believers; 6) God’s ultimate work of redemption.

Are these doctrines, as articulated by Dr. Dockery, able to unite the SBC? I don’t know anymore. I think people actually prefer theological fragmentation and disunity. It allows a kind of doctrinal smorgasbord from which people can choose what they like without fear of being evaluated for their taste, or lack thereof.

Anyway, I really liked a lot of this. It is generous and yet full of conviction. Which means some will find it too broad, and others too narrow. It is at least a conversation we need to have.

This is not yet online, but if you want a free hard copy of the booklet e-mail Melanie Rickman at mrickman@uu.edu

About Joe Thorn

I am the Lead Pastor of Redeemer Fellowship in Saint Charles, IL, and author of Note to Self: The Discipline of Preaching to Yourself. Jen is my wife, and Katherine, Elias, Madeline and Kilian are my kids.

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  • http://blog.jasonkearney.net jasonk

    Its hard to have it both ways, Joe. If people in the SBC really want cooperation, they have to allow room for people within the denomination to be a little to the left, or a little to the right, of where they are. Sounds like that is what many people, including Dr. Dockery, are calling for. That is a good thing.
    I had lunch with one of the pastors from our church yesterday. He said that in our denomination (UMC), there are those on the far left, who, for example, advocate embracing homosexuality as a legitimate alternative lifestyle. There are those on the far right who, for example, believe the opposite.
    By allowing some degree of freedom within the larger denomination, individual churches are free to establish their own doctrine and theology without fear of the reprisal, much like the SBC is experiencing right now. If someone charges a UMC pastor with the liberal tag, nobody cares. If someone calls them a wine drinker, so what.
    My personal conviction is that the UMC is too liberal in parts, but I can live with that, because the church where I am a member is very conservative. But if you scale it down to SBC parameters, and allow for differences of opinion and practice instead of freaking out anytime someone steps out of line, it is something that can work, and work well. All it takes is for pastors and denominational leaders to admit that they don’t know everything, they are not always right, and that there is room to grow intellectually. That’s a tall order for many, and may be the reason that this issue will not be overcome in the SBC anytime soon.

  • Scott Eaton

    I like what Dockery is saying. And I think that his explanation of the gospel is right on and very comprehensive. This is what should unite the SBC or any Christian denomination for that matter.

    But apart from a miracle of God it just isn’t goint to happen. When you have pastors (and I know this to be true) arguing whether or not to accept someone’s baptism from another denomination, even though that baptism was upon a believer by immersion, you are going to be hard pressed to unite this group. This is but an example, but from your post it seems that Dockery has identified many of the “fragmenting” issues which will be equally difficult to “set aside” for the sake of unity.

    As someone who went to an SBC seminary after the conservative resurrgence I can tell you that the SBC has created a bit of a monster. I am in total agreement that the SBC had to come back from its liberal drift and rejection of biblical inerrancy and authority which was putting the gospel in jeopardy. However, I think the conservative resurgence went too far. Conservative denominational leaders and pastors are now attacking one another. Associations are splitting over less than central issues. And there seems to be a real lack of humility among some. Many in the SBC have taken to “straining gnats.”

    What Dockery seems to be calling for is the SBC of old with a commentment to biblical authority and the gospel. This sounds good to me.

  • http://www.stevekmccoy.com Steve McCoy

    I really like Dockery. He’s doing a lot of good stuff at Union. He thinks better about “being southern baptist” than most I know and read. I do appreciate what you say he is saying, and what he is intending to do. In his role within the Convention he is working in the right direction.

    I guess I’m just tired of the whole concern for baptist unity. I know we are fragmented, and I know it would be better for us to be more unified. But I think the problem is that at this point in our history we have such a huge number of us who are trying to point out why we are distinct that our greatest distinction is being scary focused on “us” as Southern Baptists and not “us” as Christians. I also think we of all denominations are full of arrogance in our size and “power.”

    If we want to have unity within the SBC I think we must focus less on the SBC and more on all of us together. I don’t want us to continue to miss the forest of Jesus’ followers for this one stinkin’ tree.

  • http://unbound.wordpress.com/ Josh Kidwell

    I think people actually prefer theological fragmentation and disunity.

    Yeah. Being obscure is bound to fill both auditorium and plate better than planting feet in the pulpit and proclaiming God’s Word.

    As for the unity thing I can’t see that happening until there is a microscope put on membership as benefit of conversion as opposed to an evangelism tool. Until that happens its going to be like praying for unity among dogs and cats.

    Josh
    “…the word of God is not bound.”
    –2 Timothy 2:9

  • http://www.bjnotbk.com bjnotbk

    Thanks for bringing this post Joe. This is just one example of many we will see where denominations are fragmenting over doctrine, theology, and truth. I am a firm believer that we will see as much if not more persecution from within the church/denominations than from the outside world.

    I am sure each of you can recall a time in your ministry where you really stepped out in faith to do exactly what God called you and then those around you became afraid and tried to talk you out of it maybe even to the point of attack.

    My personal thoughts are that most cling to doctrine, theology and would rather discuss, debate rather than embrace the TRUTH, Jesus.

    Unity is extremely important as we are all from one baptism, one faith but unity should not be at the cost of truth. We need to take the narrow road when it comes to scripture.

  • http://www.brotherbobsblog.blogspot.com Brother Bob

    Thanks for the information about the booklet. I ordered a copy. I’ll withhold judgment until I can read it.

  • http://www.joethorn.net Joe Thorn

    I think it’s a good statement Bob – I have two minor hang ups with it (one historical, another theological), but overall I really liked it. My problem is the question itself – how do we handle unity in a Convention as large and diverse as the SBC? But I’ll save my thoughts on that for a later post.

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