This week marks the 4th anniversary of the sharing of my story with the world, the story of abuse as a child. Although I held that secret for 4 decades, it has guided and shaped my pastorate and the unwavering commitment of our church to provide the safest environment possible in a very dangerous world.
This week also marks the announcement that the Credentials Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention plans to enter a contract with Guidepost Solutions to develop and maintain a Ministry Check website for the national convention. I believe this decision poses an existential threat to our cooperative efforts as a convention.
Guidepost Solutions has made clear its corporate support for the LGBTQ agenda, a corporate view directly at odds with the Baptist Faith and Message and the Holy Scriptures. It is true that in a global economy, believers will inevitably do business, at least indirectly, with corporations that do not hold our values. But hiring a company that openly supports sexual perversion to help us deal with accusations of sexual perversion is simply a bridge too far. If such a partnership is truly the best option on this road, as some well-intentioned brothers and sisters believe it is, perhaps it is also a bridge too far in the wrong direction.
Many pastors, denominational employees, and national leaders privately agree. But they are often understandably hesitant to speak. I know first-hand the inevitability of being attacked, maligned, and misrepresented. But if anyone is saving his voice and influence for a rainy day, it’s now pouring cats and dogs. Without an immediate course correction, the most recent forecast for this continued deluge is now officially “unsustainable.”