Johnny Hunt was elected president yesterday by a majority of messengers at the Southern Baptist Convention. Ted Traylor, pastor of Olive Baptist Church in Pensacola, FL, gave a rousing nomination speech, praising Hunt’s leadership and commitment to the Convention. (I greatly admire Bro. Ted for the significant work he does in Romania, especially at my alma mater, Emanuel University of Oradea. He is a Baptist statesman if ever there was one.)

I suspect the blogosphere will be filled with commentary about Hunt’s election. The supposed reaction against mega-church pastors and the discussion of Page’s presidency becoming the precedent for a new standard (Cooperative Program giving) can be chalked up to hype. Hunt is a well-known, well-respected pastor of a prominent Southern Baptist Church. He will serve and represent the Convention well.

Does this mean the Cooperative Program no longer matters? Not at all. It is a well-known fact that Hunt’s church donates millions of dollars to Southern Baptist mission causes. The fact that his church does not funnel all its money through the Cooperative Program does not indicate a lack of support for Southern Baptist missions.

At any rate, many young people are questioning the prudence in seeing the majority of our cooperative funds eaten by moderate or liberal state conventions at the expense of seeing such money going to more worthy causes, such as international missions. Perhaps Hunt’s election will be a springboard for discussion in how our churches can cooperate together in an even better, more efficient way.

I am encouraged by Hunt’s election. Johnny Hunt does one of the best men’s conferences anywhere. He is passionate in the pulpit – gripped by the message of the gospel. Hunt is also known for his Timothy-Barnabas ministry that reaches out to serve and inspire younger Southern Baptist servants. It will be interesting to see how Johnny Hunt reaches out and includes younger Southern Baptists in future days, especially as LifeWay research shows the trajectory of the younger generation turning more Calvinistic.

In other SBC news, the Convention overwhelmingly passed a resolution on church membership which included the call to corporate repentance for our failure to properly implement the Scriptural teaching on regenerate church membership. I was glad to see the resolution receive endorsements from a variety of Southern Baptists across the theological spectrum (Malcolm Yarnell, Bart Barber, Tom Ascol, David Dockery, etc.).

Regarding the two-day Pastor’s Conference that precedes the Convention, I wish the list of speakers would represent the healthy diversity within our denomination. Would it not be terrific to see representatives from all 7 Types of Southern Baptists in the pulpit during the pastor’s conference?

I would look forward to a Pastor’s Conference that had Traditionalists like Johnny Hunt and Ted Traylor, Revivalists like Junior Hill and Bobby Welch, Calvinists like Mark Dever and Buddy Gray, Orthodox Evangelical Baptists like Chuck Colson, Contemporary Church practitioners like Rick Warren and Ed Young, and Culture Warriors like Ergun Caner and Richard Land. The SBC is a great, big tent that encompasses a diversity of conservative viewpoints. I, for one, would be blessed to hear and learn from them all.

Corina and I hate that we have missed Indianapolis, but since we are expecting a baby any day now, I believe we are doing the right thing by staying home. Still, we are eagerly looking forward to Louisville in 2009.

written by Trevin Wax  © 2008 Kingdom People blog

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