The following is a the first part of a transcribed interview with Dr. Daniel Akin, recorded over the phone on Tuesday, June 2, 2009. Dr. Akin is the president of the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, and one of the initial signatories of the Great Commission Resurgence document. Dr. Akin is the author of numerous books, 1, 2, 3 John (New American Commentary) and the editor of A Theology for the Church. For clarity purposes, I have edited portions of this interview.

Trevin Wax: What are your day-to-day responsibilities as president of Southeastern Seminary?

Daniel Akin: I oversee the total operations and administration of the school. I give guidance, direction, and (hopefully) vision to what Southeastern ought to be.

Southeastern has a very clear purpose statement: “We exist to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ by equipping students to serve our churches and fulfill the Great Commission.” We are very passionate about being a Great Commission seminary, and this passion colors and even dictates how we attempt to do theological education.

Trevin Wax: What are your responsibilities at the annual Southern Baptist Convention meeting?

Daniel Akin: I provide a report from the seminary. All the boards, agencies and entities are responsible for making a report. I have a fifteen-minute time slot in which to fulfill this responsibility.

In addition, all the seminaries have a luncheon for alumni. I oversee that luncheon and also speak there. This year, we are blessed to have both Johnny Hunt, the current president of the Southern Baptist Convention, and Jerry Rankin, president of the International Mission Board, coming to speak at our alumni gathering.

I also take part in the workings of the Southern Baptist Convention, and I represent Southeastern at our booth and through my interaction with others. This year, I have additional responsibilities because I am the chairman of the Resolutions Committee. I will arrive in Louisville the Thursday before Convention week in order to lead that particular group.

I have also been asked to bring one of the messages at the Convention on Tuesday afternoon. Outside of that, I am speaking at the Founder’s Breakfast on Tuesday morning, a Baptist21 event at Tuesday during lunch, and a 9Marks meeting on Tuesday night. You can see I have a very busy Tuesday at this year’s convention. I will take my vitamins and eat my Wheaties before I get going that morning!

Trevin Wax: There are six Southern Baptist seminaries, all of which, thankfully, are now conservative. What is unique about Southeastern Seminary? What are you excited about when you look at the present state of the institution that you serve as president?

Daniel Akin: We are passionate about the Great Commission, and we believe every Christian should be a Great Commission Christian. We believe every church should be a Great Commission church. We believe every church should be a church planting church. We believe our churches should be about wedding both the mind and the heart in terms of bringing glory to God.

I often tell people who visit Southeastern that our goal for our students is that they would follow in the path of the apostle Paul. Paul was the greatest Christian theologian as well as the greatest Christian missionary who ever lived. Therefore, there should be no dichotomy between the mind and the heart. The two should be beautifully wed together in terms of service to the Lord.

We believe that you really cannot be a good theologian unless you are also a passionate missionary at heart. This does not mean you have to go to the nations full-time, but you certainly should be going some. You should be praying and sending. At the same time, you cannot be a good missionary unless you also have the passion of a theologian. The two should not be separated. The two need to be kept together.

I know we don’t do it perfectly, but if you were to ask, “What is the sign we hang outside our door?” it is this: We want to be a Great Commission seminary.

As a result of that, we have a lot of students that are in the 2+2 program here. We have a lot of students that go to a national mission field as career missionaries. We do a massive number of mission trips every year – three or four every summer and two or three every winter.

Unlike the other seminaries, we give two full weeks off in each semester. We have a fall break and a Thanksgiving break. We have a spring break and an Easter break. Always, those four weeks during the semester are occupied with mission trips for our students and faculty.

Of course, the other seminaries are also involved in fulfilling the Great Commission. But this passion is what we want to be known for. This is what we really try to emphasize.

Tomorrow, we’ll talk about some of the bigger challenges facing the Southern Baptist Convention.