The SBC Alamo
In 1716, Spanish Roman Catholic missionaries established a small chapel in an unexplored and relatively uninhabited piece of land in what would one day become Texas. The nearest Spanish settlement was more than 400 miles away.
By 1744, the mission was home to more than 300 Indians who had converted to Christianity.
It was at this site, in 1836, that one of the most memorable battles in American history would be fought.
Texas was in the midst of a revolution. Settlers from the United States and native Tejanos (Texas Mexicans) started an armed resistance to the rule of the Mexican government, which had become increasingly centralized and authoritarian, eroding away the individual rights and local autonomy of the Texans.
Determined to put down the rebellion, Mexican president and general Antonio López de Santa Anna sent Mexican troops into Texas in early 1836.
On February 23, the first shots were fired at the small Catholic mission now simply known as The Alamo. Over the next 13 days, the small contingent of Texans and Tejanos would be overwhelmed by the Mexican troops and eventually defeated.
Determined to strike terror into Texans, Santa Anna ordered the execution of the remaining troops at The Alamo, but he spared the women, children, and slaves. These survivors were sent to let other Texas settlers know what happened at The Alamo and to warn them to join with the Mexicans in pursuit of peace.
Rather than discourage Texans from pursuing independence, The Alamo became a battle cry--"Remember The Alamo!" Regrouped under Gen. Sam Houston, the Texans attacked the Mexican Army at San Jacinto, and on April 21, 1836, defeated Santa Anna and the Mexican Army.
An Opportunity to Unify
Many Southern Baptists see the 2021 SBC Annual Meeting in Nashville this week as The Alamo for the Southern Baptist Convention.
Set to be the largest gathering of Southern Baptists in a generation, the stakes could not be higher, or more divisive.
The battle lines are drawn and include the issues of ordaining women as pastors, anti-racism and Critical Race Theory, the sexual abuse of children and the mistreatment of sexual abuse survivors, and a redefinition of the Southern Baptist Convention leaning more towards central authority and away from its historic belief in local autonomy.
The hope and prayer is that when people gather together in the same room, there is a graciousness, love, and unity that is not found on social media and in the blogosphere. It is much easier to call someone “woke” or “racist” in a tweet rather when you are in the same room and you see this person as a brother or sister in Christ.
One issue Southern Baptists cannot ignore is its treatment of sexual abuse survivors or communicate an unwillingness to protect the most vulnerable among us.
While the other issues are important, we must be better at articulating what we are for rather than what we are against.
Is the 2021 Annual Meeting the "SBC Alamo?" Only time will tell. In the years ahead, it is my prayer that when we look back at 2021 we see a convention of churches that unified around a common doctrine and a common mission, but not at the expense of one over the other.
The SBC is fundamentally conservative in its historic interpretation of Scripture. I believe this is expressed in the Baptist Faith and Message. At the same time, I do not ignore the fact that there are agents within the SBC who are determined to pull the convention to the left (what they perceive as the middle). This downgrade will spell the end of the SBC as we know it if it is allowed to progress.