The Gospel. The original word is “εὐαγγέλιον,” or “euaggelion,” in Greek, and literally means “good tidings,” or “good news.” The Oxford dictionary defines the word as “The teaching or revelation of Christ,” and Thayer has it as “the proclamation of the grace of God manifest and pledged in Christ.” Simply put, the Gospel is, according to Paul,
that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures… (1 Cor. 15:1-4).
The Church, has been commissioned to proclaim this Gospel to the ends of the earth. Matthew 28: 19-20 says
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.
And this is historically what Baptists, specifically Southern Baptists, have been known to do. When it comes to the essentials, Baptists have been among the strictest when it comes to doctrine. When it comes to soteriology (the doctrine of salvation), the Southern Baptists have led the way in taking this message of “Christ crucified” to the world. In the wake of great Southern Baptist evangelists such as Hyman Appelman, Mordecai Ham, and many others who were outspoken against false doctrines and preached the Gospel faithfully, we are now left with the remains of a once sound denomination, being turned over to it’s sin.
After several decades of struggle, beginning in the early 1960’s, and what led to what many would deem a “conservative resurgence,” we are brought to where we are today–a melting pot of politics, religion and charity. On the SBC.net website, it states that that the Southern Baptists “singular focus” is:
. . . for the purpose of eliciting, combining, and directing the energies of the Baptist denomination of Christians, for the propagation of the Gospel . . .
But what gospel is being propagated by the SBC now? We have the Ethics and Religious Liberties Commission, an entity of the SBC led by Russell Moore, that is promoting the “social gospel.” We have SBC president, Ronnie Floyd, teaching Word of Faith as well as New Age Gospel. We have prominent mega-church pastor Rick Warren holding hands with sodomites, and joking about kissing each other. We have Southern Baptist women like Beth Moore running around with false teachers like Joyce Meyer and claiming that God is giving her visions of uniting with the apostate Roman Catholic church. And now we have the International Missions Board removing it’s ban on sending vain babblers overseas to represent Christ.
So what Gospel are we left with? The answer can be found in Ronnie Floyd’s mission statement for the SBC. On his blog, concerning the 2015 Annual meeting, and his goal for the Southern Baptist Convention, he states:
. . . we are committing the entire Tuesday evening session of the annual meeting of our Southern Baptist Convention to come together in clear agreement and visible union at one place at one time with God’s people. We will unite in extraordinary prayer for spiritual revival personally, spiritual revival in the church, for the next Great Awakening, and for the world to be reached for Christ.
Recently, Willy Rice, president of the 2015 Pastor’s Conference, wrote regarding his decision to dis-invite Ben Carson as a speaker at the convention:
I have watched over the last year as our Southern Baptist President, Dr. Ronnie Floyd has worked as tirelessly as any person I have ever seen to call our convention to clear agreement, visible unity and extraordinary prayer. Clear agreement. Visible unity. He has worked too hard and too much is at stake for us to be sidetracked from that worthy call.
It’s becoming very clear that the SBC’s “gospel” is now “unity.” In fact, it’s “visible unity,” and “clear agreement.” While the SBC leadership recognized that Dr. Carson’s theology is drastically different than biblical theology, and that having Dr. Carson speak at the event could portray an image of endorsing a political candidate, this didn’t become a problem with them until their gospel of unity was encroached upon. Rice goes on to say:
While I don’t agree with those who have voiced their opposition to this invitation, I have heard and respect their concerns . . . for the sake of unity . . .
So as you can see, Rice, as a representative of the Southern Baptist Convention, was more than willing to tear down the theological divides between us and the SDA cult, as long as we were in “visible union” on social and political issues. So, what is “visible union” anyways? I suppose this could be in contrast to “true union?” In other words, perhaps “visible union” is only the appearance of being united, regardless of whether or not we truly are. As long as we can lead the world to believe that we are united, we have accomplished something. This idea is evident in all of the backlash against those who are speaking out against this false gospel. There was, of course, Joni Hannigan of the Christian examiner who, in typical drivel, slammed “those meddling bloggers” for “bullying” Willy Rice into caving. And there was Maxie Miller who was disappointed that Carson wouldn’t be able to serve as a token for “racial reconciliation” at the SBC event.
But perhaps the most visible, yet most duplicitous agent of this new gospel of unity is the Ethics and Religious Liberties Commission. Headed by Russell Moore, the ERLC has led the charge in advancing unity more than any other entity within the SBC. Moore has been quick to unite with other members of the visible church in order to advance something he has on his plate. He has capitulated to the Church of Rome on several occasions to promote traditional marriage, and anti-abortion laws. While these may be good things to stand up for, we must not compromise the Gospel in doing so. We must stand up against the atrocities of abortion, or protect the sanctity of marriage by taking the Word of God to the lost, condemning all sin, and proclaiming the good news of the cross to everyone. Being united in error is not what Christ wants for his church, and being united on false premises is not being united at all. But it’s now becoming clear that these issues that the ERLC are standing against are only side issues, and the effect of “unity” is no longer just a casual side effect–it’s the main purpose. It is the new gospel of the Southern Baptist Convention.
There tends to be a great amount of backlash towards believers who are quick to rebuke other Christians who are in sin, or even false believers who are masquerading as Christians. The argument is that it distracts from the love of Jesus, but love is not the only quality of Jesus. Jesus came to bring truth, a sword (Matthew 10:34). Jesus did not come to tell everyone that they could believe what they wanted to believe, worship whatever idols they want to worship, and seek whatever God they wanted to seek, and as long as we stand in unity, everything would be fine. The Bible actually teaches against being united around error (Romans 16:17). This is a false unity. We must be united in truth. But this growing mindset among the leadership, and the mega-churches in the Southern Baptist Convention is growing stronger, and gaining more support. It is quickly becoming the prevailing movement within the Church. The SBC has not only succumb to the ecumenical tactics of Rome, it is advancing this false gospel as their own.
. . . until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. — Eph 4:13-16
[Contributed by Jeff Maples]