I did not grow up in a Christian home. Therefore, my SBC roots probably aren’t as deep as Mr. Whitt’s. In the mid-1990s, Jesus showed me his saving mercy and grace anyway. I love the SBC and intend on always being considered a Southern Baptist. I attended an SBC university. Though I attended into my senior year, I was unable to graduate due to family and financial reasons. For the past 20 years, I’ve worked 40-plus hours per week supporting my family. I’ve been a supply preacher throughout it all, as my greatest joy is sharing God’s truth. I am now enrolled in a small non-denominational seminary, mainly because it’s what I can afford, and I praise God that it’s a solidly biblical school.
As far as knowing any Baptists who wanted to be Presbyterian, I’ve met a few. But not for the reasons Mr. Whitt supposes. I’ve met quite a few Presbyterians who were once Southern Baptists. The main reasons they left the convention were because they felt as though the SBC was doctrinally shallow, and because they were turned off by the infamous SBC political machine. In my experience, I can’t argue either of those points.
I believe Mr. Whitt goes on to take backhanded swipes at anyone who differs from himself. Does it really matter if a man doesn’t preach in a suit or doesn’t use a traditional pulpit? I think it’s great that young Southern Baptists are embracing men like Piper and others he mentioned. Could it be they are drawn to these great men’s God-given abilities to marry deep theology with practical real-world ministry? More Southern Baptist pastors should try it, and I thank God they are.
Mr. Whitt is “irrelevant” because he’s made himself that way. Not everyone is cut from the same cloth as Mr. Whitt. The fact is, the SBC will never go back to the days of Vines, Rogers, Patterson, etc. I am thankful for their ministries and celebrate with him their legacies within the convention, but the fact that Mr. Whitt labels those who do not see things the same way as he as “outsiders” is contentious and divisive.
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