Two days ago, NAAF, the National African American Fellowship of the SBC, a race-based special interest group that represents 4,000 SBC churches that identify as “Black Churches,” released an open letter that was sent to President Bart Barber in opposition to ratification and enforcement of the Mike Law Amendment as a standard by which “friendly cooperation” would be determined.
The fellowship believes that women should be allowed to receive pastoral titles and serve in pastoral roles. They believe this issue may “disproportionately impact NAAF affiliated congregations” because “Many of our churches assign the title “pastor” to women who oversee ministries of the church under
the authority of a male Senior Pastor, i.e., Children’s Pastor, Worship Pastor, Discipleship Pastor.” To that end, they’re requesting that the entire convention should engage in a year of prayer, study, and discussion to “allow a diversity of voices and perspectives to be heard.”
Institutionalists like Bart Barber, James Merritt, JD Greear, and Ed Litton are working together with a left-leaning segment of the convention, and playing the race card, with the agenda of either rallying the convention to reject the Mike Law amendment at its second vote at the 2024 convention or neutering the meaning of “friendly cooperation,” so that the amendment isn’t enforced as a standard for friendly cooperation.
The use of the race card is a potent move, considering the way that the institutionalists of the SBC have embraced and weaponized Critical Race Theory and Standpoint Epistemology.
Bart Barber received the letter on July 3. One week later, when the letter was made public by NAAF, Bart Barber and Baptist Press simultaneously made press releases that praised the effort. Barber said it is important to “find common ground and make decisions together.”
The positive spin that Barber put on this effort shows that the institutionalists have plans to keep the tent as large as they can at the expense of scriptural fidelity. Christians should always pray, but it is pointless to pray to ask God whether we should compromise on our faithfulness to scripture.
A counsel to compromise on the truth of scripture isn’t a “Jerusalem Council,” as James Merritt called it. Rather it is a council of self-important fools who believe that their opinion matters as much as God’s word.
