The 2025 Southern Baptist Convention is behind us, and with it the meetings, reports, motions, and actions that pleased some and disappointed others. I know that many church members and even pastors rarely or never attend an SBC in person. That was true for me until I was almost 40, so I appreciate the reality that, for many, the national SBC seems very far away from local church life.
At the same time, social media now invites all of us into the issues and advance debates that precede the convention. Technology makes it possible to watch at least the main sessions of the SBC online. And for us here in Illinois, upcoming conventions in Indianapolis and St. Louis make direct participation very accessible.
For those interested in engaging more deeply in national SBC life, let me offer one overarching recommendation, based on my experience and observations throughout now 30 SBCs. Focus intently on the what and the why of the Southern Baptist Convention, and don’t get mired in the how and who.
This was never more evident to me than this year in Dallas. When we were focusing on our shared, biblical beliefs—the why—and on our shared, cooperative mission of taking the gospel to the world—the what—we experienced unity, celebration, and joy. The more we descended into debates about precisely how to protect those beliefs, or who should lead various aspects of the mission, there was more disagreement, and more distraction.
Messengers worshiping in the main convention hall at SBC25 in Dallas.
As in our churches, the SBC, especially through its elected trustee boards, must deal with the essentials of how and who. But it’s there that we are more likely to find honest differences of opinion or perspective. And it’s there that as Baptists, as a priesthood of believers, we depend on prayerful, Spirit-led wisdom through civil discourse and democratic processes to lead us to the Lord’s will for the moment.
It’s then that we should graciously release our secondary differences and preferences on how to do something and who should lead it, and return quickly to the unity we find in the why of our biblical beliefs and the what of the Great Commission.
That unity was also wonderfully demonstrated in Dallas this year. Yes, there were a few close or divided votes. I’ve found myself on both sides of those over the past 30 years. But then we celebrated 100 years of The Baptist Faith and Message, and the blessings of clarity and unity and confidence our biblical statement of faith has provided. And then we celebrated 100 years of Cooperative Program giving, that has fueled with more than $20 billion the multiplication of Baptist missionaries and congregations and ministries across the nation and around the world for generations.
During those moments of inspiring worship and celebration, few thoughts were preoccupied with whether our point of view prevailed in a vote, or whether our candidate won an election. Through ten-thousand-voice worship, timely biblical messages, inspiring reports of missionary sacrifice and victory, and encouraging fellowship with new friends and old acquaintances, we effortlessly united in biblical devotion and cooperative missions.
That’s where I want to stay focused, this side of the 2025 SBC. And that’s my recommendation as we continue to engage as diverse Southern Baptists from across our convention. Sure, exchange well-informed opinions and mutually respectful perspectives on how to do things and who should lead. But then set those differences aside. Trust our democratic consensus to be trustworthy for now, and to receive correction or improvement as needed over time. But always come back quickly to the biblical beliefs that unite us and the missional cooperation that makes even our disagreements ultimately worthwhile.
Nate Adams is executive director of the Illinois Baptist State Association. Respond at IllinoisBaptist@IBSA.org.