Calendars are tough – finding calendar time for all topic relevant events for a city, community, or church is a real challenge – on that note, some may know Sunday, February 27 was the last Sunday of Black History Month for our nation – for the Southern Baptist Convention, it was also Racial Reconciliation Sunday, and has been since 1965 – surprisingly, this year, the event drew criticism from some SBC leaders, including the SBC-affiliated Conservative Baptist Network – yes, that does seem odd.
All of us have a historic path that brought us to where we find ourselves today – SBC is no different – founded in 1845 after splitting with northern Baptists, the SBC had a history of opposing the abolition of slavery and advocated for the ordination of pastors and the commissioning of missionaries who owned enslaved people – however (and more important), the SBC has made a concerted effort to break ties with the racism from its past, advocating for racial justice and inclusion through 20+ resolutions and initiatives, from the middle of the 20th century into the present, including Racial Reconciliation Sundays.
Racial reconciliation efforts by the SBC have often been met with backlash and opposition from some within our ranks, this year’s Racial Reconciliation Sunday included.
So, why would some SBC leaders push back on Racial Reconciliation Sunday? Curious indeed – we know Biblical principles should direct all our steps – we also know racism and racist behavior is a sin – Biblical principles teach us sin is separation from God, and must be dealt with to remain in a right relationship with God – so, I guess the question is, why the rub between Southern Baptist?
Perhaps relevance is a good place to start – does racism or racist behavior exist in our cities, communities, and churches today?
The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the SBC put out materials for SBC churches to use if their church supported a commemoration of the event this year – the material said in part, “Racism has its roots in demonic strongholds that aren’t easily bound. They are primarily spiritual.”
The Executive Committee for the SBC shared a link (link provided below) to these materials across SBC churches and affiliates – this action received a number of negative responses, as well as some bewildered replies from SBC pastors and leaders who were confused as to why a 57-year tradition of one Sunday dedicated to racial reconciliation had become so controversial.
Here is one of the more challenging responses to the Executive Committee, “How sad that you all can make such a spectacle of the Lord’s day. Every Sunday should be for worship. There should never be different ‘themes’ that seem so man-centered rather than God/gospel centered.”
I can’t decern if this negative response implies, we should NOT have the likes of: Sanctity of human life Sunday, WMU Sunday, church planting Sunday, SBC seminary Sunday, religious liberty Sunday, send relief Sunday, global hunger Sunday, CP Sunday, orphans and widows Sunday, etc., etc…
…or this negative response is correct, and we’ve weakened our attention for God/gospel centeredness.
…or is this negative response a grossly misguided effort to deny racism in our cities, communities, and churches
Its hard to know where our hearts are – either way, I truly hope you, your families, and your friends made time to commemorate Racial Reconciliation Sunday with “some” of the SBC community.
Resources provided by The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Commission:
https://erlc.com/resource-library/topic-index/racial-reconciliation/
Kevin's Thoughts 