Departing President of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), J.D. Greear, has used his final message to the Executive Committee to demand that the church engages constructively with Critical Race Theory (CRT).
The talk coincided with the much-publicised decision of leading Bible teacher Beth Moore – a longstanding critic of Donald Trump – to quit the SBC, saying ‘I can no longer identify with Southern Baptists.’
CRT is an academic movement of civil-rights scholars and activists who seek to examine critically the law as it intersects with issues of race, and to challenge mainstream liberal approaches to racial justice.
Change of culture
Taking the title ‘Leading in a Crisis’, Greear said he had no desire to see the SBC change its doctrine or mission, but he did want it to change its culture. The key issue was to avoid mimicking the Pharisees, who focused on the more minute parts of the law whilst ignoring the weighty parts.
He continued: ‘What’s that look like today? CRT is an important discussion, and I’m all for robust theological discussion about it. … But we should mourn when closet racists and neo-Confederates feel more at home in our churches than do many people of colour.’
Summing up, Greear said: ‘We are not, at our core, a political activism group. We love our country, but God has not called us to save America; he’s called us to build the church and spread the gospel.’
