 SBC President, Johnny Hunt calls for a “Great Commission resurgence,” a proclaiming of the Gospel in a renewed way of zeal similar to the fire that went into the fight for biblical orthodoxy in recent decades.
Hunt quoted Daniel Akin, president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary during his first presidential address to the SBC Executive Committee in Nashville, TN September 22nd. He said, “When there was a theological drift, we corrected it. We must now correct our Great Commission drift.”
Hunt went on to say, “When you win less people to Jesus, you’re drifting from the Great Commission”. This in reference to the mandate Jesus had given His disciples in Matthew 28 and to all the Southern Baptist with less than ideal baptism numbers.
Hunt quoted the dean of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary Billy Graham School of Missions, Evangelism and Church Growth Chuck Lawless, who said, “We have stood faithfully for a message that we have chosen to keep to ourselves.”
Hunt who has pastured for 22 years the Atlanta area FBC in Woodstock has learned whatever is important to the leader is important to the people. His sights as the new SBC president are set on motivating the multitude and to take as many people to heaven with them as possible.
"The Lord has greatly blessed Southern Baptists and our commitment to Him and to His Word and to His mission through the years," Hunt said. "However, we'd love to believe that the best is yet to come. The truth is the best must be yet to come. If not, we have so far missed the major emphasis of what we're all about."
Southern Baptists must have a greater confidence in the gospel message in order to generate a Great Commission resurgence.
"We have flat got a great message. Thank God for the Gospel and what the Gospel has done in our lives. I am indebted to Jesus and to the Gospel," he said.
In the reading of 1 Thessalonians Hunt read Chapter 1: 5-8 and pointed out the Gospel’s connection, explaining that the Gospel didn’t come in the word only but with the early Christians’ actions to support it. "The message they shared was a personal possession and a personal reality. We cannot proclaim a truth with confidence until we've experienced that truth," he said.
Hunt also noted there was the Gospel’s confirmation that the Gospel came in power. “The Word of God faithfully proclaimed is the most powerful force in the world. One thing we Baptists have always been known for is we're people of the book. We're people who believe in the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ," Hunt said.
Also shared in this passage by Hunt the Gospel’s companion is the Holy Spirit. The followers of Christ were sure of the Gospel’s conviction in the truth and relevance of the message they proclaimed. The Gospel complement pointed out by Hunt was that people were able to look at believers’ lives and make the conclusion they did believe what they were taught.
"When we behave the Bible, it gives us an incredible platform to preach what we believe. If our witness is to be believable, it must be the testimony of a life that is credible and a life that is believable," he said.
Southern Baptist in addition to a greater confidence in the message need a greater clarity in their mission if they are to experience Great Commission resurgence according to Hunt. He also noted that Southern Baptist have around 5500 missionaries who serve overseas through the International Mission Board. This only accounts for one missionary for every 1.6 million people in the world. As Southern Baptist we need to realize that if they are saved they are then individual missionaries and for the most part live in the third largest lost nation on earth, Hunt says.
We as Southern Baptist need greater camaraderie in our Baptist Family Hunt shared. SBC, former president Adrian Rogers called for unity in diversity during the midst of the Convention Resurgence years ago and the time has come to sound the call again Hunt said. The time is now to include the younger generation who may not dress, think or worship quite like, those who make up the majority of the SBC.
Hunt told the Executive Committee members, “Some would say the younger generation is our problem. I’ll say this: If they’re our problem, we don’t have a future. I say they’re our future.”
Not only must Southern Baptist embrace the younger generation but also unify with those who hold different theological stances on secondary issues that intended to cause heated discussions within the Baptist family in recent years. Hunt said, “The real enemy is SATAN, the world and the flesh.” We need to get back on the battlefield and engage once again our real opponent and adversary. Dr. Rogers was, right, we need to be shoulder to shoulder on the battlefield with the sword of the Spirit and the incomparable Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Hunt said, “I’m ready to say let’s rally together for the express purpose of the Great Commission. Let’s all get under that banner. Let’s let every entity speak into it and say, ‘Here’s what we’re going to do to bring more people to faith in Jesus Christ.” “There is a bottom line, and the bottom line is when you draw your last breath, we believers only have one question to ask around the coffin or at the cemetery: Did he know Jesus?”
According to Hunt, Missions and Evangelism are not taught, they’re caught, and we as Southern Baptist are in dire need of as much emulation as they are exhortation.
"I pray He'll bring us together, and that we'll be able to start saying, 'We came together for the common cause of the Great Commission and the glory of God, and when we did, we began to win more people to Jesus, we began to give more money to missions, we began to go more, and now we see it as our task to see the nations worship Him.'"
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