I just got done reading The Future of the SBC. Written by a professor at the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Here is a sumarization of the main points he makes:
(1) Doctrinal Integrity – Will Southern Baptists continue to stand for sound doctrine? In particular, are Southern Baptists going to believe in the divine inspiration and inerrancy of Scripture?
Prediction/Warning: Unless Baptists return to expository, Bible-centered preaching and an unswerving commitment to the inerrancy of Scripture, doctrinal drift is inevitable.(2) Biblical Authority – Will Southern Baptists submit their lives and opinions on the authority of Scripture, or will cultural and pragmatic pressures force us to “reinterpret” the Bible?
Prediction/Warning: Unless Baptists refocus on living under the Lordship of Jesus Christ as ithe Christian life is defined in Scripture, cultural pressures from within and without the church will lead to increased moral compromise and worldliness in our churches.(3) Baptist Polity – Will Baptists hold to their traditional confessions in issues regarding the doctrine of the church, such as the appropriate practice of church ordinances and the scriptural offices of the church or will we compromise our historic beliefs in order to become more homogenized with other evangelical Christians?
Prediction/Warning: If the current trajectory of Southern Baptists is not redirected, key Baptist distinctives about ecclesiology and church polity will be increasingly compromised and ignored.(4) Hyper-Calvinistic Soteriology – Will Baptists change their soteriology such that persons are no longer seen as having any capacity to respond to God’s invitation to salvation? Will Baptists take a “hyper-Calvinist turn” than hinders missions and evangelism?
Prediction/Warning: The resurgence of Calvinism will slow over the next few decades, but will exert a stronger influence on the SBC in the future than has been the case in many years.(5) Denominational Identity – Can Southern Baptists survive as a denomination in what is often depicted as a “post-denominational era”? What does the future hold for Southern Baptists in a day when denominational name brand loyalty is at an all-time low? How will traditional Baptist entities such as Lifeway and NAMB intersect with the emerging church movement? Will the Cooperative Program survive?
Prediction/Warning: Without a course correction in which SBC entities earn again the respect and confidence of Southern Baptists, other evangelical groups will fill the void left by a disconnection between individual Baptists (and their local churches) with the SBC. The day is over that Baptists will use an approach just because of denominational name brand identity.