PHOENIX — Messengers addressed the thorny issue of
immigration by adopting a resolution that sought to promote the gospel of Jesus
while calling for justice and compassion during the annual meeting of the
Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), June 14-15 in Phoenix.
The resolution on immigration was one of eight approved either unanimously or
overwhelmingly during the morning and afternoon sessions June 15.
In an unusual move, messengers called to the floor and passed a resolution on
the “gender-neutral 2011 New International Version” (NIV) that was not reported
to the convention by the Resolutions Committee.
Among the other resolutions adopted were ones affirming biblical teaching on
the reality of hell, religious liberty throughout the world, corporate
repentance, civility in public discourse and marriage as exclusively between a
man and a woman.
The immigration resolution — adopted by what appeared to be about 70 to 80
percent of the messengers — urged Southern Baptist churches to proclaim Christ
and minister in His spirit to everyone, regardless of their “immigration
status.” It said “any form of nativism, mistreatment, or exploitation is
inconsistent with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”
The measure called for the government to make a priority of border security and
holding businesses accountable in their hiring. It also requested public
officials “to implement, with the borders secured, a just and compassionate
path to legal status, with appropriate restitutionary measures, for those
undocumented immigrants already living in our country.”
The resolution’s paragraph on instituting a process for illegal immigrants to
gain legal status after the securing of the borders and with restitution
elicited an amendment that produced the most floor debate during the
resolutions report. Final action on the resolution was delayed from the morning
to afternoon session when the vote on the amendment was too close to call and
required a ballot vote.
Richard Huff, a messenger from Corona de Tucson Baptist Church in Tucson,
Ariz., introduced the amendment, which would have deleted the paragraph in
question. In support of his amendment, Huff said from the floor, “(T)he
principle is that citizenship is a right of people that are here under legal
processes, and you do not want to make this something you are rewarding people
who are in violation of the law and they have no interest in being here
legally.”
Paul Jimenez, chairman of the Resolutions Committee, urged messengers to defeat
the amendment. He said the committee members think the resolution is “a
realistic and biblical approach to immigration” and removing the language
affected by the amendment “would really weaken it in such a way that we would
oppose it.”
Messengers barely defeated Huff’s amendment, 766-723 (51.3 percent to 48.4
percent).
In the afternoon session, messengers handily rejected an amendment that would
have basically gutted the same paragraph. They backed an amendment offered by
the committee, however, that clarified the resolution was “not to be construed
as support for amnesty for any undocumented immigrant.”
In explaining the immigration resolution, Jimenez told messengers the committee’s
goal was that the measure “speak first and foremost to the pockets of lostness”
in the United States. He said the resolution was built on a 2006 resolution but
“moves us light years ahead when it comes to its gospel-centeredness, as well
as understanding how the culture itself is changing. And the culture itself is
moving in such a way where immigrants in this country are in desperate need of
the gospel and their numbers are growing and growing at an exponential rate.”
Regarding the public policy aspect, he said the committee decided “to state
those principles as broadly as possible.”
“We can present the gospel while at the same time upholding the law of the
land,” said Jimenez, pastor of Taylors First Baptist Church in Taylors, S.C. He
said the resolution “is very strong; it is very balanced, leads with the gospel
but also takes into account our mandate to obey the laws of the land.”
Richard Land, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission,
lauded the resolution at a news conference after the committee’s final report,
calling it “very statesman-like.”
“This resolution upholds the rule of law,” Land told reporters. “This
resolution upholds the sovereignty of the United States, and this resolution
seeks to deal compassionately and fairly and justly with those who are here in
an undocumented status, and calls upon us to act as if this is a gospel issue,
which it is.”
The NIV resolution overwhelmingly approved by messengers “expressed profound
disappointment” with publication of the new translation and “respectfully
request(ed) that LifeWay” not sell the version in its stores.
The resolution came to the floor when Indiana pastor Tim Overton persuaded
messengers to address the 2011 version of the popular translation that his
resolution said had “gone beyond acceptable translation standards” regarding
gender. His resolution said 75 percent of the flawed gender translation in the
TNIV appears in the new NIV. Southern Baptist messengers expressed their
disapproval of the TNIV in a 2002 resolution.
Overton, pastor of Halteman Village Baptist Church in Muncie, Ind., told
messengers the Southern Baptist Convention needed to address the issue in its
role as a leading voice in the evangelical Christian community.
Speaking for the committee regarding its decision not to present Overton’s
measure, Russell Moore said the members did not believe the issue “rose to the
level of needing to be addressed by this year’s convention.” Moore said the
TNIV was “something of a stealth move,” which was not true in this case. He
also said the NIV is not in the same position now as it was in the past, since
such translations as the Holman Christian Standard Bible and English Standard
Version are now available. He also said the NIV is “just one of many Bibles out
there (with) similar language.”
The committee did not oppose passage of the resolution. At the news conference,
Moore said, “The committee, of course, shares the concerns that were expressed
in the resolution. The issue was not whether or not we would affirm the NIV and
its changes but whether or not we thought the current changes were worthy of
being addressed” at this year’s meeting.
Moore is dean of the school of theology and senior vice president for academic
administration at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, as well as teaching
pastor for Highview Baptist Church in Louisville, Ky.
The resolution on hell came as part of an ongoing response to the publication
earlier this year of Michigan pastor Rob Bell’s book Love Wins. Bell’s
controversial book “called into question the church’s historic teaching on the
doctrine of eternal punishment of the unregenerate,” as the resolution
described it.
In adopting the resolution, messengers affirmed “our belief in the biblical
teaching on eternal, conscious punishment of the unregenerate in hell.” The
resolution also urged Southern Baptists “to proclaim faithfully the depth and
gravity of sin against a holy God, the reality of hell, and the salvation of
sinners by God’s grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone, to
the glory of God alone.”
The other resolutions approved:
- Reaffirmed the convention’s belief that all people have religious freedom,
meaning they possess the liberty “to convert to another religion or to no
religion, to seek to persuade others of the claims of one’s religion, and to
worship without harassment or impediment from the state.” It also called for
prayer for persecuted Christians throughout the world.
- Urged President Obama to reverse course by ordering the Department of Justice
to defend fully the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in federal court and renewed
the convention’s call for a constitutional amendment defining marriage as only
between a man and a woman. DOMA is a 1996 law that defines marriage federally
as exclusively between a man and a woman and protects states from having to
recognize same-sex marriages performed in states where such unions are legal.
- Called for corporate repentance and prayer, urging Southern Baptists to seek “a
life of genuine repentance, Kingdom-focused prayer times for sweeping revival
and spiritual awakening, and consistent prayer for specific lost people,
missions, and ministry.”
- Encouraged civility in the public discussion of controversial issues and
denounced “the speech or activities of any individual or group that brings
shame upon the name of Christ and His gospel.” It urged Southern Baptists “to
speak biblically and authoritatively with conviction, kindness, and gentleness.”
- Thanked God and those He used in producing the annual meeting of Southern
Baptists.
Ten resolutions were submitted for this year’s meeting. The committee declined
to act on some but addressed others in the final resolutions recommended to the
messengers.
In addition to Jimenez and Moore, the other members of the committee were:
Linda Clark, member, Graceland Baptist Church in New Albany, Ind.; Stephen
Farish, senior pastor, Crossroads Church in Grayslake, Ill.; Mark Howell,
senior pastor, Houston Northwest Church in Houston, Texas; Tim McCoy, senior
pastor, Ingleside Baptist Church in Macon, Ga.; Michael Pigg, senior pastor,
Philadelphia Baptist Church in Lithonia, Ga.; Jimmy Scroggins, senior pastor,
First Baptist Church in West Palm Beach, Fla.; Jamie Work, pastor, Candies
Creek Baptist Church in Charleston, Tenn., and Carol Yarber, member, First
Baptist Church in Malakoff, Texas.
(EDITOR’S NOTE — Strode is Washington bureau chief for Baptist Press.)