Dockery focuses on SBC’s past, present, future

Southern Baptist Consensus and Renewal: A Biblical, Historical, and Theological Proposal by David S. Dockery. (B&H Group: 2008) 238 pages / $9.99.

A new book by David Dockery, president of Union University, Jackson, Tenn., invites Southern Baptists to embrace both conviction and cooperation in pursuit of fulfilling our Christian duties. He writes:

“Southern Baptist Consensus and Renewal is a call to cooperation and unity among Southern Baptists. It likewise is an invitation for a renewed commitment to truth, to doctrinal fidelity, and to faithfulness to the Christ-centered message of the Gospel. The book grows out of the desire to see Southern Baptists once again cooperate together, particularly for the purpose of advancing evangelism, global missions, and education.”

The foundation for such convictional cooperation rests on a shared belief in the doctrine of Scripture, clarified over the course of an entire generation during the “battle for the Bible.” In the tradition of his earlier work Christian Scripture, Dockery lays out the doctrine of scripture and calls Southern Baptists to unite around both belief in and obedience to the Scripture.

Southern Baptists need to focus and refocus on the Gospel. This means a conversation about both history and the future. It means a dialogue about the simplicity of the Gospel, as well as showing the complexity of the doctrines. Dockery writes: “Pastors, theologians, evangelists, and lay people must work harder at closing the gap between theology and the work of evangelism so that our theology is done for the church and our proclamation is grounded in biblically based theology.”

With the foundation of Scripture under our feet, and with a focus on the Gospel before our eyes, Dockery calls Southern Baptists to seek renewal in three key areas of our church and denomination – worship, global missions and education.

Dockery has a lot of good analysis of Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) worship, both past and present, and notes that this is one key area where consensus is hard to find across the denomination. He writes: “[T]here are few places with less consensus, even among those who have settled on a common theological core,” and “The first step in rediscovering the missing jewel of worship is simply to help the redeemed community recognize the worship of God as a primary function of the church.”

Dockery also has two fine chapters showing the importance of consensus and renewal in global missions and education. In both chapters, he provides historical context, current problems, and a hope for the future.

If you enjoy reading Baptist history as I do, the fifth chapter highlights the “theological heritage” of the Convention so we can “learn from the past as we look to the future.”

The book closes with a call to pray for our church and Convention leaders. Specifically, we should pray for character, conviction and cooperation to be manifest in our leaders, a theme emphasized throughout the book. Dockery writes: “We need a new generation that will be both convictional and cooperative. Sometimes when we put the emphasis on conviction, we become very cantankerous people. On the other hand, when we put the emphasis on cooperation, we are prone to become compromising people.”
If you love and care for the past, present, and future of the SBC, pick up and read a copy of this important work by a current leader who gives us much to think about. (Scott Lamb is a founding pastor of Providence Baptist Church, St. Louis, and is the ongoing book reviewer for The Pathway. To read about other books, visit www.AChristianManifesto.com.)