It's fun being the rebel; that is, until, you become the establishment.
As a member of the "Generation Y" population, I never witnessed the scuffle that led to the Southern Baptist Convention's divide between the denomination's moderates and conservatives.
As a 20-something seminary graduate, the heritage of the conservative-moderate crisis loomed heavily over my time at ground zero of the crisis: Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. The story, controversy and ultimate comeback of Southern Seminary saturate the school to present day. Students are reminded that doctrinal drift is no more than a generation -- or, in some cases, one publishing contract -- away. And before signing the Abstract of Principles, professors are solemnly warned that deviating from the school's confession will result in their termination.
Some view an academic culture like that as stifling or given over to hysterics. I call it sober-mindedness. It is also a preventative from conversations that outrightly thwart biblical authority.
After attending "A [Baptist] Conference on Sexuality & Covenant," co-sponsored by the moderates disgruntled with the SBC's conservative direction -- the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship -- I have a message to tell my fellow 20-somethings within the Southern Baptist Convention: The Conservative Resurgence was a battle worth having and a hill worthy dying on. Read more
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