Southern Baptist Leader Says "Missions Trumps Doctrinal Divides"

Speaking at the Southern Baptist Pastor’s Conference in Louisville, Kentucky, Morris Chapman, president of the SBC Executive Committee, said that “missions trumps doctrinal divides.” He said, “The victories of faith in the life of the convention did not happen because men and women loved doctrine. They happened because they loved Jesus” (“Chapman: Missions Trumps Doctrinal Divides,” Baptist Press, June 23, 2009).

The Bible never downplays doctrine after this fashion. When the Lord Jesus Christ gave the Great Commission, He commanded that we preach the gospel, baptize those that believe, and then “teach them to observe ALL THINGS whatsoever I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:20). The apostle Paul reminded the elders at the church of Ephesus that he had preached “all the counsel of God” (Acts 20:27). Paul instructed the preacher Timothy to keep the New Testament commandments “without spot” (1 Timothy 6:14). That refers to the details. There is no authority in the Scripture for dividing doctrine into “cardinal” and “peripheral” or “secondary.” While we know that not all doctrine has equal importance, all of it has some importance, and who are we to say that some of the teaching of the Word of God is “peripheral”?

(Friday Church News Notes, June 26, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143)