So the SBC Wants To Change Its Name?

All right. Apparently the Twitter-verse exploded last night because the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is considering changing its name (see http://www.dennyburk.com/southern-baptist-convention-considers-name-change/).  According to the linked article, the SBC President appointed a task force to answer a series of questions -

1) Is it a good idea, that is, is there value in considering a name change?
2) If so, what would be a good name to suggest?
3) What would be the potential legal ramifications of a name change?
4) What would be the potential financial implications?

These are all good questions to ask. I think I'd like to add - what does God want and how would a name change glorify Him and advance the gospel?

And some of you are wondering why on earth I would care. Well, there is one major reason. I'm about to join a church that is affiliated with the SBC.  I don't care on the level of some bloggers I read, just to be clear, but it is interesting.

The simple fact I'm considering joining a church when I grew up believing that church membership requirements might well be from Satan himself pretty much qualifies as a miracle. If I weren't 100% sure that God was guiding me in this, I would have nothing to do with it. The simple fact is that He has changed my ideas on church membership in the past year to even open up my heart enough to walk down this path.  The reason I'm amenable to membership now is way too long an explanation for this blog, but the impetus started with God moving on my heart and exposing me to an idea I had never considered.

Secondly, if the church I am about to join had the term "Southern Baptist" in its name I would never have set foot in it. I'm being honest here.  While I am from Ohio, I grew up in the South and I have been to Southern Baptist churches. Those churches did a lot of harm to me spiritually, including scaring the life out of me regarding end times and the return of Jesus.  I was also assessed based on what I wore and how I behaved, not on who I was and that was very detrimental.  The Southern Baptists reinforced the belief I held that I only mattered if I performed for God in a way acceptable to the church.  That way happened to be at odds with my personality, which is a little bit wide open and outside the box. I'm not a Sunday's finest gal - I'm jeans and a t-shirt (albeit a sparkly t-shirt because I do love me some bling and I possess a prissy streak). 

To be clear - when I say "out of the box" I do not mean unbiblical - I would have a problem with me in that case!  And to be fair - there were a lot of other circumstances in my life in play when I went to these churches. And to be even more fair - I experienced the crushing weight of legalism at non-denominational churches, too.  Legalism can show up anywhere.

I know this isn't how all Southern Baptist churches operated back then, but this was my experience with more than one and I'll be honest that it left a really bad taste in my mouth.  The experiences were enough to keep me from darkening the door of another one until, at the leading of the Holy Spirit, I unknowingly stepped into a church affiliated with the SBC.

What I see in this particular church is a lot of God's grace.  I don't think for a second it's anything that the pastoral staff dreamed up or decided to "pilot" as part of some SBC program - I think it has to do with the very real movement of the Holy Spirit that I started to notice 12 years ago - and that set me free from a lot of bondage I was living in.  Since it's a move of God, denominational boundaries were (and are) irrelevant - if you are a Christ follower then He was (and is) wooing your heart in this direction. 

So with all that being said, I can see - purely from my own perspective - why the SBC might want to change its name.  It has some heavy connotations - some are good (if you had a great experience in a good church growing up) and some are not (like mine).  I also think that God can use whatever He pleases, regardless of the name, if He sees fit.  He obviously has used the SBC and affiliated churches to preach the gospel to many.  I mean, really, I could be affiliated with the Gospel-centered People of the Purple Feathers and if we're committed to the gospel, God is going to use it.

I'm also not saying that considering a name change is a bad thing. By all means, consider it.  I really hope the message of the Gospel doesn't get lost in the debate.  After all, this is all about Jesus and making Him known. 

Ultimately, I personally don't care what the SBC elects to do since I don't really have a dog in the fight. Nothing they decide will change the fact that I'm joining a church that happens to be affiliated with the SBC.  These are just my thoughts on the whole shebang. I mean, since the Twitter-verse went haywire, I ought to give my $0.02, too, right?!