ORLANDO, Fla. — Out-going Southern Baptist Convention president Johnny Hunt promoted the Great Commission Resurgence during his president’s address June 15.
Using Joshua 14 as his primary text, he asked if Southern Baptists were at their own Kadesh Barnea, the place from which the 12 spies were sent by Moses into the Promised Land. Though he did not say specifically that those who were opposed to the GCR task force recommendations were like the 10 spies who brought back a bad report (Numbers 13) and lacked faith enough to possess the Promised Land, the implication was unmistakable.
“Taking the land was not a suggestion, it was a command,” said Hunt. “The Great Commission is not a suggestion, it is a command.”
Recalling that all Israelites over 20 years old except Joshua and Caleb died in the wilderness without ever possessing the Promised Land, he said they bore the brunt of unfaithfulness and he warned Southern Baptists that others would bear the brunt of their unfaithfulness if they choose not to advance into the Great Commission Resurgence.
Their dreams of the Promised Land were never realized, he said. “What a price they paid for disbelief. Ladies and gentlemen, look around. Look up here. We’re aging. We don’t have 45 years.”
He likened Caleb’s age, at 85, to his being a mentor and challenged older Southern Baptists to leave a legacy for the more youthful of the convention to follow. He said Caleb would not quit just because of his age and neither should Southern Baptists. Caleb and Joshua were senior adult saints, he said.
With passion in his voice and on his face, he said it is time for older Southern Baptists to be challenged by younger ones who are questioning the need for fulfilling the American dream. He challenged his listeners to question how much they need and what they can give in order to see people come to Christ.
Hunt read a letter from Billy Graham, now 92, who said Southern Baptists were poised to effectively pursue world evangelism and voiced his support for Great Commission faithfulness.
“The future of the SBC will not rest on a single vote alone, but who can calculate what it means to … the watching world,” Hunt said.
Concluding, Hunt alluded to soldiers ordered to take a hill. After doing so, others come to occupy it. He said we can be hill takers or occupiers who play it safe.