NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP) - Describing the Southern Baptist Convention as “a frog in the kettle,” Jimmy Draper hit a nerve.

He wasn’t being disrespectful. A lot of folks understood what he was saying. And they agreed. Many thanked him for speaking out about the decline in baptisms and “lack of denominational involvement and loyalty I see among younger ministers” in the SBC.

Draper, president of LifeWay Christian Resources, tapped the oft-told frog-in-the-kettle analogy in a column June 23: Put a frog in a kettle of lukewarm water, slowly turn up the heat and “before the frog knows it’s too late, well, it’s too late.”

Two major concerns

“I’m afraid the Southern Baptist Convention resembles the frog a bit too much these days,” Draper wrote in his periodic “LifeWay@Heart” column.

The SBC’s four-year decline in stateside baptisms “reflects a denomination that’s lost its focus,” he wrote, repeating the assessment he first voiced in April and repeated in his LifeWay report at the SBC annual meeting in Indianapolis in mid-June. “I fear there is a lack of urgency in our churches to baptize,” he wrote in his column.

Turning to the need for more young ministers in SBC life, Draper wrote, “Some of us older folks ... have failed the younger generation by not creating a dynamic atmosphere and showing them the relevancy of being Southern Baptist ... Younger leaders are asking, ‘Is there a place for me at the table in the SBC?’”

Response from pastors

Within 12 hours, Draper had received more than 100 email responses, the majority from younger pastors.

“We are committed to the Bible, evangelism and missions but we see most of the convention as out of touch and irrelevant,” one such pastor wrote, before also noting, “I believe there is a movement underway among young pastors in the convention to build the Kingdom through the local church.”

Another younger pastor, who recounted that he holds a key leadership position in his state convention as well as one in his local association, nevertheless stated, “I have grown to view the denomination as largely irrelevant. Most of my members did not grow up Southern Baptist. They are prime examples of the lack of denominational loyalty which is more and more prevalent in our culture. They are looking for a church that is biblical, relevant and life-changing ... I strongly disagree with the political nature of all that is the SBC. I just don’t have time for it. There is too much to be done ... I think we have lost our focus!”

“I am thankful that you have addressed the problem of where the convention is headed,” another wrote. “... [T]here is a problem and it isn’t simple, as far as I know it isn’t ‘coordinated,’” he observed before noting: “and it isn’t a huge topic among most of the people that I know.” The pastor added that further discussion is needed along with the development of a strategy to address SBC baptisms and involvement of young leaders.

Response from leaders

Several state convention leaders, asked for their observations by Baptist Press, affirmed Draper’s initiative.

J. Robert White, executive director of the Georgia Baptist Convention, noted, “Some of our brightest minds and most committed leadership in the Southern Baptist Convention are to be found among our younger leadership. I have been impressed by their zeal and uninhibited devotion to preaching and sharing the Gospel to whomever, wherever, and whenever God leads. [The SBC at present is] so blessed with capable leadership that we could overlook a generation waiting in the wings, a generation of leaders who may weary of waiting and express their leadership in ways outside traditional Southern Baptist means.

“Somehow we have to come to the point of recognizing that the greatest value in one’s leadership is not in position but in leading people to Jesus,” White continued. “Then and only then will we properly order our priorities and begin to see the revival we pray for.”

Bill Mackey, executive director of the Kentucky Baptist Convention, said young leaders “want to participate in a way that will transform lives, families and communities. They do not consider denominational debates, bureaucratic rules and church conflict to be worth their lives.”

Providing a place at the table

John Sullivan, executive director of the Florida Baptist Convention, said Draper is “on target. We are faltering in evangelism. If the tide does not turn in winning and baptizing people, we will forfeit our place and leave the next generation with a shipwreck.”

Concerning the question of involvement in the SBC, Sullivan tapped a bit of figurative language as Draper had, saying, “We will need to make a place at the table for the younger leaders and not try to feed them when they get there. They know how to eat.”

Morris H. Chapman, president of the SBC Executive Committee, said Draper “has put his finger on the pulse of the convention and correctly, I believe, hit the bull’s eye with his two concerns about our future.

“Southern Baptists have been and must be forever evangelistic if we are to obey the Great Commission,” Chapman said.

Concerning involvement in the SBC, Chapman noted that “in a large convention such as ours, we especially must encourage each other constantly to help maintain and expand grassroots participation in His Kingdom’s work on earth.”