The GCR: What its all about

In a word… missionalism. The word missionalism, albeit made up, is meant to refer to a mindset and attitude for every person, church and entity which makes up the Southern Baptist Convention. The Great Commission Resurgence is about putting first Christ’s mandate to make disciples, baptize them, and teach them. The tricky part is figuring out how to follow through on that command.

On April 16, 2009, Danny Akin, the president of Southeastern Theological Seminary, delivered a message entitled “Axioms of a Great Commission Resurgence”. Dr. Akin wanted to examine the way that Southern Baptists go about fulfilling the Great Commission and to suggest that we could improve our impact.

Currently, the Southern Baptist Convention employs two mission boards for the work of missions and church planting. The International Mission Board (IMB) focuses on training missionaries to go into full-time service overseas. The North American Mission Board (NAMB) focuses on church planting and evangelism in North America. Apart from those entities, Southern Baptists have state conventions which provide support for the local church. These entities, among others, are fully supported through giving from the local church to the Cooperative Program, and this is the way that Southern Baptists pool their resources in an effort to fulfill the great commission.

After Dr. Akin delivered his message about Southern Baptists and the Great Commission to his students, other entity heads and pastors asked him to draft a document detailing the issues which he thought needed consideration. From their encouragement was born the Great Commission Resurgence.

It is a document which highlights 10 issues which supporters believe could lengthen the reach of Southern Baptists. The points are as follows:

1. A Commitment to Christ’s Lordship
2. A Commitment to Gospel-Centeredness
3. A Commitment to the Great Commandments
4. A Commitment to a Biblical Inerrancy and Sufficiency
5. A Commitment to a Healthy Confessional Center
6. A Commitment to Biblically Healthy Churches
7. A Commitment to Sound Biblical Preaching
8. A Commitment to Methodological Diversity that is Biblically Informed
9. A Commitment to a More Effective Convention Structure
10. A Commitment to Distinctively Christian Families

These are the issues which will be examined in this series as we attempt to analyze and engage the Great Commission Resurgence movement, its impact in the SBC, and its potential controversy.

For a full explanation go to: www.pray4gcr.com/what-is-gcr/