First Person

This isn’t one of those pieces that ties everything up in a neat spiritual bow. It’s not filled with pat answers or hollow clichés. It’s born out of pain, prayer and the unshakable truth that — even in the flood — God is still present.

As the echoes of Fourth of July fireworks fade and we turn our attention to the week ahead, Southern Baptists also will take a moment to celebrate a key freedom that Americans have long enjoyed and that Baptists have continually sought to defend.

Last week marked the third anniversary of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the historic Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade and returned the question of abortion to the people and their elected representatives. While that decision opened up the possibility for significant pro-life advances at the state level, there is still much work to be done at the federal level.

The 2025 Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting is behind us, and with it the meetings, reports, motions and actions that pleased some and disappointed others. I know that many church members and even pastors rarely or never attend an SBC annual meeting in person. That was true for me until I was almost 40, so I appreciate the reality that, for many, the national SBC seems very far away from local church life.

A decade ago, the United States crossed a threshold when the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage throughout the country in Obergefell v. Hodges. Looking back, it is clear that the Court’s decision effectively codified our cultural descent into a no-holds barred approach to sexuality, and, a bit later, gender. Grounded in what Carl Trueman terms “expressive individualism,” this mentality is divorced from biological realities, sociological data, common sense, and the clear testimony of Scripture.

Cooperation is hard. It has been difficult from the beginning of the church. As in Acts 6, when the apostles had to resolve a conflict between the Hellenists and the Hebrews. Or as in Acts 15 when Paul and Barnabas had “a sharp disagreement,” which led them to separate from one another. Any cursory glance of church history teaches us that Christians disagreeing with each other is quite regular. Cooperation requires a lot of work and a lot of conversation. Anyone seeking cooperation must continually ask: Is it worth it?

I work with refugees – people with backgrounds like mine – all the time. So, I know what it’s like to be misunderstood.

When SBC President Clint Pressley asked me to chair this year’s Resolutions Committee, I hesitated. Anyone familiar with the resolutions process at the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting understands why. Resolutions can serve as instruments of conviction or, just as easily, catalysts for controversy. Nuanced theological concerns, amendments from the floor, and the challenge of striking the right tone – all of it makes the process delicate and, at times, daunting.

As I reflect on SBC25 in Dallas, one word keeps coming to mind: Grateful.

What an honor and privilege it has been for me to serve you as president of the Southern Baptist Convention. As I have traveled this year, hearing from and representing Southern Baptists across our nation, it has confirmed what I already knew to be true: It is good to be a Southern Baptist.