One year ago, I published a blog entitled “An Open Letter to Young Southern Baptists.” I do not intend here to copy that entire blog, but a quick reminder of the challenges I offered will help in understanding the words that follow:

• Know that many of us realize that we have much room for improvement. We older leaders are not ignorant of the concerns that grip you.
• Do review the history of this denomination. Remember that past and current leaders deserve respect.
• Do not give up on the SBC. You, your church, and the SBC lose if you simply walk away without patiently trying to make a difference.
• Continue to support the Cooperative Program even while you seek your role in the denomination. Be kingdom-minded enough to give even when the immediate benefits for you and your church are not always obvious.
• Stay focused on the entirety of the Great Commission. Refocus our churches on strong discipleship, but never allow evangelism to be a “back burner” task.
• Pray humbly for Southern Baptist Convention leaders. From pastoring a local church to leading a denominational agency, the tasks involved in SBC life are not easy.

That blog ended with these words:

Young Southern Baptist, I believe in you. I want you involved in SBC life, trusting that you affirm our clear stand on the Word of God, choose to live a God-honoring life, and are committed to the Great Commission. Be both patient and persistent with us, modeling humility for us in all that you do. All of us want to see God do a mighty work through this denomination.

During the fourth week of June 2009, young leaders did show up at the Southern Baptist Convention, and their passion brought a renewed sense of excitement to the event. In light of that event, here is my follow-up letter – this time, written to older Southern Baptists (a group to which I belong).

Older leaders, we must first love younger Southern Baptists. This one is not difficult for me. As a seminary dean, I have the privilege of working with young men and women whose Great Commission focus puts mine to shame. Most are energetic, passionate, and unashamedly Christ-followers. They are deeply serious, yet genuinely fun. They want to make an eternal difference with their lives. They are, to state it simply, easy to love.

We must also listen to younger Southern Baptists. Whether or not we always agree with them, their voice is worth hearing. These are brothers and sisters whose Christian integrity, doctrinal fervor, and evangelistic zeal deserve our attention. New voices that critique old paradigms should not threaten us. We will miss much if we choose not to hear their thoughts simply because they are young or inexperienced.

As we love and listen to our younger leaders, we must be willing to learn from them. There is no question that young leaders sometimes wrongly assume that they have the answers to whatever ails us. We have all thought that way at some point, and we recall with embarrassment our own youthful pride. But let’s be honest: if we assume that we have nothing to learn from leaders younger than we are, we, too, are gripped by arrogance. We who claim maturity should know better.

We must also labor in prayer on behalf of our younger leaders. As Paul prayed for Timothy – remembering him constantly, night and day (2 Tim. 1:3) – we must intercede now for those who increasingly lead the good fight of faith. The enemy aims his arrows at young leaders, knowing that their youthfulness makes them vulnerable. Hence, our most important work on their behalf might well be what we do in our prayer closets.

Finally, we must still lead younger leaders. That’s the way it ought to be – older leaders leading younger leaders, who then are better prepared to lead on their own. Indeed, I can say with certainty that young leaders long for strong, faithful, experienced, godly Christian leaders to pour themselves into their young lives. Young leaders may stretch us, challenge us, and even dislodge us from our comfort zones, but we must not abdicate our responsibility to help guide them. They still need us, and we still need them – and a dying world needs all of us working together for the sake of the Great Commission.

I am a seminary dean who believes that the best seminary education occurs in conjunction with service in a local church. Education gains relevance and significance when we put to work what we learn through planning worship services, training laypeople, preaching the Word, and doing evangelism. In fact, if I were king for a day, I would require all seminary students to serve in a local church full-time internship prior to graduating.

With that in mind, I am pleased that the Billy Graham School at Southern Seminary offers a PhD that still requires students to complete their coursework at Southern but that does not require a physical relocation to Louisville. We still encourage students to move to our campus, but qualified students now serving in ministry away from Louisville may attend PhD classes for four weeks a year (typically two weeks in Nov-Dec, and two in May-June) while majoring in Evangelism and Church Growth, Christian Missions, World Religions, or Applied Apologetics. In addition to the intensive on-campus class time, students have significant Internet interaction and discussion with the professor and other classmates throughout the year. All students—whether living on-campus or off—complete the same courses.

The Graham School doctoral degrees emphasize biblical foundations for evangelism and missions, honest analysis of church growth and missiological methods, historical reviews of God’s work throughout the world, apologetic preparation for countering world religions, and scriptural approaches to spiritual warfare in evangelism and missions. Equipped well, our current PhD students and graduates have served, or are serving, as local church pastors, North American and international missionaries, seminary and college professors, college executives, denominational employees, church staff members, mission administrators, and in other church-based roles.

Our prayer is that Graham School doctoral students will continue to lead evangelicals throughout the world to focus on the Great Commission. If you are interested in getting more information about this program, contact Dr. Adam Greenway, BGS Director of Research Doctoral Studies, at agreenway@sbts.edu.

I have always used my blog to address issues related to biblical church growth, and I have intentionally spoken to evangelicals in general rather than my own Southern Baptist denomination.  For this post, though, I am changing my pattern.

Over twenty-five years ago, I began serving as pastor of a Southern Baptist church in Ohio.  I was young and energetic - ready to take on the world, but knowing far too little about the denomination in which I served.  I am grateful for a few older Southern Baptists who encouraged me to get involved, including inviting me to attend my first Southern Baptist Convention (1985-the largest and perhaps most controversial Convention ever).

I find it hard to admit, but I am now becoming one of the older Southern Baptists.  In that role, I offer these encouragements to younger Southern Baptists.

Know that many of us realize that we have much room for improvement.
We grieve when we see our baptismal numbers, and we know that our record of making disciples is not good.  Many of us are praying for a Great Commission resurgence.  We are also concerned that too few of you believe that attending the SBC is important.  We fear that many of you will simply drop out of denominational life.  Please know that we are not ignorant of the issues that concern you in a denomination that you believe is increasingly irrelevant.

Do review the history of this denomination.
We have much work to do as a denomination, but we have also experienced God’s blessing.  More missionaries are serving on the mission field.  More students are attending seminaries affiliated with the SBC.  Your generation has the potential to be a great blessing.  Remember, though, that others sacrificed much to lead this denomination to a renewed commitment to the Word.  These leaders deserve respect, and we ignore their passion for continued doctrinal integrity only at our peril.  To be Southern Baptist is still a commitment to the Word, to biblical doctrine, and to a unique way to support North American and international missions.

Do not give up on the SBC.
Despite our denominational malaise, what we do together remains stronger than what most of our churches can do alone.  We need you as part of this team.  We need your churches to be involved.   We need your creativity and your passion.  We need your honest input when meetings are boring and discussions seem irrelevant to the task of the gospel.  We need your unique commitment to reaching the world for Christ. You, your church, and the SBC lose if you simply walk away without patiently trying to make a difference.

Continue to support the Cooperative Program even while you seek your role in the denomination.
Tell us your concerns, but do not pull away from the Cooperative Program that supports more than 10,000 missionaries in North America and around the world.  Help us to address issues that all of us recognize as significant, but continue CP giving that reduces the seminary tuition of thousands of students.  Talk to us when you see current structures and processes as outdated, but remember that many good people and programs are still dependent on your Cooperative Program giving.  Be kingdom-minded enough to give even when the immediate benefits for you and your church are not always obvious.

Stay focused on the entirety of the Great Commission.
I am grateful for young pastors who want to strengthen churches that are weak, and I applaud efforts to make membership meaningful again in SBC churches.  My concern is that we will focus so much on fixing troubled churches that evangelism remains neglected.  Do refocus our churches on strong discipleship, but never allow evangelism to be a “back burner” task.  When God begins to change lives through our ministries, some of our other concerns may not seem so important.

Pray humbly for Southern Baptist Convention leaders.
From pastoring a local church to leading a denominational agency, the tasks involved in SBC life are not easy.  No one can please all sixteen million Southern Baptists, each one with an opinion to express and a willingness to articulate it (whether or not he has actually been involved in his local church).  The Internet has provided a means to critique others, even without first speaking with the brother involved.  I confess that I have spent too much time reading posts and too little time praying for those who lead us.  That omission will be corrected beginning today.

Young Southern Baptist, I believe in you. I want you involved in SBC life, trusting that you affirm our clear stand on the Word of God, choose to live a God-honoring life, and are committed to the Great Commission.  Be both patient and persistent with us, modeling humility for us in all that you do.  All of us want to see God do a mighty work through this denomination.