I was not surprised when the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention, upon recommendation of a special task force, decided not to change the name of the denomination. This is an issue that emerges from time to time in the interest of re-branding and removing a provincial connotation to our identity. What was intriguing about the decision was permission for churches and entities to use an alternate “descriptor” of Great Commission Baptists.

That innovative twist was no surprise after three years of advocacy for a Great Commission resurgence to give higher priority to missions and evangelism in our denomination. While recognizing that “Southern Baptists” no longer defines a regional convention, it does represent churches who hold to sound biblical doctrine and evangelical faith. While that witness to who we are is important, in the eyes of outsiders Southern Baptists have come to be seen as narrow fundamentalists who are angry and divisive. In public and the media we are known for what we are against in the cultural wars than people who reflect love and grace that would attract people to the Lord we serve and worship.

While I have never been adverse to a name change, the greater need is to create a rebranding of our image. A different name is not going change people’s perceptions of who we are. In consideration of the alternate “descriptor” what does Great Commission Baptists communicate. We as insiders know what that means and sincerely would like for that to define who we are. But do outsiders understand the term? If they have any concept of “Great Commission” (not knowing Jesus Christ in a personal, born-again experience) do they not see it as churches who are committed to proselytizing and targeting others for conversion? That may be what we want to do, but it would not create a favorable impression in pioneer, unchurched areas of our country.

However, it is somewhat of an enigma to identify ourselves as “Great Commission Baptists” when so little is being done to “disciple the nations” as that mandate of our Lord tells us to do in Matthew 28:19-20. We are hardly Great Commission Baptists when less than 3% of the offerings of our churches are channeled into international missions and we can’t even support the missionaries who are being called out of our churches to evangelize the nations and peoples of the earth. Most of the resources of the denomination are distributed for the support of local associations, state convention programs and SBC entities at home rather than to fulfill our mission to take the gospel to the ends of the earth.

Okay, so we rationalize and define “Great Commission” as whatever we do in witness and ministry, ignoring the fact that it is about reaching the nations. Is it not somewhat presumptuous to claim the identity as Great Commission Baptists when baptisms in our churches have been in decline for 30 years, and most of our reported baptisms of children in the church or members being re-baptized upon profession of faith, instead of those being evangelized and discipled from the world? Should 20% of our churches who never reach and baptize anyone year after year describe themselves as Great Commission Baptists because of their affiliation with a denomination which propagates a pretense of giving priority to missions and evangelism?

The idealism and vision is wonderful. Would to God that we truly were Great Commission Baptists, or in calling ourselves such that is what we become. However, it takes more than an identifying descriptor for it to be a reality. Calling a dog’s tail a leg doesn’t mean it has five legs; it is still a tail no matter what you call it.