On the IMB's Shamelessly Political Commissioning Service

When the Southern Baptist Convention wants to send a signal to it 16 million members, nothing communicates like a missionary commissioning service.

Commissioning services used to be about missions. Today, they are less than subtle mechanisms by which the denomination signals which candidates are approved in national political elections. That is why the SBC's International Mission Board recently hosted the first ever commissioning service in Palmer, Alaska.

Commitment to missions was the cause that originally led many fiercely independent Baptists to work together. Nothing used to unite Baptists like the desire to share the gospel with the whole world.

Southern Baptists in particular were noted for their missionary zeal. Literally thousands of missionaries were sent and supported financially by the combined contributions of millions of Baptists in America. The Cooperative Program successfully combined the willingness of all Baptists in the South to make personal and financial sacrifices to share the "good news" about Jesus with others.

That was before fundamentalist preachers with a political agenda tookover the denomination and redirected its resources to influencing the political landscape of the United States. They have been gaining increasing political clout for more than a quarter century and their get out the "values voters" efforts were widely credited with making the margin of difference in the 2004 political election.

Fundamentalist Southern Baptists used to keep up the charade that they were focused on the mission of spreading the gospel. This year they have finally lowered the fascade and brazenly exposed the political mission and purpose that has become the focus for all of the denomination's efforts.

Before Sarah Palin was nominated for national office, Palmer, Alaska was the last place on the face of God's still green earth (no thanks to Southern Baptists) that the International Mission Board would have held a commissioning service.