The Southern Baptist Convention approved a resolution by an “overwhelming vote” Tuesday calling on Christians to not display the Confederate battle flag, “as a sign of solidarity of the whole Body of Christ, including our African-American brothers and sisters,” the Baptist Press reported.
The resolution further “urge[s] fellow Christians to exercise sensitivity so that nothing brings division or hinders the unity of the Body of Christ to be a bold witness to the transforming power of Jesus.”
“Today the nation’s largest Protestant denomination voted to repudiate the Confederate battle flag, and it’s time and well past time,” the Reuters news wire quoted Dr. Russell Moore, who heads the denomination’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission.
“[M]y hope and prayer is that we will work together in our churches toward modeling for the rest of the world what it means to be brothers and sisters in the kingdom of God,” the Baptist Press quoted the Mississippi native.
“The Confederate battle flag resolution was another step in the convention’s effort to address its past actions regarding slavery and racism,” the Baptist Press said. “The SBC, which began in 1845 in part in support of slaveholding missionaries, approved a resolution in 1995 repenting of racism and asking for forgiveness from African American Christians.”
“[W]e genuinely repent of racism of which we have been guilty, whether consciously (Psalm 19:13) or unconsciously (Leviticus 4:27),” the SBC said in the 1995 resolution, going on to add, “we hereby commit ourselves to eradicate racism in all its forms from Southern Baptist life and ministry.”
• Ken Shepherd can be reached at kshepherd@washingtontimes.com.
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