Forty years ago, the idea of seeing Roe v. Wade overturned in our lifetime was little more than a dream and a prayer. Those of us in the pro-life movement – including and especially Southern Baptists, through the work of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission – worked tirelessly to that end, but we did so without any assurance of seeing it come to fruition.
I had the privilege of serving as the head of the ERLC for 25 years (1988-2013), and I know from personal experience the critical difference the ERLC has made not just on the vital issue of life, but also on numerous other issues of tremendous importance to both American and Baptist life such as religious liberty and racial reconciliation.
The ERLC’s Southern Baptist Convention-mandated mission statement calls upon the Commission “to assist the churches by helping them understand the moral demands of the gospel, apply Christian principles to moral and social problems and questions of public policy, and to promote religious liberty in cooperation with the churches and other Southern Baptist entities.”
It is a divine assignment to assist and enable Southern Baptists to witness Gospel truth to the complex moral and ethical challenges confronting society today. It is difficult to place adequate value on the ability of the ERLC to help Southern Baptists provide their often uniquely biblical perspective on complex issues such as religious liberty and the sanctity of all human life.
I can say with confidence, based on much experience, that America will not get the issues surrounding religious liberty balanced correctly without significant Southern Baptist input. Likewise, if America grounds our protections for human life around utilitarianism rather than the imago dei, we will miss the mark.
Click Here to Read More (Originally Published at Baptist Press)
