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Southern Baptists should fear compromising God's word more than they fear being sued, or fear that "the world is watching." These are the very opposite positions of top SBC leaders. President @WillyRice is taking the correct and courageous stand -- against the culture -- that if we believe the Bible prohibits women pastors, we need to act on that. Other SBC leaders...aren't. As usual. What's at stake? The right of churches that claimed to be in agreement with the Baptist Faith & Message -- the denomination's doctrinal standard -- to vote over how faithful tither's dollars are spent. Southern Baptist churches fund missionaries, seminaries, and ministries because they believe those institutions will advance their convictions. A family gives part of its income to send a missionary or train a pastor. It expects the people receiving that money to stand for the faith it is sacrificing to support. The Baptist Faith and Message already says the pastoral office is limited to men qualified by Scripture. That is the Southern Baptist position. We aren't deciding whether to invent it. Yet a growing number of churches openly flaunt this. And if they want to go a different way, that's fine: they should go a different way. They shouldn't use their votes to subvert what they said they believe. They'd rather be subversive. They'd rather lie. And the pathetic thing? Our so-called Credentials Committee says it can't define the word "pastor". They sound like fellow liberal Baptist Bill Clinton arguing about what the word "is" is. The Truth and Unity Amendment would clarify the standard for cooperating churches. It addresses women serving in the office or function of pastor, elder, or overseer, including preaching to the assembled congregation. It received its first required approval this June. It needs another two-thirds vote in Indianapolis in June 2027 to take effect. SBC President Willy Rice wants to finish the job. He warns that refusing to uphold our convictions opens the way to the moral compromise that has hollowed out other denominations. He's right. A confession that leaders can continually evade will end up being tossed in its entirety. Today it's women pastors, tomorrow it's trans clergy, the next day it's "God is nonbinary". We've seen this play before. Opponents say this will get us sued, something they notably didn't care about when they were doing things they wanted to do. But their argument is bogus. Think about what that means. The more important the conviction, the more determined its enemies are to challenge it. These men would reward the people most committed to making obedience expensive. They would refuse to defend any position the culture decides it doesn't like this week. And consider the supposed conflict with local church autonomy. A congregation has the freedom to choose its leaders. Other congregations have the freedom to decide with whom they will cooperate. Voluntary cooperation requires some agreement about what the cooperating institutions exist to do. Otherwise, anyone can demand a share in governing ministries whose beliefs he rejects, while insisting that those ministries have no right to enforce their own beliefs. That makes a mockery of cooperation. Your church's gifts to the Cooperative Program come from people with mortgages, children, medical bills, and responsibilities of their own. They give because they want the Gospel preached, missionaries sent, and future pastors taught the truth. More to the point, they have a common definition of the truth. One that every voting church agreed to. If a church changes its mind, that's fine: it can. But it can't vote on everyone else's money anymore. Your offering wasn't a blank check. Every year this goes unresolved carries a cost too. Faithful churches become discouraged. Some reduce their giving. Others leave. Their confidence that the institutions will keep faith with them weakens. An accountant can count legal expenses. He can't easily count the young Christian taught that Scripture means whatever is convenient, or the church that finally decides its leaders will never act. If you disagree with Southern Baptist beliefs, go join a denomination that shares yours. Be honest about it. And if you won't be honest, we have a duty to protect everyone else from your lack of integrity. Southern Baptists have a practical responsibility now. Send messengers to Indianapolis next June. Make sure your church is represented. Read the amendment, examine the arguments, and vote to uphold the convictions your church has affirmed. Don't assume somebody else will show up and do it for you. (I have a much more detailed article on my site today by my friend @dmichaelclary. Link in my bio.)