WHEREAS, the year 2020 has been a time of profound cultural tumult on matters of race and racial justice in America; and
WHEREAS, America’s sordid history with slavery, segregation, and racial supremacy was an enormous evil inflicted upon African Americans and has left a bitter legacy in our nation; and
WHEREAS, Christians of goodwill can and should continue to debate the ongoing effects of America’s racial sins; and
WHEREAS, All persons are made in God’s image and thereby possess incalculable dignity and worth (Genesis 1:26-27); and
WHEREAS, Christians are called to “love your neighbor as yourself” and show concern, love, and compassion to all (Mark 12:31; Luke 10:25-37); and
WHEREAS, The Church of the Lord Jesus Christ consists of persons from “every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages” (Revelation 7:9); and
WHEREAS, Integral to the gospel of Jesus Christ is the tearing down of ethnic hostility and the formation of “one body through the cross” (Ephesians 2:14-16); now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the messengers of the Kentucky Baptist Convention meeting in Owensboro, Kentucky, November 10, 2020, commit to continue to work toward racial unity guided by and with utmost fidelity to the gospel of Jesus Christ as disclosed in Holy Scripture; and be it further
RESOLVED, Churches of the Lord Jesus Christ must renounce, condemn, and expel any spirit of racism, ethnic or racial supremacy, or partiality, and must call to repentance any person or movement in which this spirit of anti-Christ unambiguously manifests (James 2:9); and be it further
RESOLVED, That the churches of the Kentucky Baptist Convention make it critical to their mission to “do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8); and be it further
RESOLVED, That we reject worldly ideologies that intentionally or unintentionally seek to nullify, divide, subvert, and confuse godly efforts to seek unity in the body around racial unity efforts (Romans 12:2; Jude 1:19); and be it further
RESOLVED, That we reject any posture that assumes the worst about others, makes baseless accusations, and misconstrues human identity according to skin color (1 Corinthians 13:7; Exodus 20:16 Genesis 1:26-27); and be it further
RESOLVED, That it is the gospel of Jesus Christ only that is capable to bring about lasting personal and social change, to crucify racial sin, and to bring reconciliation (Romans 3:21-26); and be it further
RESOLVED, That the churches of the Kentucky Baptist Convention affirm the full sufficiency of Scripture to address, diagnose, and resolve all traces of racial or ethnic supremacy and partiality (2 Timothy 3:16); and be it finally
RESOLVED, That Kentucky Baptists extend heart-felt empathy and gentleness to one another as we seek to better understand, explore, and resolve tensions related to ongoing racial strife (Proverbs 15:1; Galatians 5:22-23; James 3:17).