Cooperation Without Caricature: Why the SBC Needs Clarity, Not Fear

The Southern Baptist Convention has always been strongest when we act together for the sake of the gospel. Our Cooperative Program has funded missionaries, equipped seminaries, and strengthened churches for nearly a century. Working together is a gift—not a burden—rooted in our shared confession, our shared mission, and our shared identity as brothers and sisters in Christ.

That’s why recent remarks from SBC Executive Committee President Jeff Iorg deserve a careful, gracious, and honest response.

In addressing concerns about selective giving within the SBC, Dr. Iorg suggested that churches who direct their giving to particular SBC entities rather than participating fully in the Cooperative Program are acting from the same cultural impulse that leads children to believe they may choose their own gender—a mindset he labeled “expressive individualism.” His point may have been intended to call Baptists back to unity, but the comparison was not only unhelpful—it was deeply inaccurate.

I once respected Iorg’s leadership and clarity. But rhetoric of this type harms rather than strengthens cooperation. It fosters suspicion rather than trust. And if this approach becomes characteristic rather than incidental, then the tone—and possibly even the spokesperson—may need to change.

What Is Expressive Individualism?

Expressive individualism is a cultural philosophy that teaches that one’s identity comes from within and must be expressed outwardly to be authentic. It elevates feelings over objective truth and self-expression over shared commitments. It is indeed the philosophical root of much of our culture’s confusion about gender, sexuality, autonomy, and identity.

So Iorg is right that expressive individualism is a real issue.

But expressive individualism is not what churches are doing when they evaluate how to steward the resources God has entrusted to them. That is not self-constructed identity. That is responsible ecclesial oversight.

Churches are not saying:

“We give to whatever expresses who we are.”

Rather, churches are often saying:

“We want to be good stewards and support what we believe is faithful, effective, and transparent.”

These are not the same. And they should not be equated.

Why the Gender Comparison Fails

The comparison between selective giving and gender confusion collapses under even slight examination.

• Gender identity confusion is about rejecting God’s created design.
• Evaluating denominational stewardship is about pursuing faithfulness to God’s mission.

To equate the two does not merely overreach—it confuses categories God has kept clear.

Gender is a matter of creation ordinance.
Cooperative giving is a matter of ecclesial prudence.

One is moral rebellion.
The other is budget strategy.

This comparison does not elevate the Cooperative Program—it trivializes the very real cultural battle the SBC does face regarding sexuality and identity.

This Isn’t Cooperation. It’s Coercion by Shame.

Cooperation cannot be sustained through pressure, guilt-language, or alarmism. Southern Baptists are not children who need to be scolded into obedience. They are congregations under Christ, who must act under conviction—not coercion.

Healthy cooperation grows from:

• Trust
• Transparency
• Shared conviction
• Mutual respect

Fear-based leadership produces the opposite:

• Suspicion
• Defensiveness
• Withdrawal
• Division

Southern Baptists have never followed leaders who tried to frighten them into line. That’s not who we are.

A Call for Measured, Pastoral Leadership

This is not a call to abandon the Cooperative Program. Far from it. I believe in the Cooperative Program. I believe in supporting missionaries. I believe in theological education. I believe we really are stronger together.

But we need leaders who make that case through:

• clear teaching,
• consistent accountability,
• and charitable persuasion—
  not by casting suspicion on faithful churches.

Dr. Iorg is capable of better leadership than this. Many of us have seen it. But this rhetoric must be corrected. And if this tone of leadership continues rather than changes, then for the sake of the Convention, he may need to step back and allow another voice to lead this stage of our cooperative life.

We Can—and Must—Do Better Together

Our identity is not found in individual expression, nor in institutional pressure. It is found in Christ.

We cooperate not because we are told to,
but because we want to.

The Cooperative Program should be an invitation to shared mission—
not a litmus test of loyalty,
and certainly not a battleground for making careless cultural analogies.

The answer to the challenges of cooperation is not sharper rhetoric.
It is deeper trust.

And trust grows when we:

• speak carefully,
• listen humbly,
• steward honestly,
• and lead graciously.

That is the way forward—for Iorg, for the Executive Committee, and for the Convention we love.