It’s not always that we get to report a positive movement within the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). As of late, we’ve been reporting a lot on one Florida SBC megachurch that seems to continue to slide closer and closer to fully embracing homosexuality. That church is First Baptist Church Orlando which is pastored by David Uth.
But another Florida SBC megachurch appears to be moving in the right direction. In September 2022, Senior Pastor Heath Lambert of First Baptist Church in Jacksonville announced an official church statement on gender and sexuality that will be a requirement for every church member and said that it was necessary in order to “shine a bright light of clarity in these dark and confusing times.”
In the video, Lambert argued that in the direction the modern culture is moving, activists are seeking every possible method to silence the Christian worldview against sexual immorality.
“They will not rest until their confusion has permeated every area of society and silenced every voice of opposition,” Lambert said. “They have sought to shame, silence, convert and punish, even through the force of law, anyone who does not agree with their new and extreme agenda.”
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Below is the announcement:
The statement, called the The First Baptist Statement on Biblical Sexuality available on the church’s website—which the church is now requiring every member to sign no later than March 19 for continued membership—reads:
As a member of First Baptist Church, I believe that God creates people in his image as either male or female, and that this creation is a fixed matter of human biology, not individual choice. I believe marriage is instituted by God, not government, is between one man and one woman, and is the only context for sexual desire and expression.
In the commentary under the statement, Lambert says “Without singling out any one specific sin, it summarizes God’s design for gender, marriage, and sexuality. This positive statement equally forbids the range of human sinful sexual expression, including fornication, adultery, pornography, homosexuality, transgenderism, and others.”
Lambert offers up three main reasons why the church is requiring its members to affirm the statement: unity, clarity, and love.
