“That is all we have done. When we start targeting individual sins to protect a certain class, and we don’t succeed—which we will not—I just fear we are treading into an area that is, potentially, absolutely devastating to our entire mission,” Knott said. “I’m not mad; I’m not upset. I’m just fearful for the Convention that I sincerely believe we all love and want to protect.”
EC chairman Ronald Slade responded to Knott by affirming his respect and appreciation for Knott’s “commitment to the Lord” and to the SBC.
“Yet I believe firmly that we must do everything we possibly can for the vulnerable and those who have been hurt and victimized,” Slade said. “And I don’t know…the price of one person—I mean, one is too many. And that’s not what our Lord would want, I believe, of us.”
“Ultimately, yes, we want to see the Kingdom of God advance,” Slade went on to say. “But I don’t want us to say, ‘Well, we didn’t have enough money, and so we therefore didn’t protect a little one that was vulnerable or that was in the line of being hurt.’”
“It can’t be about the dollars. It’s gotta be about the people. And relationships matter and people matter,” Slade said. “And I just have confidence in the Lord—that He’s going to provide for the Southern Baptist Convention to continue on, for our individual congregations to continue on, as we do the work and make our Convention…as safe as possible.”
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