Pressley to Southern Baptists: ‘Walk worthy’ of the call

Clint Pressley, president of the Southern Baptist Convention and pastor of Hickory Grove Baptist Church in Charlotte, N.C., addressed messengers to the 2026 SBC annual meeting in Orlando, Fla., from Ephesians 4:1-3, calling Southern Baptists to walk worthy of their call.

The SBC president has the privilege of seeing the convention at its best and at its worst, Pressley said. In his two years as convention president, he has seen “so many things we have right and some things we need to get right.” He then listed several points for Southern Baptists to consider to be able to walk worthy of their call.

Paul explained Christian doctrine in Ephesians 1-3, what could also be called “creed,” Pressley said, and turned in Ephesians 4 to an explanation of Christian duty or conduct. Pressley derived his considerations from the first three verses of Ephesians 4.

To walk worthy of the call is to “live your daily life in the public square … to walk in a way that corresponds with you saying you’re a child of God,” Pressley said.

‘Convictional clarity’

Southern Baptists “need to be vigilant about our doctrine,” Pressley contended. He distinguished being vigilant from being vigilante. Southern Baptists need to be serious and clear about their doctrine. “Christian living actually follows Christian doctrine,” he said.

Noting the depravity of the world, “the squishy middle of Christianity is not ready to handle depravity,” Pressley said. “Convictional clarity gives us confidence to move forward. … We won’t be missionally engaged if we are doctrinally vague,” he added.

He pointed to “a robust view on complementarianism” as an example of convictional clarity. Complementarianism, in general, is the belief men and women are created in God’s image and that God gives them differing yet complementary roles in the family and in the church.

“When we hold up the issue of complementarity, and especially in the pulpit, and especially when it comes to pastors … and when we have churches in our convention that see their error and the error of their ways, when they make correction, we should rejoice with them,” Pressley said.

Other considerations for walking worthy

Pressley listed several other needed considerations.

Southern Baptists “need to be compelled by the gospel.” Rather than assuming the gospel, Southern Baptists need to know it, live it, and speak it, Pressley said.

They “need to learn to hate pride” and can do that by developing self-awareness, Christ-awareness, and God-awareness. “We need to have a view of what does the Bible say about us,” about “the perfection of Jesus the Son,” and the sovereignty of God, Pressley said.

They “need to learn self-control.” Pressley pointed to the English words gentleness or meekness used to translate the Greek of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians.

Southern Baptists also should not be self-centered but should “learn to be patient,” thinking the best of each other and giving one another the benefit of the doubt, Pressley said.

Southern Baptists “need to learn to love people regardless. … That’s what Christians do,” Pressley said, calling love “the ultimate Christian trait.”

Finally, Pressley said Southern Baptists “need to do all we can do to strive for a unified front … ‘to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace,’” Pressley said, quoting Ephesians 4:3.

Southern Baptists need to be “inwardly solid,” having their “doctrine right,” and “outwardly focused to reach the world under the bond of peace,” Pressley concluded.