John Piper states (in a January 27, 1985 sermon):
We have the reputation of trying to preserve unity, not by exalting the glorious doctrines of Scripture but by avoiding them. [The apostle] John when he wanted to preserve and cultivate the unity of the fellowship got theological. When the Baptist General Conference tries to work and preserve unity it gets a-theological. And we are paying! God willing, we at Bethlehem with many other churches, will go the other way. We will be explicitly theological. We will lay our Calvinist cards on the table... Because the last thing I care anything about is attracting or keeping members by concealing the distinctives that give me fire for God... It is deadly to reduce biblical theology to the lowest common denominator of acceptability. It is the death knell of worship and orthodoxy and missions and morality and growth.
