The Confederate battle flag is a symbol of many things to many different people.

On Tuesday, the Southern Baptist Convention interpreted its meaning by passing a resolution calling for Southern Baptist churches to discontinue displaying the flag as a “sign of solidarity of the whole body of Christ,” according a press release issued by the SBC’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission.

Russell Moore, the commission’s president, commented in the press release, “The Southern Baptist Convention made history today and made history in the right way. This denomination was founded by people who wrongly defended the sin of human slavery. Today, the nation’s largest Protestant denomination voted to repudiate the Confederate battle flag and it’s time and well past time.”

The resolution is a move local Baptist churches affiliated with the convention said required careful consideration.

TJ Tennison, co-pastor of Crossway Church, said in an emailed statement, “I believe it is the responsibility of every serious-minded Christ follower to regularly and prayerfully wrestle with how they can best express and communicate the love of Christ to our world in a way that is consistent with the teachings of Scripture.”

Matt Buckles, pastor of First Baptist Vicksburg, was unable to attend this year’s convention but has attended past conventions. He said those who vote at the convention are told to vote with their individual consciences.

“We go as messengers, which means the local church sends us,” he said. “We vote our consciences, but that gathering is not binding on the state convention, the (Warren Association of Baptists) or First Baptist Vicksburg. We vote our consciences, but I think Baptist churches and members should perk up and pay attention that our convention has made this decision.”

Buckles said the resolution would be met with three reactions: anger, “shrugging of shoulders,” and action by those who were “sitting on the fence.”

Though Buckles said he personally views it as a positive step forward, he “isn’t going to draw a line in the sand because of it,” noting his congregation, which he said holds varying views on the subject, knows where he stands on the issue.

“They know where I stand, and I know where they stand,” he said. “It’s not a bone of contention within our church. I’m not going to allow it to go there.”

The Rev. R.D. Bernard, pastor of predominately African American King Solomon Baptist Church, which is not part of the SBC, said the move was long overdue. “I can’t speak to the motivation of the convention, but a church’s job is to raise the level of consciousness of a community,” he said. “As such, the church should have the moral high ground. In other words, the church should have been the first to take a moral stand, but we applaud their decision. There are some local ministers and Mississippi ministers that are talking the talk and walking the walk.”