A leader in the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), he has authored and edited numerous books and journal articles and is best known for his commitment to expository preaching and to the Great Commission.
In high school, he was a multi-sport athlete in baseball, basketball and football, intending to try to pitch as a walk-on in college.
"[5] Other initiatives that have also begun under Akin's leadership include the Lewis A. Drummond Center for Great Commission Studies (focuses on missions and church planting in North America and internationally),[6] the Great Commission Equipping Network (EQUIP, focuses on providing theological education at a local church level),[7] the Global Theological Initiative (GTI, focuses on using "the resources of Southeastern to benefit theological education through strategic partnerships around the world"),[8] and Kingdom Diversity (seeking "to recruit and equip students from every corner of the Kingdom, to serve in every context of the Kingdom").
[9] Akin has led Southeastern to produce yearly conferences aimed at equipping students and churches in various facets of theology and the Christian life.
[10] Akin is well known for his emphasis on Jesus' Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20) and the responsibility of churches and Christians to go to all the nations of the world and make disciples.
In a series of chapel messages at Southeastern Seminary from 2007 to 2012, Akin preached a biblical text and illustrated it with the life story of a missionary.
[12] However, it was Akin's April 2009 chapel sermon entitled "Axiom's for a Great Commission Resurgence" that fueled a widespread effort in the Southern Baptist Convention to build upon the "Conservative Resurgence" of the 1970s and 80s with a unifying effort to streamline SBC structures in order to more effectively fulfill Jesus' Great Commission.
[21] In 2019, Akin labelled prominent 20th century German theologians Karl Barth, Emil Brunner, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Rudolf Bultmann, Paul Tillich, Adolf von Harnack and Friedrich Schleiermacher as theological enemies.