"Thinking Eternally, Acting Locally." - Neal August
I wrote this piece back in May of 2006 but never got around to posting it due to other engagements. Since I was recently questioned by a good friend about my criticism of the SBC, I searched through my files to find this piece.
Let us take some time today to remind ourselves of the wonderful blessings of being a Southern Baptist.
No division over homosexuality – While most other Christian bodies in America our suffering and even splitting over the issue of homosexuality, Southern Baptists are riding thru the storm.
Pro-Scripture – Southern Baptists have a high view of Scripture and take it very seriously in matters of the faith and in their personal walk with God. It is very nice to have the Scriptures as an authoritative and fairly objective source for handling matters of our Faith.
Pro-discipline (mostly) – For the most part, Southern Baptists (like our Anabaptist ancestors) hold church discipline as a norm and a commandment by Christ. As Dr. Mohler recently highlighted, church discipline is an extremely effective means by which we can save a fellow believer from falling away.
Loving, devoted people - Southern Baptists are a very loving people and devoted people. We take the command to love God and our neighbors very seriously and we seek to live out these fundamental Christian principles in our daily lives. We are extremely devoted to the task of spreading this love to the rest our nation and the rest of the world.
Evangelistic – We are extremely devoted to the task of spreading this love to the rest our nation and the rest of the world. I really do not know of a more evangelistic body of believers in the history of Christianity. From Smyth to Carey till today, Baptists and evangelism have gone hand in hand and we have made the Great Commission in Matthew our primary collective task. Southern Baptists in particular have done more to evangelize the world than any other believing body.
The Cooperative Program – The Cooperative Program is the genius of Southern Baptists. It is the most brilliant invention of the evangelical, free church community and it has been the driving success of all our endeavors. There really is nothing more important to Southern Baptists as a body, save God Himself.
North American Mission Board – The NAMB has been an extremely successful agency of Southern Baptists helping to plant new churches across the country and pave the way for our most successful conversions and discipleship.
International Mission Board – The IMB is the greatest missionary success story since St. Patrick. During the Golden Years of the Southern Baptist Convention the IMB (then the Foreign Mission Board) sent missionaries from China to Paraguay, planting churches, building hospitals and converting people from paganism to new life with God in Christ.
Pragmatism – Say what you want about the tradition-minded members of the SBC; we are still the most pragmatic denomination out there. This is almost wholly due to two main factors: we are evangelicals and we are Americans. Evangelicalism in terms of its approach to spreading the gospel to various cultures must be pragmatic by nature. We have to grow, bend and evolve in order to preach the Word. Also, America is a capitalistic society of high growth, constant change and feverish drives to win; we as American evangelicals have used such cultural characteristics to proclaim the Gospel. And that has been a great thing!
Diversity – One might say with some degree of accuracy that the “big tent” which is the SBC has been shrink over the past quarter century. Nevertheless, the SBC is still the most diverse Protestant denomination in all Christendom. We have conservatives, moderates and liberals, errantists and inerrantists, white, blacks, Asian, Hispanics, Africans, Europeans, Landmarkists, Fundamentalists, small churches, large churches, mega-churches, charismatics, non-charismatics, Canadians, South Americans, modernists, post-modernists, traditional churches, contemporary churches, emergent churches, house churches, dispensationalists, non-dispensationalists … I don’t know about you, but I like being amidst such different approaches of practicing the Faith.
Leadership cares about the “laity” and the “laity” trusts the leadership – This is undoubted by any serious examiner of the SBC. The SBC leadership really does care about the people and missions they are serving and really wants to make good on their given duties and responsibilities. And the “laity” really trusts the leadership – perhaps to a fault but it is still a good thing. Both of these facts are probably due to the concept of local church autonomy which enables a greater degree of freedom and distance between “leadership” and “laity”. The two very rarely cross paths so the distance between them makes the heart grow fonder.
Soul Competency (believer’s baptism, church autonomy, freedom of religion, separation of church and state, local church autonomy, etc.) – I love the fact that I am apart of a Baptist denomination that allows me to freely worship God and practice my faith. I would never want to be apart of any denomination that existed in a hierarchy. We all should be proud that we have inherited the traditions of Menno Simmons, Balthasar Hubmaier, John Smyth, William Carey, Andrew Fuller, E.Y. Mullins, Ralph Elliott, Dale Moody, Frank Stagg and H. H. Hobbs.
2 comments:
Is it true that the NAMB.NET DVD entitled IN THE NAME OF JEHOVAH features a closet homosexual as one of the Southern Baptist Church’s main witnesses against the teachings of the Watchtower?
If he or she is a “closet homosexual”, then how could I know?
I make a differentiation between “homosexuality” as a disposition and homosexual acts, the latter which orthodox Christianity rejects. Thus I know people who have had predispositions towards “homosexuality” but do not engage in “homosexual acts”. I have also known people who do not have a predisposition towards “homosexuality” but who have nevertheless engaged in “homosexual acts” at one time or another. It’s not as clear a cut issue as many would prefer.
Thus we have three options:
1) It’s not true.
2) It’s true but the person has or has had “homosexual” disposition but does not engage in homosexual acts.
3) It’s true that there is a person who may or may not have a “homosexual” disposition but is engaging in “homosexual acts”, which are deemed inappropriate by orthodox Christians and the Southern Baptist Convention.
Now if the latter is true we are faced with the following familiar scenario:
A person is behaving in a manner deemed sinful by orthodox Christians and the Southern Baptist Convention. He or she needs to turn back to God and follow the Way which is Christ Jesus.
Everyone sins. Many people (including many Christian believers) have secret or “closet sins”. Such sins do not have to be homosexual or even sexual by nature. One could be a “closet liar”, a “closet glutton”, a “closet gossip”, a “closet mud-slinger”, or even a “closet homophobe”.
“Heck, you wanna talk about skeletons in the closet. I've got a whole army of skeletons in my closet out battling Jason and the Argonauts ... but none of them are wearing pink taffeta. The closest I get is Red Skelton.”
None of these behaviors are good but they can all be rectified. God is more than willing to help anyone of any unwanted behavior. Anyone who goes to God and asks for help with gluttony, gossip, homophobia or homosexuality will be helped. It may take a while. It may take many times depending upon the will of the individual but God promises to help all who come to him.
If this is true than the person so behaving has the option to be helped and will have the love and support of other Christians and God.
Nevertheless, my personal policy on such matters is to always assume the best of people even if I do not know the person. People do not have to prove their goodness or good intentions; they only have to prove the opposite. That is something I would like others to believe about me, so that is what I believe about others. My other personal policy is that I always forgive. I desire people to forgive me, so I choose to forgive them. It’s a bit easier for me to forgive than most; I’m not a nice person and thus need a lot of forgiveness. Anyway, God always forgives and I want to be godly.
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