June 26, 2022
What are Baptists Good At?
A couple years ago I sat at lunch with the president of my seminary. This man has had a long and distinguished career in the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). As such, he has endured many controversies and potential splits. He was the perfect person with whom I could discuss a situation I had found myself in. I am not part of the SBC, but I do belong to an association of churches within which disagreements have arisen. Amidst this controversy I was also facing my own internal struggles. Among our churches, a seminary education was seen as not only unnecessary, but something to be shunned altogether. And here I am enrolled in a Master’s program at a seminary. My convictions toward our Articles of Faith have not changed, in fact I am now better grounded in my faith. I now not only know what I believe, but am learning why I believe what I believe. Even though my faith is growing and I am becoming better rooted in the Word of God, I found myself increasingly alienated from those I had previously looked up to as mentors and others I counted as friends. What lead to this separation? Had I compromised on doctrine? No, there is not one area of our Articles of Faith that one can point to and charge me with compromise. But a compromiser I am. At least in their eyes.
You see, even though the foundational principles of the faith were still held, I had left the “old time way.” I not only quote “other translations,” but I advocate for the use of modern translations of the Bible. I encourage using Christian music in our worship service that was written after the 1940’s and before the 1880’s. And worst of all, I began using notes in the pulpit. As you can see, I have clearly crossed over into heresy. Seeing this distancing between myself and my fellow brothers, I asked my professor and seminary president what should I do? Should I leave quietly without fighting for the future of our churches and the faith and practice in which I was raised? Or should I try to be an influence to those with ears to hear? His advice to me was, “I can’t tell you what you should do.” Wow, that was a lot of help, huh? But he was right and full of wisdom. The right course of action was to pray and follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit. He did tell me, even then, that “there is one thing Baptists are good at… splitting.” He said “do you know what happens when Baptist spilt? They go out and make more Baptist!” Please understand he was not advocating for a split, but I believe he could see the writing on the wall not just for my association, but for his as well.
Dividing Lines
Over the last few years tensions have been rising in the SBC. They are divided over the right course of action regarding sexual abuse, as well as on conservative/liberal lines, fundamentalist vs. evangelical methodologies, proponents of CRT and those against, the stance on the ordination of women, and the tried-and-true battle-ground for Baptists, Calvinism or “traditionalist.” I use the term traditionalist to mean those who preach eternal security, but fall short of the Calvinist’s T.U.L.I.P. in one or more of these doctrines.
With all of these potentials for a denominational splintering, many are asking can the SBC survive. In my churches, we are asking the same thing about our association. I want to ask a different question. Should our associations survive? At least as they exist today. In other words, is it time for a new denomination of Baptists? One without the political trappings of the behemoth that the SBC has become. One where associational meetings or denominational conventions are opportunities to fellowship with those of a like-minded faith, without the felt need to fix other’s perceived problems. As Baptists we believe in the autonomy of the local church. This means there is no hierarchy greater than the local body of believers. Therefore, the only disciplinary action available to a properly functioning association would be to withdraw fellowship from any church that no long fits within the established framework of said association. The SBC teaches this autonomy of the local church. However, with so much money flowing from the churches to the convention[1] and the politicization of the faith,[2] the SBC has taken on a life of its own apart from the local churches. This has come back to haunt them in the ongoing sexual abuse scandal.
Spilt to Survive?
Blessedly, the association in which I belong, to my knowledge, has not had these issues. I pray that this is the case and that it remains that way. I believe we have been able to avoid some of these issues for three reasons. One we are not large. A smaller organization is easier, in theory to police than a larger one. Two we do not have a lot of money. This is usually not a good thing, but having more money often means more problems. And three we, as an association, do not exist outside of the one weekend in which we are convened and called into conference. So, the parallels between these two associations that I am drawing do not seem to be there. However, there is one struggle we do share with the SBC. That is that we are both experiencing declining membership. Our reaction has been to circle the wagons, preach harder about non-scriptural preferences, (music, Bible translations, how we are better than other denominations). When that doesn’t work, we just say “well, the Bibles says there will be a falling away and that is what we are seeing,” or “people these days have itching ears and won’t stand for true Bible preaching.” And so, we have seemingly resigned ourselves to extinction within the next 10-20 years.
I, for one, am not resigned close ranks and “watch the world go by.” Are we not called to go!? We were never supposed to be contented in our pews on Sunday morning and think we are living the life Christ has called us to. We are to do the work of going out into the world teaching all things that Jesus taught the disciples. I desire to be a part of an association of churches that embraces that mission. Here my SBC friends are saying “well come on over,” but hold your horses. I don’t want to be a part of a church that is contented to send money to a Mission Board and take a once a year “mission trip” either. Regarding international missions, I believe we need to support local missionaries who have been called out from among us into the far reaches of the world, wherever God may send them. But I am saying we need to be living missionary lives right here, in our community, where God has planted us. Each child of God is charged with living this life. I for one am not very good at living this life. I need brothers and sisters who also have this desire to support and encourage me and each another. We as the Body of Christ are called to do life together, because we are all on the same mission. Much of Paul’s writings are to us, the church, all together, because God knows we cannot do it alone.
The Dream
What would that kind of association look like? A group that shares the same faith and practice, where we are focused first on worshiping God, second on developing a fellowship withing the Body, and third on serving the community around us (while realizing that if we are not doing number three, we are also failing in number One). If this same association was more focused on getting individual souls saved from hell rather than trying to get individual bodies elected, what would that look like? What would it look like if the churches of this association started resembling the early church of the apostles and early church fathers? Does the thought of this excite you? Can you imagine what an impact could be made if we just took our eyes off the world and its systems and turned them upon Jesus? Would you love to have a group of brothers and sisters around you that when you fall down, they help you back up and refocus you on the Savior rather than ignore you or worse kick you while your down? Is this possible in the day in which we live? The truth is, yes, it is possible, but is it probable? That I am not so sure.
It is hard to walk away from what you already know, even if you can see the shortcomings in it. It is hard to admit that we might not be doing everything right. And it is harder still to start this conversation due to the risk of being alienated and shunned as a compromiser. Trust me I know.
[1] It should be noted that over 50% of the Cooperative Program funding goes to international mission via the IMB. Over 22% goes to North American missions via the North American Mission board. Another 22% goes to theological education via the six seminaries and the Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives. This leaves just over 5% for the operating budget and the ERLC. (https://www.brnow.org/news/cp-giving-soars-to-more-than-12-percent-above-budget/). When I speak of the amount of money that flows into the SBC, I am not condemning or criticizing. I only intend to draw attention to the fact that the SBC as an entity has a much larger budget and impact than any of the independent churches. These funds come from these independent churches, so therefore there is some obligation to the churches by the SBC which support them.
[2] Jaclyn Diaz and Scott Neuman, “America’s Top Evangelical Group Is Deciding If They’re Further Right Than Trump,” NPR, June 15, 2021, accessed June 20, 2022, https://www.npr.org/2021/06/15/1006480632/southern-baptists-meet-to-grapple-with-race-gender-equality-and-sexual-abuse. In this report, NPR quotes Alison Collis Greene, an associate professor of religious history at Emory University’s Candler School of Theology saying “At this point, the SBC’s core values are deeply connected with Republican Party politics.” The ties of the SBC and Republican politics is one that is well known and goes back to at least the 1980’s with the conservative resurgence.