Baptists Get a Bad Rap
A recent poll conducted to find out if Southern Baptists were viewed favorably by the general public yielded mixed results. Generally speaking, they are more popular than the Mormons, but less popular than Catholics. What should be most alarming to the folk in the home office of the Southern Baptist Convention is that people under the age of 29 had a highly unfavorable view and were not likely to visit a church with “Baptist” in the name.
Among my non-churchgoing friends of many ages there exists a similar - if unscientifically derived - opinion that Baptists in general and Southern Baptists in particular are narrow minded, morally uptight, and exclusively Republican. Sadly, my friends have only the last two or three decades upon which to base their opinion. If they knew the principles upon which Baptists were founded they would know that Baptists historically have been open minded, tolerant of others’ beliefs, and politically aligned across the spectrum. In reality, Baptists have been great proponents of freedom for nearly 400 years.
- Freedom for an individual to stand before God with no creed as a measuring stick of orthodoxy.
- Freedom for an individual to read the Bible and interpret it on his or her own.
- Freedom for the church to be separate from the state – and from other churches.
- Freedom for all people to practice their religion no matter what faith basis they claim.
The conservative takeover in Baptist life over the last 30 years, replete with all the in-fighting and the bad sound-byte theology from the likes of Jerry Falwell, has done damage to the credibility and positive witness that Baptists had established in 400 years of existence. Follow these links and you’ll see what I mean:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Williams_(theologian)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Helwys
There have been more than a few occasions when I considered making the jump out of the Baptist frying pan into some other expression of Christianity, but I remain a Baptist because I understand from whence we came and where I hope we may one day return. I recognize that not all of you readers are Baptist, so I hope that my appreciation of my roots will prompt you to explore the meaning and mystery of your stream in the large and beautiful river of faith in Jesus.
If you’re interested in learning more about who Baptists are, then the sermon It’s Time to Rediscover our Baptist Heritage this Sunday at Willow Meadows Baptist Church might be for you. We’ll talk about the freedoms we need to reclaim as Baptists in order to live fully in the freedom of Christ described in Galatians 5.1. Worship gatherings are at 9:15 and 11:45 and Bible Study, covering this topic more deeply, begins at 10:30.
Freely,
Pastor Gary
Galatians 5.1-6, New International Version
Freedom in Christ
1It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
2Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. 3Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. 4You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. 5But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope. 6For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.
Not a Sermon – Just a Thought is a weekly column written by me, Gary Long. You can subscribe or unsubscribe to this email list by contacting me at glong@wmbc.org. You can find this and recent issues of Not a Sermon – Just a Thought at www.thefellowship.info. That’s the site for the good folk over at the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, so take a few minutes to peruse their stuff when you can.
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