Being Southern Baptist

When I was growing up my immediate family was the so called black sheep of the clan, as we were Methodist while everyone else was Southern Baptist.  The reason for this was that my mother was Methodist and my dad was a non-believer.  So we went to the Methodist church.  In fact, we went nearly every time the door was opened.  But whenever we were visiting the rest of the family we always went to a Southern Baptist church.  Even though the gospel I heard in the Methodist church was the same gospel I heard in the Southern Baptist church, they just did church differently, and sometimes were just a little too stuffy for my taste.  So I grew up with a bit of prejudice towards Southern Baptists. 

Fast forward to college and I was an irregular church attender, but still, when I went to church, I went to the Methodist church; and made the audacious statement that there were two things I would never be...a Baptist and an insurance salesman.  In my thinking, at the time, they were both about the same.

Well, you guessed it, in the Lord's timing I became both a Baptist and an insurance salesman.  If anyone tells you the Lord does not have a sense of humor or enjoys irony, send them to me.  I did not become a Christian until after we had joined a Southern Baptist church.  The reason we joined a SB church was that we could not find a Methodist church that preached out of the Bible, and even though I was not yet a real Christian, I thought I was; and wanted to hear the Bible preached out of when I went to church.  So, for most of my Christian life I have been part of a Southern Baptist church.

Not being brought up Southern Baptist I have never had that inbred allegiance to the Southern Baptist Convention, like one would have for being a native Texan.  I had always considered myself first and foremost a conservative evangelical who happened to be Southern Baptist.  I did leave the SBC for almost three years and helped plant a Christian and Missionary Alliance church, but when the time to leave came I went back to the SBC.  

This brings us up to now.  When we started Grace Covenant Church in June 2007 I had no particular design for us to be Southern Baptist, or any other flavor for that matter, but I believed that at some point we would need to be affiliated with a group larger than us because I don't believe in Lone Ranger churches, and, honestly, most churches are not big enough to do all that they need or want to do for missions and evangelism.  Also, when we started we had two familes that were anti-SBC.  When we began, affiliation was not a major priority as our main concerns were to preach the word, establish the church, and get the church on firm footing. 

The two families that were anti-SBC have left, and after two years we believed the church was at a point that we needed to become affiliated.  So we set some criteria and they are as follows:

Doctrinal compatibility and stability.  Does the group as a whole have a high view of God and Scripture?
Ecclesiological compatibility.  Do we hold to a common view of the church, do we hold the same view on the ordinances?
Missions/Evangelism both here in the States and abroad, not neglecting one or the other.
Missions/Evangelism here in Texas.
Local church autonomy. 
Partnership attitude.
Seminary training by affiliated seminaries, who hold to the same doctrinal standards, to train the next generation of pastors. 
Resources that are available for the local church.
Gospel partnership opportunities.

Although there are many fine and godly groups and denominations to affiliate with, when we applied this set of criteria to the different groups and denominations it became obvious to us that all roads led to the Southern Baptist Convention.

The SBC certainly is not perfect, we don't expect them to be, but they do fit us the best, and we hope our partnership with them is mutually profitable for the glory of God and the expansion of His kingdom.

A Few Thoughts on the SBC

From my view point there seems to be four main camps in the SBC right now. Camp #1 is the Traditionalists--those that have been Southern Baptist and were a major part of the resurgence. Camp #2 is the New Traditionalists--those who have been Southern Baptist and were involved in the resurgence, but were not the movers and shakers; and those who have come on since the resurgence. Camp #3 is the Disenfranchised--This is made up of those who were against the resurgence and are still in the SBC, and those who are newer and are questioning the value of remaining in the SBC. Camp #4 is the Evangelical Southern Baptist--those who see value in the SBC, but are also connected and involved in the larger evangelical arena.

Camp #1 seems very interested on keeping the status quo it has achieved as a result of the resurgence. This group is starting to be defined more by what they are against than what they are for, which is the leading edge of fundamentalism. This usually leads to behavior based on fear.

Camp #2 seems very interested in keeping things Southern Baptist and keeping the tent large for the purpose of missions cooperation. They put a high value on local church autonomy and cooperation. However, when the tent gets too large it can start falling in on itself. This is potentially a problem in an age where individualism is valued over cooperation. In addition there is always the problem of having to accomodate for the sake of cooperation.

Camp #3 seems interested in doing their own thing. Those that were against the resurgence are mostly ignoring the goings on in the SBC and have their own niche within the SBC. Many of those who are new are resentful of being left out and disregarded. The remainder of the new group are feeling that the SBC has nothing to offer them. As a result many are looking to other groups to associate with like the Willow Creek Association, etc.

Camp #4 seems interested in getting the SBC to reevaluate itself in light of theology and church practice. They see value in the SBC in the areas of missions and seminary education, but also think the SBC should be doing some healthy self evaluation.

The struggle/battle, if you will, in the SBC right now is between camps one and two. Camp three doesn't care and will pursue doing its own thing. Camp four wants some changes made and is concerned with the health and future of the convention. There seem to be many things going on in the SBC right now and in my opinion we will see more tumultuous days ahead and the SBC will go through a shake out, a pruning if you will. In fact, I think that the pruning process has already started and is needful for us to bear more fruit.

We do need to reexamine ourselves, our values, our common ground, our procedures, our expectations, what holds us together, what defines us as Southern Baptists. There is too much disunity, and distrust for the SBC to continue on as it has been. As a result I think we will see a smaller, leaner, more focused, and therefore, more effective SBC. I believe that those who are involved in the denominational goings on know this is happening and that things will be brought to a head sooner than they think.