Janus-faced Baptists looking the other way

Yesterday one of our leading NSW Baptists emailed me, congratulating us on the creation of this blog site, and responding to my posts. He said, among other things, "I find it interesting that neither the websites of Blakehurst or Dural Baptist Churches do or say much about Baptist identity. I think you should start with these - you obviously have some influence with each and the reactions would be interesting. I think it illustrates the issue that you will be addressing."

Here's an edited version of my response:

The Blakehurst and Dural omissions are probably unintentional and due to ignorance or the perception that identity/heritage is not important. We have only moved to Dural this year, but I’ve attended membership classes and the connection between Dural Baptist Church and the Baptist Union of NSW, Baptist Union of Australia and Baptist World Alliance was made clear (and in a positive light).

We have Rick Warren to thank for this, since DBC and many of our larger churches use versions of his membership seminar material to train prospective members. I too did this in Qld and at Blakehurst. I have no reservations in commending Rick Warren and Bill Hybels for the incalculable positive influence they have brought to evangelical churches in the past 20 years.

I watched several YouTube clips of Hybels last night and they reinforced this perception. Of course, Hybels is not Baptist, but he sounds a lot like a NSW Baptist in my opinion! And both Warren and Hybels are embracing a wide social vision while not letting go of the fundamental importance of personal and corporate evangelism.

Sadly, in my opinion many of our churches in NSW are on the whole Janus-faced with one face effaced. I think this is at a deep level ideologically driven, as a reflection of a (barely acknowledged but profoundly significant) aspect of the Protestant ethos, and an impatience among many church leaders with the more reflective and scholarly approaches to Baptist liturgy, polity and spirituality that have enriched our tradition in the past.

The ideology to which I refer is political, not religious. It emanates from radical liberalism and individualism – which have many good effects but actively destroy/transform the past. If you’re familiar with Thomas L. Friedman’s The Lexus and the Olive Tree, and its application to Christianity, you’ll understand what I’m talking about. It’s a lot more powerful than his much-touted Golden Arches Theory. For a good illustration, see Jeff Sharlet, “Soldiers of Christ” in Harpers May 2005 (only available by subscription, but I have an electronic copy you can request).

What should be done to address the problem of historical amnesia and ignorance? Many things together, including:

1. Teach theological students on church history and Baptist distinctives (as we already do).
2. Train our pastors and church leaders to appreciate and apply Baptist history and principles to their preaching, teaching and planning.
3. Encourage more research on Australian Baptist history and identity, and encourage younger scholars (perhaps by introducing a local version of the excellent YSBA program running out of Georgetown College in Kentucky – which enabled me to present a paper on NSW Baptists at Oxford in 2007, and - more important - engage with international Baptist colleagues around my age and younger).
4. Provide all our churches with copies of up-to-date print and online primers on Baptist history, principles and community (i.e. networks like BUA, BWA, etc).
5. Encourage churches to include material on Baptist heritage and identity in membership classes/seminars.
6. Freshen up the image of our archives and history so that their activities appeal to a wider (and younger) audience.
7. Enhance sales and marketing opportunities (e.g. by establishing a national online shop for Baptist books and training materials on Baptist history and identity – not only evangelistic resources!).
8. Encourage new forms of communication for those who feel at home with web- and mobile-based communications (but who don’t read books) – and remember that a static website is worse than a closed book.

I’m sure there are many more good ideas.

Rod Benson is a NSW Baptist minister and ethicist. He attends Dural Baptist Church.