So... Why am I a Baptist today?
In Rediscovering Church, Bill Hybels relates a discussion at a Harvard Business School seminar about the mission statement of Willow Creek Community Church. One student summed up the statement in four words: "Turning atheists into missionaries." Most of those with whom we share the gospel will not be atheists, but those words express part of what Jesus calls his church to do in the power of his Spirit. It's far easier to fulfil your life mission as part of a strategic team than it is to go it alone, or attempt to achieve great things in a poorly-organised and loosely-connected crowd.
I was not born into a family of Baptists, and my early post-conversion experience did not bring me into close contact with Baptists. I joined a Baptist church as an adult, thirteen years after my conversion to Christianity, because I discovered in their fellowship of churches a spirit of genuine devotion to God, a passionate commitment to evangelism and mission, and structures that facilitated effective ministry in the church and the world.
No single distinctive is sufficient, though, to secure my allegiance to the Baptist family of churches. Nor have I found among Baptists an ideal church. However, the recognition of an absolute and objective authority, coupled with the principle of individual freedom, provides a powerful and practical attraction to me and to many others who have joined Baptist churches from other faith communities. The challenge for us all is to avoid both 'bibliolatry' and antinomianism, and to maintain a balance in which we obey the Great Commandment and fulfil the Great Commission with all our hearts.
Baptist churches mutually share a rich and honourable heritage and a wealth of resources that enable us to fulfil our calling as followers of Christ. A single autonomous church or individual cannot justly claim ownership of that heritage and does not have legitimate access to those resources and the synergies they make possible.
There is sufficient diversity within Baptist churches for those searching for a spiritual home to find what they are seeking. Indeed, the diversity evident among Baptist churches with which I am familiar (i.e. Queensland and New South Wales) is virtually unmatched in any other denomination - and the diversity continues to widen. Globally, Baptists encompass virtually the whole spectrum of church styles, theology and (to a lesser degree) polities.
And, if a common theology or liturgy or polity lacks the power to draw Baptist Christians together, then a clear, comprehensive, and biblically-based vision for the future will generate relational unity, lead to a sense of ownership where that is lacking, and do much to heal wounds and encourage genuine partnership.
The future for Australian Baptists appears both exhilarating and daunting. I find strength in the knowledge that others better than myself have walked where I now tread, and in the assurance that I do not walk alone. That's why I am happy to call myself a Baptist.
Rod Benson is a NSW Baptist minister and ethicist. He attends Dural Baptist Church.
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Principles, Essentials and Distinctives
The search for "Distinctives" seems to be a Baptist preoccupation. I argued in an earlier comment that in many ways our handling of our necessary beliefs is somewhat distinctive. Most other denominations and especially those whose ministerial training structures I am most familiar with hardly isolate their distinctives at all. Instead they present a fairly comprehensive theological vision, much of which might be shared with other christians of other denominations. Their 'distinctives' such as they are, are handled as part and parcel of their larger theological vision.
I worry that by over-isolating our distinctives we might end up either giving them a place in the scheme of things that outweighs their true importance, or we might end up finding that they are surds with little or no part within our broader theological vision.
I've also argued that we need to see many of our distinctives as necessary but insufficient conditions of our Baptist identity - and in this I think Rod and I are agreed.
I think a better way is to see ourselves as evangelicals. At the heart of being evangelical is a commitment to Jesus and his words, a commitment to his person, his work and his message. Rod has rightly pointed out the primary place of the authority of scripture, though I'd rather describe our convictions about scripture as being a principle rather than a distinctive. I'm sure somewhere in Rod's 10 part exploration he's also talked about the cross - I've been reading for maybe a little too long and can't remember where. However, alongside the scripture principle there is the gospel principle: the message of the crucified and risen divine-human mediator whose gifts we receive by faith alone. A theology of the cross must lie at the heart of our evangelical/baptist belief - and when I speak of a theology of the cross I mean a theology of His cross rather than the paltry crosses we might have to bear. God in his triune majesty and his scriptures are the principles of all true Baptist belief. The cross and its wondrous benefits the essentials of baptist beliefs. The baptism of credible professors and the local-congregational are two distinctive consequences of a consistent evangelicalism.
In some ways it seems odd that Baptists have become preoccupied with their distinctives. Baptists are pretty distinctive folk. I wonder if the process of assuming rather than being convinced of and affirming our principles and essentials has left us wondering about our distinctives?
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