history

A Little Bit about Being a Baptist

On June 11-12, messengers from Southern Baptist churches across our country will gather for the annual business meeting of the largest evangelical denomination in the United States. Being Southern Baptist is a part of my heritage. I grew up in the home of a Southern Baptist pastor, went to Southern Baptist schools for my education, and pastor a Southern Baptist Church.

We are far from perfect as a denomination, and I expect that the annual meeting will result in a fair amount of politics and controversies. Being millions of member strong and 50,000 churches, doctrinal and practical diversity are part of what it means to be Southern Baptist. Here are a few general observations about our denomination.

We believe in the gospel and the authority of Scripture. Decades ago grassroots Baptists anchored the denomination on the inerrancy and inspiration of Scripture. This doctrinal and political battle waged on the floors of annual meetings in the 1980s, and the result has been that Southern Baptists retain a high view of the authority of Scripture which undergirds the gospel that saves.

Missions is the reason we cooperate. The reason we give, gather, and go is for the spread of the gospel to the nations. The cooperative program has been around nearly 100 years and combines giving from churches across the US to support missions across the globe. When giving from thousands of churches is combined, missionaries can go to the nations with the gospel and not have to fundraise for their income. While we don’t always agree on everything (see below), we do agree that cooperation for the spread of the gospel is the primary reason we exist.

Church autonomy and doctrinal latitude have resulted in Southern Baptists being a big tent. At the annual meeting, messengers gather from cooperative churches for two days. The convention is only for two days with messengers making up the decision-making body of the denomination. In Southern Baptist life, there is no church hierarchy or governing body that decides for the convention messengers. If you’ve ever been to a church business meeting, the SBC annual meeting functions similarly. This means that votes will happen about business (budgets and denominational entities), leadership, and even theological issues when we gather next week. The messengers attending, the votes cast, and the decisions made will vary. Church autonomy means that each local Southern Baptist Congregation is responsible for governing itself and decides whether or not it will cooperate with the convention. The convention can separate its cooperation from churches whose practice or doctrine does not function within the parameters of the Baptist Faith and Message. Some of the decisions at this year’s annual meeting reflect these tensions. For example, the messengers will vote on an amendment to the denomination’s bylaws establishing who is eligible to pastor Southern Baptist churches and remain cooperative within the denomination. Positions on this issue vary even though the prevailing doctrinal position of Southern Baptists has a strong consensus that the role of pastor/elder is reserved for qualified males. Even so, how this doctrinal consensus will be applied at the denominational level has a variety of perspectives and will receive attention at the upcoming meeting.

If you are reading this as a member of a Southern Baptist church, like Wilkesboro Baptist, I would encourage you to pray for the upcoming annual meeting. Pray that Christ would be honored when we gather and as we interact with one another. Pray that messengers and guests would act in a Christlike manner toward each other. Pray that the decisions made, the budgets passed, and the missionaries commissioned will help to spread the gospel to our neighbors and the nations.

If you would like to learn more about Southern Baptists, here are a few links to follow.

Photo by Joshua Rodriguez on Unsplash

Celebration and St. Patrick’s Day

I write and post this on March 17, 2023 which is St. Patrick’s Day. Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland. For more than 1,000 years the Irish have celebrated this saint bringing Christianity to Ireland. In many ways, people celebrate Irish culture more than they do what motivated Patrick.

Here’s why I post. We become what we celebrate.

Our congregation is a Baptist church. We are not Roman Catholic and do not have patron saints. We have significant differences in our theological formulations than do the Roman Catholics. But just because we don’t agree on everything doesn’t mean that church history is to be ignored or utterly rejected. Christians of all denominations and backgrounds can learn some things from Patrick’s life and witness.

Much of what is remembered regarding St. Patrick is fable and myth—like the claim that he drove all the snakes out of Ireland. But what is certain about Patrick is his influence as a missionary. A Romanized Briton, Patrick was sold as a slave to a cruel Northern Irish master at 16. During his enslavement, he suffered greatly facing abuse and many difficulties. While raised nominally as a Christian, his suffering drove him to deeper faith in God. He escaped slavery after 6 years and boarded a ship to Europe.

Not long after returning to his family in England, God called him to be a missionary in Ireland—the land of his slavery. Though he may not have been the first missionary, Ireland in those days was pagan and wicked. Facing opposition from the druids, Patrick offered these words.

Daily I expect murder, fraud or captivity. But I fear none of these things because of the promises of heaven. I have cast myself into the hands of the God almighty who rules everywhere.

St. Patrick

While not well-educated, Patrick prayed deeply and read the Scripture constantly. He also valued the education he lacked and promoted the copying of much European writings that actually resulted in their survival during the Middle Ages. His life and witness was greatly influential as hundreds of Celtic monks left their homeland to spread the gospel to Scotland, England and Europe. 

I’m not suggesting that we adopt Patrick as a patron saint. But Patrick’s life and ministry do teach us some things worth celebrating. If we become what we celebrate, then what have you celebrated lately? Here are a just a few celebration lessons from Patrick’s history that we can adopt.

  • We can celebrate spiritual development and learning. In his excellent book How the Irish Saved Civilization, Thomas Cahill tells the story of how Patrick’s love of learning and education influenced the copying of ancient texts and kept much learning alive in the Medieval world. In my devotions this morning, I read these verses in Galatians 4:18-19: “It is always good to be made much of for a good purpose, and not only when I am present with you, my little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you!” Christ formed in us is the purpose of Christian discipleship (see also Romans 8:29). There is no better way to develop and learn spiritually than to read God’s Word and follow Christ. Take a moment today and celebrate the Bible that you have, the lessons from its pages, and the people who have taught it to you.
  • We can celebrate even in suffering. Patrick’s life was anything but easy. He suffered unjustly as a slave facing cruelty and abuse. Many of us are suffering today physically, spiritually, or emotionally. Some of us have faced unjust or abusive treatment. Patrick did not withdraw into emotional or personal isolation. Rather, his sufferings drove him to God. I’m not suggesting that we celebrate our sufferings. But I am suggesting that we celebrate Jesus who suffered on our behalf, and that we celebrate the God whose suffering through Christ on the cross is our redemption.
  • We can celebrate the work of redemption. Patrick was a missionary. He took the gospel to Ireland, and many became followers of Jesus because of his witness. Who shared the gospel with you? That person, church, Sunday school teacher, parent, grandparent, pastor, missionary, evangelist, friend is worth celebrating. And we must celebrate the salvation of sinners! In the past week, I’ve learned of three people who have put their faith in Christ. One was a gentleman I’ve been talking to recently. He was helped on his journey by several church members. Another was a 6 year old whose grandmother led him to trust in Christ after his many questions about Jesus and eternal life. The third was a gentleman who came to peace with Christ after realizing that the perfection he was striving for had already been attained by Christ. I’m celebrating these who have come to faith in Christ. Will you celebrate with me?

If you don’t wear green or participate in St. Patrick’s day celebrations, that’s ok. But let’s remember to celebrate what God has taught us, how he has helped us through suffering, and how his has redeemed us. If you’re in the Wilkesboro area, join us for worship at Wilkesboro Baptist as we celebrate Jesus this Sunday (8:00 am, 9:30 am, or 11:00 am). If you’re not in our area, make plans to go to church and celebrate this weekend.

My information about Patrick came from this wonderful book 131 Christians Everyone Should Know.

Photo by Artur Kornakov on Unsplash