Baptists Revisited
A couple of days ago, I posted a link to one of our local Baptist churches (here's the previous post). I wrote about how this was the natural end result of discipleship that focuses on intellectual assent to a list of doctrines and external conformity to an accepted set of behaviors.
I've been thinking about this a little more since then, and I want to take a moment to defend the hardline Baptists. In one sense, they are at least honest about what they're doing. They tell you right up front which beliefs you have to hold in order to be part of the group and they're not shy about telling you which behaviors you need to change in order to be accepted at their church. So as soon as you walk in the door, it's clear what is required of you in order to gain admission to the community.
We do the same thing (with different required sets of behaviors and beliefs) at most of our churches, except we tell people after the fact. We invite people to follow Jesus, then sometime after they decide to follow Jesus, we start laying out our extra expectations and all of the ways that their lives must change from here on out. Jeff commented about "salvation by grace/sanctification by works", which is the generally underhanded/sneaky/devious way that we suck people in and then nail them with the rules afterwards.
So if anyone from Minnesota Valley Baptist Church reads this blog, accept my apologies for being down on you for simply being up front with the things that we keep hidden.
posted by Corey @ 9:16 AM
4 comments
4 Comments:
"Hidden" is an interesting word. I wonder if my children thought I was "hiding" the standards in which I expected them to follow. When I told my teenage son, as he started to date, how he was to treat a girl with respect that had a new meaning to him, I wonder if he thought, "Why didn't he tell me this when I was a toddler?" Probably not.
Did Christ explain all the "rules" to the disciples before He called them? Did they demand to know the rules before they followed him? Scriptures don't indicate so. It appears they spent time with Him as He ministered before He started laying down "the rules" (Beatitudes)
Being part of a fellowship isn't about following the rules, but staying in the game. It's about learning what a disciple of Christ is and helping others to grow in Him. Setting down a set of rules sounds like the Pharisees. Setting down the things of this world and picking up your cross is what Christ and the Body of Christ is all about.
Hey man, don't be hard on yourself. While I probably wouldn't have posted that link in my blog, I consider what you said to be on-target.
Some Christians are honest about what they believe...brutally honest in a way that Jesus never was...except to the Pharisees. Hard line churches are generally hardest on sinners and easiest on the the ultra-religious. This is the reverses of Jesus' approach to people. I think you were right the first time. "Hard-line" churches emphasize "sanctification by works." That is, by conforming to certain externals, and by practicing certain habits one can work their way into holiness. This is just spiritualized behavioralism and is a theological misunderstanding.
We have plenty of faults, but I don't think the ones you mentioned are among them.
interesting that you would take one unusual baptist church that seems to be in their own little world and seemingly summarize their view as Baptistic teachings.
Also interesting that you do this while getting a leadership scholarship from Baptist seminary (googled you). What you write about is more a problem with legalistic-motivated conformities more than the Baptist normality. I'm sure you would agree that there are life change standards that become the result of a true conversion: like now you've come to Christ so quit sleeping with your partner; you've come to Christ so quit using His name in vain; anyway - I just stumbled into your site while I was looking for info on the Emerging Church
My biggest problem with that Baptist church is the fact the I didn't understand a single word they used on their website and I went to a Bible college! No non-Christian would ever understand, what-in-heavens-name, they are talking about. I could hear the conversation now, "Calvinist? I wonder if they are into reading Calvin and Hobbes. I should go there." More than likely, it would go like this, "Wow, this church uses a lot of big words I don't understand. I think it will cure my insomnia. I should go."
By the way Mr. Anonymous, are you aware that that little church summarized all the "core" Baptist beliefs that no one knows about (that was a long series of words with n and o in it).
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