What's In A Name?

I have debated whether or not to write this blog post for two weeks. I guess you can figure out which side I finally came down on. Two weeks ago the annual meeting of the Sullivan Baptist Association (SBA) was held at First Baptist Church in Kingsport. For the most part the meeting was very good, albeit, wholly uneventful. Then came the time for new business.  A long time pastor of one of our associational churches rose to present a motion for consideration.

At this point, allow me to interject some information that will make this more understandable. Over the past few years, a number of our churches have either split and/or started a new work at a different location. Several of the new churches sought affiliation with the association even though they did not "overtly" identify themselves as Baptist churches by having "Baptist" in their name. They were led, for the most part, by men who had been trained at Baptist seminaries and who had been raised in Baptist churches. Theologically and ecclesiologically the churches were Southern Baptist. Perhaps you have already guessed where this is going.

Among the uneventful business dealings handled earlier in the meeting was voting to accept two more churches "under watch care" of the SBA.  "Watch care" is like a probation period which will be followed by full, voting membership if all progresses well. Neither of these churches identify themselves as "Baptist" churches in their names.  Which brings us to the motion that is now on the floor (along with my jaw.)

In short, the motion was to amend the constitution of the SBA to require that all churches desiring membership in the SBA identify themselves as Southern Baptist in their corporate documents and have "Baptist" in their name.  This motion was seconded by several and was endorsed by people I love and respect.  However, I am absolutely opposed to this action.

For those of you of who require a bit of a church primer on Baptist denominations, here we go. There are all kinds of "Baptist" churches- Freewill, Primitive, Regular, and Independent just to name a few. There are wide and varied differences in Baptist churches with respect to beliefs and church polity. I am a member of a Southern Baptist church, the largest protestant denomination in the United States with somewhere around 16 million members.  One of the cornerstones of the Southern Baptist church is the recognition of the autonomy of the local church.  You see, our churches agree to associate with one another and with the Southern Baptist Convention, but when it comes right down to it, the local church is an autonomous body that is not beholden to any outside entity. Another pillar of Southern Baptist belief is the "priesthood of the believer." Basically, that means each person has full and complete access to God and does not require an intercessor or priest (ecclesiastical hierarchy like pope, bishops, etc.) In short, my church can't tell you or your church what to do and vice versa.

The Southern Baptist Church (SBC), by virtue of its size and power, does not go unnoticed. Many will remember the boycott of Disney, the highly public disagreements between the conservative, moderate and liberal factions of the denomination and a few "fires" that blew up after things were taken out of context. In other words, when the stink rises in the SBC, the media pounces like a hungry preacher on a chicken leg.  The thing that is lost in all the verbosity is the fact that, in my humble opinion, the SBC does a very good job of reaching a lost world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We do missions WELL. There is a lot we do WELL, but listening to the national media would not give you that opinion.  For this reason, many Baptist churches have dropped the use of the Baptist name. You would be surprised to know that many churches that appear to be "nondenominational" are really just churches that don't want to confuse people with names. They don't want to turn people away before they get in the door.  After all, its not about the name on the door as much as it is THE NAME that is written on our heart, Jesus Christ.

I am a proud Southern Baptist. I was raised in an SBC church and after much schooling, prayer and spiritual discernment, I have stayed an "SBCer."  Why? Because I believe we have an effective plan and it allows me to live out my faith in Christ in the way that most closely resembles what I read in my Bible. I don't mean this as an indictment of any other denomination, this is merely how I see it.  With all of that said, it is unconscionable for me to think of requiring another church to hang "Baptist" on their sign before I will "come out to play" with them.

The representatives of the aforementioned churches who were accepted under watch care of the association were in attendance listening to my "brothers" talk about how these people in these "no-Baptist-in-the-name churches" were "scared" to identify themselves as Baptists. How ironic. If they were scared, they would not have come with hat in hand wanting to be a part of our association so that "TOGETHER" we might be able to make a larger impact for the Kingdom. I never cease to be amazed at how easily we take our eyes off of the goal and slide into derision and conflict.

The SBC has a document called the "Baptist Faith and Message."  This document spells out the basic tenets of orthodox Southern Baptist belief. While I don't believe in any creed other than the Holy Bible, any church that accepts the basic beliefs as spelled out in the BF&M is a church I can hang with. I don't care if they meet in a polka dotted skating rink or have "Bubba" in the church name. Quite frankly, I was embarrassed that our friends from these "unorthodox" churches had to hear what went on.

Now back to the meeting. After nearly on hour of back and forth, pros and cons, the motion carried by 3% of the vote. Fortunately, all that means is that it goes to the constitution committee for review and inclusion in the vote in next year's meeting. There it will have to get a 2/3 majority to pass. Come to think of it, that is another (unwritten) pillar of the SBC--- THE COMMITTEE. We have nothing to worry about. One thing is for sure, committees can kill anything!