Why am I a Baptist?

This past week I got to go with my wife and her parents to the 2009 Southern Baptist Convention, held in my hometown of Louisville. It was also the sesquicentennial (150th) anniversary of my alma mater, Southern Seminary.

Many have commented on the graying of the SBC, and the increasing trend of younger ministers to disengage with the Convention because of theological concerns, methodological differences, apathy, or jadedness. So why should a 26 year old recent seminary graduate care about a convention where less than 15% of those who attend are under the age of 40? Simply, I believe in the SBC as a powerful and efficient cooperative fellowship of like-minded churches for the purpose of fulfilling the Great Commission.

Also, in recent months I have struggled with asking myself "Why am I a Baptist?" And beyond that, why am I a Southern Baptist? Being at the annual SBC meetings was both an eye-opening and intriguing experience into how the machine works and what can happen with 8,000 preachers get together. It was also interesting to talk with older men there, who had struggled through the Conservative Resurgence in the SBC, and to hear about what they had gone through in order for guys my age to study in a confessionally sound seminary. I am proud to stand on their shoulders and am very thankful for all their work for the Kingdom.

Which brings up the original question, in a day when denominations are no longer hip and cool, and younger ministers would rather network at Starbucks or go to conferences hosted by other hip and cool guys with square glasses, why am I a Southern Baptist? I am, for these reasons:

1) Believer's Baptism and Local Autonomy - People joke with me about being a closet Presbyterian, but I always respond to them with "No, a Reformed Baptist." In many ways I am grateful to godly Presbyterian brothers for their contribution to exegetical preaching, to theology, and for the approach to worship. I have to break with them, and side wholeheartedly with Baptists, on two key areas. I believe that only those who have professed saving faith in Christ, evidenced by fruit in their lives, based on their testimony should be baptized (and that baptism should be done by immersion in the midst of a local body of believers). I do not believe in baptizing infants or non-professing people. Saving grace must come before baptism, which is both a public testimony of faith and a private expression of obedience to the Lord. I also believe in local church autonomy. I do not believe Jesus instituted the papacy when He called Simon by his new name. Each church has the authority in itself to make decisions based on the leading of Spirit and Scripture. I believe local churches may join together voluntarily for gospel ministry and fellowship, but reject any notion of hierarchy or superiority.

2) The Cooperative Program - In 1925 Southern Baptists took a great step on faith and established what would become known as the CP. We break from many Independent and non-denominational churches on this by establishing a network of financial resources among like-minded churches. In short, there are local, state, and national levels. A local church designates a portion of its offering for the CP, and then the money is distributed at various levels. While it does not seem like much, thousands of churches partnering together leads to an annual giving total of over $200 million!

The CP goes towards supporting many state ministries (including college BCMs, evangelism training, camps, etc.), providing discounted education for the Big Six, funding the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, and lastly NAMB and the IMB (our missions agencies). The CP enables our missionaries to focus on the field, instead of coming home every 2 years to solicit support. God has truly blessed Southern Baptists with the CP, and our cooperative spirit can be used for great Kingdom impact.

3) The IMB - Jesus commanded us to make disciples, that is the mission of the church. It pains me when churches neglect this in their vision statements in order to be creative, clever, or put something else (say, evangelism) as the primary command for the church. Disciple-making invokes all the things we Baptists support (evangelism, worship, fellowship, missions, ministry, etc.) This command is also directed in a location, the ends of the earth. The Gospel is worthy of all acceptation, and no people should think themselves superior to another group and withhold from them the Gospel. The IMB is over 5,500 missionaries strong who are going to the ends of the earth carrying something greater than silver, gold, or Western culture. I can think of few organizations within the SBC so worthy of our money, time, and prayer as the IMB. God is using SBC missionaries in countries we cannot name to overcome the vice-grip of Islam on the people, and God is freeing people from animism and secularism across the world. We cannot forsake the nations in our mission emphasis, we have been called to go. I love the IMB and pray for my friends serving across the world with the IMB, and look forward every Christmas to Lottie Moon Offering to support these brothers and sisters.

I am Baptist in both theology and practice, and I join with thousands before who profess to follow the Baptist lineage dating back to the 17th century (sorry Landmarkers). We are a unique people who seek the glory of God in our churches and lives, who command all men to repent and believe in Christ, who value baptism as an expression of salvation, and who believe in liberty of conscience, priesthood of the believer, and autonomy of the local body. I am proud to be Baptist, and for the reasons above, proud to be a Southern Baptist. I look forward to what God has in store for the SBC, and I am anxious to see the next generation of men and women He has raised up to serve and lead in the Convention.

Massive Power Outages in Memphis! We're still in Paducah after going to sign a ton of papers for our house, talk with the inspector, and get another look at the house with a fine-toothed comb

If anyone knows any details about when power will be back up in the Cordova area, let me know!

Maybe by then my head won't feel like it's underwater all the time! Stupid VBS kids and their stupid germs - just kidding!

House Hunting

Some time ago, when Westside began talking to us, I began looking around at buying a house in the Murray area. Apartment living is nice, but so is having a place of your own, a yard for a puppy, and the lack of noisy neighbors moving couches all hours of the day and night.

Looking for a house is a lot like going to the store for a shirt. You have a pretty good idea what you're looking for when you go. With a cup of coffee in your hand you scour the ads, the website, and you look for what other people are wearing and how it fits them. Then, when you go to the actual store, you look at 2 or 3 top choices, and some other ones just to be fair since you're already out.

When you realize that you can't afford the one you really like, or when you see it in person it looks hideous, you retreat and sulk for a while and make the statement that you have nothing and will never find anything. Then you buy a loom and start thinking about making your own shirt, until all the headaches associated with that come to mind and you decide to give Old Navy another try.

After some more looking you decide to go for the markdown section. Never being trendy or cool, this is the place you should have looked all along. You dig and dig and find a shirt with a stain on it, another one that looks like it was in a 70's disco movie, and then you find it! How could it be overlooked, you ask.

You begin to wonder what is wrong with it until you realize that somehow or another, it fell to the clearance rack and it is a shirt you can afford and you will like. You frantically run to the front to check out before anyone else starts to negotiate with the manager for the same shirt, and you excitedly tell people about it, put it on Facebook, your blog... um, well... yeah :)

You then wear your shirt proudly, and know that for years it will fit perfect and never go out of style because it can always be washed.

That's pretty much buying a house in a nutshell, except a shirt costs $20 and you don't sign a mountain of paperwork to get the shirt. You know, buying a house is nothing like buying a shirt. What was I thinking! Sorry for wasting your time

PS- Here is the house though, in case you care to see it :)

Interesting...

Came across this from Russell Moore's Twitter page this morning. It is a commentary on a new work by Rob Bell. Many youth ministers are familiar with his NOOMA videos, and his impact on the evangelical subculture has been well noted. Bell is however associated with the "emergent church" movement. I have no problems with differing methodologies, and even different ways about doing church to meet the needs of a post-modern, post-Christian culture. However, the point at which I break (and many others have as well) with them is over a fundamental shift on doctrinal issues.

Many of the historic orthodox positions of the church are up for debate or even exclusion by many in the Emergent movement. I believe a fundamental issue for Christians is the nature of Truth, that it is both Objective and Revealed, and that Truth comes from the person and nature of God Himself. The debate over Truth is considered in the Emergent movement, and so are other views such as substitutionary atonement, men/women and their roles in the church, morality and the definition of sin, and even the character of God. The traditional view of God as Father/Son/Spirit has in many circles been replaced by Creator/Redeemer/Sustainer, in essence losing the gender language.

I submit this link and encourage you to come to grips with the issue at stake. The rise of the feminine God movement is here, and we must have an answer for those who would seek to undermine what has been taught throughout the centuries. We must be able to explain that the Fatherhood of God is part of His goodness, and that while God is Spirit and has no physical form, He has chosen to reveal Himself to us in the masculine, and we are not to redefine how He has revealed Himself. God is all good, and He is both the warrior king and compassionate parent. But to say that He embodies "she" is a reduction of God's own revealed nature to us.

Disagree if you will, but I will challenge you to follow out what a shift in the perception of God means for the church, evangelism, and the nature of theology itself.

Suffice it to say, I never had planned to use anything Bell put out in my own ministry, and I never will. Theological error can never be used when it is "relevant." In that regard, I stand as a dinosaur on Jude 3. People like Mark Driscoll, my friend Rob Turner, and others who stand on theological conviction but seek to reach the culture are men I greatly admire in this time of confusion.

Article - http://www.cbmw.org/Journal/Vol-14-No-1/Rob-Bell-s-Feminine-Images-for-God

SDG,
Scott

Well, it's almost over!

Sorry for the long delay in posting, the last few weeks have been very eventful!

For more frequent updates, find me on Twitter: ScottMDouglas

A few weeks ago, Carrie and I announced to our church that we would be leaving to pursue a ministry opportunity in Murray Kentucky at Westside Baptist Church. It is an awesome opportunity for us, to be closer to family, and to be able to invest much more of our time and effort into the ministry of a local body. There are many great things we are looking forward to, and we are very excited about the chance to pour Scripture and time into student's lives in the hopes of seeing Kingdom impact. I personally am very excited about the opportunities to be discipled and mentored by our senior pastor, and for the chances to be part of the pastoral ministry of the church.

We leave Broadmoor with many fond memories and will cherish the friendships that have cultivated since our time there. If you are ever in the Murray area, stop by and say hi!

Jesus Fan Pages, Cheesy T-Shirts, and a False God

The latest thing to catch my attention on Facebook has been the "Be a Fan of Jesus" invites that are all over the place. This, I must admit, puts me in a quandary. If I decline, it looks (on the surface) like I don't like Jesus. If I accept it, a part of me feels like I am cheapening the Lordship and Transcendence of Christ.

Another thing that catches my eye concerns our local Christian bookstores, or trinket-houses as I call them. Carrie has probably gotten tired of me every time we go into one look to the vast array of religious artifacts and say "Here are your indulgences, buy them and be forgiven." I'm sure they mean well, but really... how cheap we have made being a Disciple of Christ. Now what distinguishes as a Christian is what we put on the walls of our living rooms, the centerpiece of our dining room table, or dare I say the t-shirts we wear. It used to be that being a Christian meant a life of death to self, service to Christ, and a call to sanctification. Now, pray the magic prayer, walk the magic aisle, go into the magic water, and buy a few trinkets and you are a Christ follower! This is a humorous look at American Christianity, and deeply humbling when we get to heaven and meet brethren from other countries and other times. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayVegIVejis

Some of you are probably asking, "Why the big deal over this?" "It isn't hurting anyone" or "They're just showing they believe in Christ" I understand all these statements, and sometimes I wonder why things like this get me riled up. Here is why it is a big deal: It is part of a cultural shift away from a biblical view of Christ to a post-modern, therapy-driven, culturally-acceptable Jesus. He has gone from our Lord whom we fear to our "homeboy," from a sovereign Lord who controls all things by His decree to "our buddy who always is there for us to cry on," from the Risen Messiah to a self-help guru.

Shame on us in America for how we have portrayed God. Shame on us for moving away from what Scripture says about God to making for us a god of our choosing. We have chosen to work with a God who is much like us, because that would be a God we can control, a God we can influence, a God we do not have to be afraid of.

Jesus is not my homeboy, and He better not be yours too. He is Lord and Savior, the King of the Universe. And I will never be a "fan" of Jesus. He is not something to be trivialized and marketed like any product, sports team, or personality. To quote a dear brother "Jesus had many fans, but few followers." I choose to be a follower, to be a disciple, to carry my cross and bear the Name, not to carry my Bobble-Head and bear a t-shirt. Counting all as loss for the sake of Christ is more than an image or product, it is a lifestyle. What the Church needs is fewer fans, more followers, more Jesus, less garbage, more Christ, less Man.

Christians and Earth Day... Creation Stewardship Day

Around the world today millions of people will celebrate Earth Day. This can be seen as one of the most successful grassroots campaigns in terms of both impact and visibility. It is a day celebrated with rallies, TV specials, speakers, fun runs, parades (you get the picture...). I scanned Discovery and it looks like a full day of making me feel bad for driving a car, using disposable anything, and not having a garden.

In light of the enormity and visibility of Earth Day, what should the response be of Christians to this?

To begin, I did some research into the origins of Earth Day. This can be found on the Wikipedia page. It seems to be a great story of wanting to bring awareness to issues with the climate, and recognizing the need to better care for our environment. But what shocked and disappointed me about this was the idea of "Zero Population Growth," which was what fueled a rising interest in environmental issues and was a key component of Senator Nelson's sales pitch. The association of a movement supportive and encouraging of active birth control (i.e. abortion on demand) and the environmental movement may be harmless associates, but I fear the connection is one that must be seriously considered and evaluated based on the biblical witness. The irony is, at the time the concern was over "global cooling." My how the agenda has changed (giving, in my opinion, some evidence to dismiss global warming, but that's just me)! Spaceship Earth is also a concept that has arisen from the global impact of Earth Day. The concept here is careful use of the limited resources, and to work together. That sounds great, but the whole thing reeks of a desire to work towards a perfect world through saving the earth.

Several great things have come about as a result of Earth Day and the environmental agenda. Many species of wonderful animals have been saved from certain extinction, recycling efforts are up and are cutting back on logging and deforestation, toxic disposal regulations have been enacted, and air quality concerns have been addressed around the world. I am glad for these, and all people should be thankful that groups have fought to ensure a clean and profitable environment for future generations.

However, there are many areas of concern to bring up regarding Earth Day.

One, we have to look at the creation (and in particular Earth) as being under a curse and subject to futility and decline. The creation will not be redeemed and restored until the return of Christ. Until then, we will continue to see the labor pains and cries for redemption (earthquakes, volcanoes, fires, storms, hurricanes, etc.), and we as humanity are powerless to reverse the trend. Thinking that being as eco-friendly as we can will fix the problems denies both the authority of Scripture and a Christian understanding that creation itself is cursed.
That said, we as humanity, the crown of Creation, have a duty and obligation to subdue the world and rule it as God's stewards. We have a responsibility to care for our environment, to use well the resources given us, and ensure that our children will enjoy the same possibilities we do. We must not deny though that ultimately the Earth will not be perfect until the Curse is lifted and Christ reigns supreme over it.

Second, the whole thing reeks of Earth worship, you know, Gaia and Mother Earth and all that sort of thing. Look, like every kid in the late 80s to early 90s I watched Captain Planet. But it wasn't until later that I realized the whole thing was built on goddess stuff, and preached a naturalistic worldview that all things could be explained in nature and existence contained the Divine. I'm all down for saving the trees, whales, and whatever else needs to be saved, but we must be careful not to get to the point where we worship the created realm. This is where I fear many on the environmentalist side have strayed, and they are living out the words of Romans 1:18-22 in their agenda. To think that we should save the Earth because it is all there is or that the Divine is contrary to Scripture. Panentheism would hold that the lion who devours a zebra calf is as much God-contained as a lamb innocently grazing in a meadow. That is just crazy talk! Christians, stop calling it "Mother Earth." God is your Father, and the Earth is a created thing, subject to His rule and dominion. I know this is speculative, but it is bothersome that the flag for Earth Day contains the Greek letter Theta. Theta is held in many circles as an abbreviation for God (Greek word theos). I really have to wonder if there was something behind that. Perhaps it is meaningless, but if it is true it is a strong statement of the agenda of the Eco Movement.

Third, we have to recognize that this is the greatest of all possible worlds or possibilities of existence. God is in control of all things, and in His holiness and majesty He has ordained all things to happen so that He receives the most glory and worship. Therefore, we have to recognize that our efforts to "save the earth" are at best going to simply slow the bleeding. Placing hope for a redeemed earth in recycling, species rescue, and other eco-movements is putting our hope in someone or something other than the Triune God of Scripture. We must take heed of the fact that all of our efforts will ultimately be futile because of two things. One, we are not God and therefore we are unable to reverse the Curse in Eden. Two, Scripture itself bears witness that the ideal world disappeared in Genesis 3 and will not be a reality again until the consummation of the ages in Revelation 21-22.

What does this mean for us as believers? Should we buy SUVs and throw styrofoam into whales' mouths and burn the rainforest down? Absolutely not! God gave our parents Adam and Eve the command to have dominion over the Earth (Genesis 1:28), and that command is not to wreck it for our own pleasure, but to care for it and rule it wisely. We have done poorly in this in recent years, and our consumption of what God has so generously provided for us is something that does need to be corrected.

As believers, we should be on the front lines of demanding better care and stewardship of the Earth. We should be the ones first in line to recycle, and we should make every effort to control our pollution and negative impact on the enviornment. We should also make it VERY clear, that what we are doing is not because we believe in a realized utopia, but that we are the bearers of the Image of God and have a duty as His servants to care for the Creation that He spoke into existence. Our care and stewardship should be Gospel-saturated, and any of our effort should be met with the call of "We are merely taking care of it, one day Christ will come and redeem it"

So, have a happy Creation Stewardship Day! And do your part, share the Gospel with the Earth Day crowd, and let them know why it is you do what you do and who it is that calls on you to do it.

SDG,
Scott