I was
baptized in the Catholic Church as a baby, confirmed in the Lutheran church at eleven,
baptised again as a believer in the Plymouth Brethren church at fourteen and
ordained by the Baptists on August 22, 2000. I’ve joked that I just need to
speak in tongues to fit in with the Pentecostals to be truly ecumenical!
First and foremost I consider
myself a Christian. I believe in everything stated in the Apostles’ and Nicene
Creeds. I believe the sixty-six books in the Bible are inspired by God and useful to teach us what
is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. (2 Timothy 3:16,
NLT). And though I may disagree vehemently with other Christians on how they
interpret and practice scripture, I consider all Christians from all
denominations who love Jesus and hold to these core teachings my brothers and
sisters in the Lord.
At
the same time, I am a convicted Baptist in the flavor of my Christian faith. I hold to the broadly evangelical Statement of Beliefs of my particular North American Baptist denomination. It centers
on Christ and stresses a high view of scripture without pinning you down as to having
to be a Calvinist or an Arminian or to a certain view on creation, the end
times, or even as to how the Bible is
divinely inspired. Our Statement of Faith
provides healthy boundary while giving us the freedom to think and shift as
we continually explore our beliefs. I agree with what the Protestant Reformers
said about a healthy church (which also applies to individuals) as reformed and
always reforming!
I
am convicted by the Baptists’ strong stand on “liberty of conscience” and the “separation
of church and state”. History has proven that when religious groups gain political
power they become oppressive. Therefore, I believe a religiously neutral and
democratic state is the best one for a society to live under until the return
of Christ. I believe that individuals of all religious perspectives should be
allowed the freedom to worship, proselytize, print and influence government in
matters of moral conviction without persecution. No religion, however, should
have the right to create a country based on their faith alone or force the
public to adhere to their religious practices. Therefore, I believe that a
mandated time of “saying the Lord’s prayer” should not be allowed in public
school. A time of silence, sure.
At
the same time, I believe the government should not dictate how its’ citizens worship,
believe or practice their faith, within certain broad moral laws. (Obviously, one
should not be allowed to murder in the name of their religion). I realize these
lines get blurry at times, with government regulating building codes, child
protection policies and tax exemptions for charitable work that benefits
society. To continue to wrestle with these fuzzy lines between church and
state, however, is much safer than the rigidity of a state (or religion)
wanting to nail everything down.
 |
| One of the founders of the NABC |
How
does this practically play out for me and my ministry? Let me give you an
example from the institute of marriage. Because I believe a religiously neutral
and democratic society is the best society to live under, I believe that if the
majority of citizens choose for it to be right for homosexuals to marry then
they should have the right to be married by the state that has granted them
that right. If I want to uphold social democracy, I have to uphold the right for
the democratic voice to speak. I can’t have democracy only when it suits me.
On the other
hand, I believe the church and state are separate spheres, and that the church isn’t
run by democratic vote, but by God’s authority as revealed in scripture. The
church then (or mosque or synagogue or temple) has the right to say that homosexual
practice is wrong. They should not have to bless that which society has a right
to practice, because we are answerable to God and not society. When a
religiously neutral state does not uphold these rights it ceases to be
religiously neutral and becomes totalitarian and persecuting.
For
these reasons, as a pastor, I refuse to get a government licence to marry
people. This is not because I think there is anything wrong with marriage, but
because of my convictions on the separation of church and state. If I marry
people “by the power invested in me by God and the province of British Columbia”,
I am acting as both an agent of the
state and of the church when the two should be separated. What right do I then
have, as a clergyman, to refuse to marry a homosexual couple when my licence to
marry comes from a government who has made it law? So, I only conduct Christian wedding ceremonies and have people
get their licence from the government. I have the right to refuse a Christian
wedding ceremony to anyone. There is nothing legal or illegal about it and I am
not bound by a government licence. It is a ceremony before God and I will only grant
it to those living by his principles. For this same reason I refuse to marry
non-Christians. Not that there is anything wrong with two non-Christians
getting married, but simply because this is a matter for the state to deal with,
not the church. Ironically, this is the common practice in many countries where
the church and state are more closely tied together, so it has always confused me
that, in North America, founded on the idea of separation of church and state, we’ve
“married” the two when it comes to marriage.
I’m
not trying to make things simplistic and I realize that there are many complex
cultural and religious issues. What does one do if a church takes a racist
position in their “Biblical interpretation”? This has been done in the past.
Can a church refuse membership to people of a certain skin color? If it does, should
the government step in? What about a religion that wants to practice polygamy?
My marriage example is just one attempt of trying to live out my Baptist theology
on the separation of church and state. I’m not saying it is easy.
I
will conclude this chapter with two negatives
I have with the Baptists. If I could change one thing about our Statement of Faith it would be to drop two
words. I would take out the words “by immersion” from believer’s baptism. I believe
in believer’s baptism. I even believe that doing it by immersion is one of the
best pictures to symbolize our death and resurrection found in Christ. However,
to make the form of immersion a
doctrine in a denominational Statement of
Faith is legalistic. Whenever I have to tell another Christian, who’s been
baptised as a believer, that they need to get rebaptised because the water
didn’t go on them the right way, I’m embarrassed to be a Baptist. Why can’t our
Statement of Faith simply say
“believer’s baptism” rather than “believer’s baptism by immersion”? This still uphold our confessional theology and
correctly puts baptism after one
makes a personal decision to follow Jesus. Do we really need to make the method
a doctrine? And if forms are so important why don’t we have the same standards
for communion? The early church did not sit in rows and have tiny little pieces
of bread and a thimble full of grape juice served to them. The other forms of
believer’s baptism do have biblical symbolism behind them. Pouring, for
instance, indicates washing and the anointing of the Holy Spirit, very apt
symbols for baptism. Does someone who has been baptised as a believer through pouring really need to get rebaptised by immersion?
My
second problem has to do with the hyper-individualism that can develop from the
Baptists’ position on “freedom of conscience”. Despite the broadmindedness this
allows for, it can actually produce a real narrow-mindedness. You can become a
“denomination” of one. When I say I’m a Baptist pastor sometimes I have to
qualify myself as “not one of those” Baptists - “those” being King James only,
an advocate for the Religious Right, a Zionist, a “homeschooler”, a “six day
literalists”, a Complementarian or some other type of “fundamentalist” Baptist.
Now, “freedom of conscience” lifts up the right to live together while holding these
different views. Too often, however, Baptists forget the “live together part”
and “freedom of conscience” ends up meaning we split from everyone who doesn’t
agree with us on everything. So, in Canada alone, we have over twenty different
types of Baptist groups, and this does not include all the independent Baptists
who do not affiliate with anyone. I’m not proud of this part of being a Baptist.
Discussion: What is one thing you like and one thing you don't like about being a Baptist?
Like: Billy Graham
ReplyDeleteDislike: Being dismissed as a fundamentalist
Non Committed
ReplyDeleteI was baptized as a baby, by a catholic priest. I had my first communion when I was eight years old and I was confirmed in the catholic faith by age twelve.
When I became a Christian, I honestly thought I was going to be joining the Mennonite denomination, I didn’t know about Baptists or any of the other many “umbrellas “under which Christians gather.
Although I was surprised to learn that the church I was attending was a Baptist church, I kept it to myself; I didn’t want anyone to know how ignorant I was!
I am a follower of Christ that happens to be part of the corporate worship in a Baptist church, the label that I accept and gratefully display is that of a Christian anything else is man made “Shadows on the wall”, thick fog.
I have to come to grasps with the fact that labels and denominations are needed for the “order of things” but I do not understand why so many denominations, when is only one triune God, and each individual has only one soul and one spirit.
How is it that we have the need to adhere to one denomination or another? Perhaps all these denomination “business” doesn’t have anything to do with God, but rather to do with our finicky heart and our need to group with people that more or less think like us.
From the beginning of the story of God and man, man is trying to explain God, to make him “fit” in a format, to box him neatly, to make the world believe that our way of doing church, our way of “studying” God is the right way. Through out time the erudite, the religious scholars, have in part contributed to the fractures of the faith.(Oops I think I over stepped my boundaries here…) but for example perhaps the most known; John Calvin’s TULIP and Jacob Arminius’ Five articles of Remonstrance, do shade any light on who God is? Do these two theologies clarify God’s character and grace? As for my simple mind there is only one cross ,one Christ one way to salvation and that way is paved only with one thing; the grace of One God.
I do not know much about other denominations in fact I do not know much about the American Baptist denomination to state what I like or dislike about it. Perhaps I do not think of myself in terms of being a Baptist and that is why I can’t commit to a like or dislike. Or perhaps is because I am running out of space, after all, a blog entry cannot surpass the 2000 words…
Alicia
Alicia,
DeleteInteresting that you mention Calvin and Arminius here. Next week I chime in on that debate with a little poem I've written. Bet you can hardly wait!!! :)
Born and raised at Bethany, I don't have many other churches or denominations to compare us to - I guess Baptists are cool because we seem pretty "normal"?? Well, normal to me :) Although I do love the joke,
ReplyDelete"How many Baptists does it take to change a lightbulb?"
"CHANGE?!?!"
I went to youth at a Pentecostal church. I LOVE how lively their worship is and how the whole congregation gets into it. It's rare to see someone who feels too uncomfortable to get excited about worship time, no matter how terribly they may sing (me) or what have you. That's one thing I miss from that church, was feeling more free to sing loudly, clap often, etc. because it was so normal to sing for an hour and jump around the whole time. We tend to be pretty conservative with our worship here, but I have no idea if that's a Baptist thing or a Bethany thing!
I also admire the Alliance churches that some of my friends attend because of their commitment to long-term missions, such as church plants where they visit every year. It would be neat to visit the same children each summer overseas and watch them grow, like a friend of mine does at Peace Portal with their Uganda church plant!
I was also baptized a Catholic. Remained a Catholic for 32 years until I was born again through an altar call at an evangelical service I attended in 2005. I suppose like many Christians who are born again in this manner, the excitement of calling on the Lord and receiving forgiveness fades away quickly especially because I didn't get connected to a local evangelical church right away. Instead, I went back to attending mass in a Catholic church with no inkling to read the Bible and no desire to connect with bible study groups.
ReplyDeleteI did however, shed many rituals right away that I somehow felt unnecessary anymore in my worship. The statues were the first to go. Then the rosary. Then the talismans and holy water. My prayers became spontaneous and unrehearsed. Of course, in hindsight, I can look at these developments and see evidence of my regeneration. However, my conversion was missing one thing - Jesus Christ, His word. I still wasn't immersed in his word.
I've come a long way since that time. Now I am bold to say, I am a Christian.
Right now, I would label myself as non-denominational. I fellowship with Christians who say they are Baptists and I attend their services and bible studies.
The creeds I profess along with other Christians are the Apostle's and Nicene Creeds.
My theology is based on the triune God. I believe I am an adopted son of the Father through my faith in the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus on the cross for the remission of my sins and my justification before a Holy God by His resurrection. I believe the Holy Spirit resides in me and shall never leave me.
I wholeheartedly trust God's promises of protection and healing over me and my household and whomever I pray for. I believe that when I put my complete trust in the Lord that I will not lack in anything.
When I suffer in this life, I suffer for Christ. When I fall into sin, Jesus rescues me and brings me back to Him.
I meditate on God's word and I pray and mutter in tongues under my breath.
My life is my testimony. My ministry to lead people to Christ is to my family first, then to my friends, then to anyone who would listen.
Jesus Christ and His words in the Bible is the sole authority in my life, not my culture, not my traditions, not my reason, and not my emotions.
As for your question Pastor Stef, I can't say that there is one thing that I don't like about being a Baptist. I am technically not one. So I look forward to getting baptized this fall.
Many of my personal beliefs and the doctrines I subscribe to align with Bethany's Statement of Beliefs. And so, there is not one thing I don't like.