You know, Phil, you're more of a Southern Baptist than you are a Christian!
That critical statement was made to me as a college student at Arkansas State in the Baptist Student Center...by a fellow Southern Baptist student...over 25 years ago. I'm sure the intent of the statement was not good but I took it as a complement. Over the past 25 years, I've found that it has become more of a truth for me than ever.
I've been a bit absent in blogging over the past several weeks mainly because I've been traveling down a path in life that has required some careful navigation. To give some perspective to the situation, it should be understood that for me to fulfill the Great Commission in Matthew 28, I will need a conduit. That conduit is a local church. But beyond that, the local church needs to be under the accountability of a group of like-minded churches - a denomination.
Since childhood, I have attended a Southern Baptist church. I received Christ into my life at a Southern Baptist summer church camp. I was baptized into a Southern Baptist church on Bicentennial Sunday, July 4, 1976. I was an active part of the then (Southern) Baptist Student Union at Arkansas State & I was a member of a vibrant Southern Baptist church in Jonesboro, AR while I attended college. And it was during those college years that I wanted to really know why I was a Southern Baptist. Was it because of my parents or because of other factors...or both?
I did some personal study on what those in the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) believe & why. And I asked myself if I believed this...and why. I came out of the experience with a confidence that this was the denomination through which God was leading me to serve out my part of the Great Commission. I was a Southern Baptist because "they agreed with me".
I moved from the comfort of the "Southern Baptist South" to the "barren wasteland" of the cold, unforgiving North - Pennsylvania - to pursue a job that really never materialized. Before I left my home of 23 years, I looked up the closest SBC church in my new locale. It was over 40 miles away. However, one Godly deacon at my home church encouraged me by saying that if God wanted me somewhere, He would have a church for me. I later found that this same lone SBC church had a "chapel" (a mission church) that had been started. It was in the very town I was moving into.
For over 18 years, I considered life in this town as my "spiritual boot camp" where God was shaping my life & using all of the spiritual education & knowledge I had gained while being so active in SBC life both at college & in my college church. And, applying what I had learned to real life was not a cakewalk. Yet it helped me gain more confidence in my relationship with God & with the relationship with my denomination.
Today, living almost 90 miles away from my "boot camp" and active in a "hybrid" church that is both affiliated with the SBC & the Baptist General Conference (BGC) for over 3 years, I found myself at odds with the very conduit I needed to fulfill what God was leading me to do. The church gave me a lot of confirmation about the changes I made in my approach to real life as I applied the spiritual knowledge I had gained during my college years. It also pushed the envelope to new ways to reach out to an ever-changing culture...and this challenged my conventional thought process.
However, one of the areas that I lacked was being connected to the other SBC churches in the local Association & to the State Convention (the Baptist Convention of PA/S. Jersey). It was this, combined with some other internal issues within the church structure, that was slowly causing an anemia in what I considered my "life blood" in my relationship with God. I began seeking God to see if He was leading me to another congregation.
I had this same feeling before when I was in college. I was frustrated that the church I felt led to join was not supporting the local Baptist Student Union. I was all set to move to another church - after only 3 months of membership at the present one - when I heard the pastor give some advice in his message that would alter my decision. He said that it is dangerous to practice "church hopping". A Believer should find a local church & work to become an active part of it. If there is an issue that is prompting someone to change churches, one should first try to "change the church".
That was enough for me to stay at that church & use my gift of persuasion to push for more financial support & involvment toward the Baptist Student Union. I was a member of this church for the 4 years I was in college...and before I left, that church had more than doubled its giving to the BSU.Yet now, here I was again facing the same crossroad. When I made my intentions to change my church membership known to the pastor, that gave way to releasing other issues that had been left unresolved between the pastor, myself, & my family that I was not aware. I was asked to prayerfully stay on for another 3 months as the church goes through some re-structuring. This presented a conflict to me as I had thought I was following God's leading. Now, I'm given a new option. Was this a way God was showing me that my feeling was not shared by Him? Or was this something God allowed so as to give me yet another opportunity to lean upon His Guidance?
Needless to say, I agreed to giving it another try for the next 3 months. Even Gideon wanted to make double sure he was doing what God wanted him to do.
Gideon is often vilified for seeking such a sign of the Lord (twice!), but I
read nowhere in the scripture that God chastises him for his requests.
Gideon is not faithless in “fleecing” the Lord. What he does require,
though, is a strengthening of his faith. He has been nothing but obedient
before God, and God honors Gideon’s action in the face of fear with the
miraculous.
So in this case, I felt that I was making a fair decision about which path to take next. I haven't arrived at my destination yet.... But I know that God is the one Who is shining the light.
This whole situation caused a bottleneck in my walk with God because I believe Christianity & denominationalism are so closely linked. When I thought of that criticism that was given me back in my college days, I now can say that the two are Siamese twins...they are linked together - two of the same. To serve within the confines of one's own denomination is - or, I believe, should be - the same as serving Christ & His Church. Now, if one is serving within the confines of their denomination but has never had a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, that person is no different than serving in the local Kiwanis Club or Red Cross chapter. But to serve one's denomination out of a relationship with Christ takes that service to a deeper level.
I make no apologies about the fact that I believe that the doctrines espoused within the SBC are the most accurate interpretation of the Bible than any other faith. I know there are many who do not share my belief. But that's just fine. I don't consider them wrong because I am not them. If a United Methodist believes the same way about their denomination, they should be as active in their church as I am in mine.
I know of many who tell me they go to a "non-denominational" church. Does something like this even exist? I'm not a math scholar, but how can anything be a "non-denominator"? A "denominator" is something shared or held in common. So a "non-denominator" (which, by the way, isn't found in my dictionary) would have to be something that is not held in common, right? So a non-denominational church would be a church where nothing is in common & there is no standard. Wouldn't a church like that also be "non-biblical"?
What I believe these people mean when they say they attend a "non-denominational" church is that they attend an "inter-denominational" church. It is a church that spans several denominations.... But doesn't this make the church its own denomination? I'm confused.
A group of "Jesus People" over 30 years ago started a community in downtown Chicago, IL called "Jesus People USA" (JPUSA). For years, they were on their own...they had no allegience to any denomination. That changed in 1989 when the community, after sensing God's direction, felt they needed accountability from a larger body of Believers. JPUSA chose to unite with the Evangelical Covenant Church & have remained with this denomination since.
I truly believe one cannot live the life Christ desires apart from a local church. And a local church cannot be a healthy church apart from an orgainzed group of like-minded Believers. Call it what you want, but any group of like-minded Believers (people who share a "Common Denominator" - Jesus Christ) is a "denomination". So for someone to ask me if I am more of a Southern Baptist than I am a Christian, I would have to respond by asking, "Which came first: The chicken or the egg?"
