Perhaps you heard about the lady who went to the bank to have a large check cashed. The teller went through some of the usual questions when cashing a large check. “May I see your driver’s license?” she asked. “Can you confirm your social security number?” the teller continued. After several such questions the teller finally asked, “What denominations would you like?” The lady responded, “Just one—I’m Baptist!”
I am part of a generation that regularly questioned “the establishment.” It is no surprise then that such an attitude has impacted the church today. Many Christians today have somehow gotten the idea that being part of a denomination is less spiritual or un-cool. They view the denomination as an impersonal institution that drains resources and provides little in return. They don’t see the value in being affiliated with other churches of like faith through a denomination.
Technically, Southern Baptists are not a denomination—we are a convention. We do not have a top-down structure. Each of our churches is independent and self-governing. We share a common confession of faith, but the only creed we embrace is the Bible itself. We see value in voluntarily cooperating together as individual churches for the sake of the kingdom of God. Being a part of the Southern Baptist Convention provides three things we think are important.
First, being Baptist gives us an identity that people can relate to. People know that being Baptist means that we believe the Bible is the foundation for what we believe and how we live. We do not base our beliefs on traditions or someone’s experience or what is most popular at the time. Being Baptist means we believe each congregation is self-governing and does not submit itself to any overseer but Christ Himself. It means that we are committed to voluntarily cooperating with like-minded churches in mission endeavors to take the gospel to the world.
Second, being part of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) makes resources, training and personnel available to us. We have regional Association and State Convention staff members who are committed to serving churches like ours. These ministers have expertise, experiences and wisdom to share that help strengthen local congregations and assist them in being on mission with God. In addition, our convention provides ministry resources through LifeWay Christian Resources as well as other agencies within our convention.
Third, being SBC allows us to take part in the world’s greatest missions program. We support thousands of missionaries in various places around the world. Some of these missionaries are nearby, some are in North America, some are overseas and some are in the remotest parts of the earth sharing Christ, planting new churches and strengthening believers. By supporting these missionaries cooperatively as we do, we can provide a steady, dependable income for the missionaries themselves, and also resources for the work they are doing.
No one I know of believes that Baptist are the only ones who believe the Bible and believe in missions. There are many Bible-believing churches and organizations in the world and we are happy to be part of God’s universal church made up of all those who have professed the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior. But there is value in being a Baptist. As we combine our Bible-based theology with our form of church government and our cooperative missions strategy, we are a unique group of Christians. It is an identity and a heritage we humbly embrace.
Monday, May 21, 2012
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Going Deeper in our Bible Teaching—Part Two
What does it mean to “go deeper” in our teaching. We know it isn’t using big words or excessive details. It isn’t teaching a seminar-type lesson with a few proof-texts thrown in to make it sound spiritual. It isn’t being mystical or using syrupy emotionalism. It isn’t forced symbolism or spiritualizing a text to say something it was not intended to say. But what does it mean? Let me offer a few thoughts on the subject.
Going deeper is meeting with Jesus and allowing Him to transform our lives. It is reading and teaching the text with the intent of having an encounter with Him. It is expecting and experiencing Him speak to us through the Bible passage. It is helping our class members to see Jesus Christ and the overall redemptive plan of God to save those who call upon the Lord in faith. As Jesus speaks to us from the passage it will almost certainly result in a change of motivation, thinking and/or behavior in our lives. As Jesus speaks through His Word, it will almost certainly call us to being on mission with Him in some specific way and spark thoughts on specific action-steps, as the Holy Spirit prompts and motivates us. All this without ever explaining the 12 different ways a certain Greek word is used!
Going deeper is discovery of those things in God’s Word that set Christianity apart from any other belief system. As Jesus spoke to the two disciples walking to Emmaus after the resurrection, He used every major section of Old Testament to point to Himself! As we study the Passover, we see Jesus and His plan of salvation. As we teach about the Ark of Noah, we see Jesus providing a shelter from the wrath of God. As we meditate on the coronation of King Solomon, we see a picture of crowning Jesus as King of kings and Lord of lords. As we explain the various prophecies of the Bible, we give understanding as to each one relates to God’s overall plan of salvation and provision of forgiveness. Our teaching of the Old Testament should be different that what is taught in a synagogue, because we know Jesus is the Messiah! Our teaching of the New Testament should be different than what is taught by the Mormons or Jehovah’s Witnesses, because we know the identity of Jesus and we have an understanding of the Triune nature of God.
Going deeper is allowing the Lord to use His word to examine and search our lives for sin and hindrances to a closer walk with Him. If I am reading the Word and noticing what others ought to be doing, there is a real good chance that I am not going deeper at all. In the Prodigal Son story, there is the Elder Brother who illustrates the problem. We must read the Word with a sincere request that the Holy Spirit use it to examine our deepest motives. Paul told Timothy that the Word should teach me, rebuke me, correct me and instruct me in righteousness. If I see only how the Bible rebukes others, I have a severe case of immature, spiritual near-sightedness.
Going deeper is connecting spiritual applications to the work of Jesus Christ. Paul often demonstrated this. He told husbands, not just to love their wives, but to love their wives as Christ loved the church. He instructed servants to serve their overseers as they would serve the Lord. He taught wives to honor their husbands as the church honors Jesus. When Peter spoke to pastors about their ministry, he related it to the Chief Shepherd, Jesus Christ. None of the New Testament writers got too far away from the message of the cross in their teaching—it is a good practice for us as well.
Going deeper is meeting with Jesus and allowing Him to transform our lives. It is reading and teaching the text with the intent of having an encounter with Him. It is expecting and experiencing Him speak to us through the Bible passage. It is helping our class members to see Jesus Christ and the overall redemptive plan of God to save those who call upon the Lord in faith. As Jesus speaks to us from the passage it will almost certainly result in a change of motivation, thinking and/or behavior in our lives. As Jesus speaks through His Word, it will almost certainly call us to being on mission with Him in some specific way and spark thoughts on specific action-steps, as the Holy Spirit prompts and motivates us. All this without ever explaining the 12 different ways a certain Greek word is used!
Going deeper is discovery of those things in God’s Word that set Christianity apart from any other belief system. As Jesus spoke to the two disciples walking to Emmaus after the resurrection, He used every major section of Old Testament to point to Himself! As we study the Passover, we see Jesus and His plan of salvation. As we teach about the Ark of Noah, we see Jesus providing a shelter from the wrath of God. As we meditate on the coronation of King Solomon, we see a picture of crowning Jesus as King of kings and Lord of lords. As we explain the various prophecies of the Bible, we give understanding as to each one relates to God’s overall plan of salvation and provision of forgiveness. Our teaching of the Old Testament should be different that what is taught in a synagogue, because we know Jesus is the Messiah! Our teaching of the New Testament should be different than what is taught by the Mormons or Jehovah’s Witnesses, because we know the identity of Jesus and we have an understanding of the Triune nature of God.
Going deeper is allowing the Lord to use His word to examine and search our lives for sin and hindrances to a closer walk with Him. If I am reading the Word and noticing what others ought to be doing, there is a real good chance that I am not going deeper at all. In the Prodigal Son story, there is the Elder Brother who illustrates the problem. We must read the Word with a sincere request that the Holy Spirit use it to examine our deepest motives. Paul told Timothy that the Word should teach me, rebuke me, correct me and instruct me in righteousness. If I see only how the Bible rebukes others, I have a severe case of immature, spiritual near-sightedness.
Going deeper is connecting spiritual applications to the work of Jesus Christ. Paul often demonstrated this. He told husbands, not just to love their wives, but to love their wives as Christ loved the church. He instructed servants to serve their overseers as they would serve the Lord. He taught wives to honor their husbands as the church honors Jesus. When Peter spoke to pastors about their ministry, he related it to the Chief Shepherd, Jesus Christ. None of the New Testament writers got too far away from the message of the cross in their teaching—it is a good practice for us as well.
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