The Bulletin
of the
Church of Christ at
New Georgia
Tim Johnson, editor
February 17, 2002
In
This Issue:
"What
a Lazy Horse Can Teach Us About Faith"
By
Mike Wilson
"The
Baptists"
By
Steve Klein
What A Lazy Horse Can Teach Us
About Faith
Some years ago, my wife and I went horseback riding with our neighbors, Don and Joyce. Don and Joyce weren't exactly cowboys (though Don used to dress like one sometimes), but they were seasoned veterans compared to Cheryl and me in matters of horsemanship. Cheryl had ridden a couple of times when she was growing up, and the real city slicker in the group who had never experienced this before was yours truly.
I got the tamest horse. In fact, the old "Girl" was so tame she was downright lazy. After my best efforts of pretending to play cowboy, I couldn't get "Girl" to stay up with the other horses. She lagged behind with absolutely no spunk. Even after I said all of the right words and kicked her in all of the right places, I couldn't get "Girl" to rev up the engines.
Then, we reached the midway point on the trail and turned around&ldots; Something amazing happened. The horse with no zest for life suddenly came alive. She tapped into the energy reserve tanks and started trotting eagerly without any prodding. I had to say "whoa" so much, I thought I was John Wayne for a minute. That horse knew she was going back to the barn, and I didn't have to tell her.
This incident illustrates an important aspect of Biblical faith. One reason I am a believer is because of the substantive answers the Bible gives to the question of man's existence. Whereas most people in this world go through life wandering aimlessly, I know where I came from. I know why I exist. And I know where I'm going one day. The apostle Paul reminds Christians, "While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal" (II Cor. 4:18)
This knowledge is not based on factors which are any less reasonable to me than those which made this horse a " believer" of sorts in her anticipated afternoon rest. Moreover, because I know where I am headed, I don't want to slow down or take a different path. Such distractions can endanger the goal that lies before me and take away the peace of mind that my current path has given me. Finally, there is a sense in which I cannot wait to get there. There is something very special on the horizon that awaits every faithful Christian. A certain lazy horse has helped me to appreciate an old prophetic refrain:
Yet those who wait for the LORD will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary (Isaiah 40:31).
By Mike Wilson, via Focus Magazine, May 2000
Introduction: About one out of every ten people in America is a Baptist. The Southern Baptist Convention alone has over 15 million members. Yet, it is only one of 27 Baptist denominations in the United States (Mead, 1980). It would be very difficult to live in the United States without encountering Baptists and their influence. Baptist leaders, such as Billy Graham, are often in the news. The struggle between moderates and conservatives within the Southern Baptist Convention has been the subject of many headlines in recent years. Chances are that several of your neighbors and co-workers are of the Baptist faith. What do you know about their beliefs and their beginnings?
< Distinctive Points of Baptist Belief >
In his book, Why I Am A Baptist, Louie Newton lists several "basic distinctives in the Baptist position" (1957, p. 69). We quote him on the first five points listed below:
1. "The supreme authority of the Bible, and its sufficiency as our rule of faith and practice." Generally, Baptists have a high regard for the scriptures. However, they do have "manuals" and numerous confessional statements which explain their viewpoint on the meaning of the Bible and give practical instructions for service. For instance, the New Hampshire Confession of Faith has been published and applauded by Southern Baptists. It is highly Calvinistic, but it proclaims the Bible to be "without any mixture of error." However, in recent years there has been a major schism among the Southern Baptists over the inspiration of the Bible; conservatives have held that every word comes directly from the mouth of God, while moderates have argued that the Bible merely "contains" the word of God.
2. "The competency of the individual soul in its direct approach to God." In the Baptist view, an individual does not need to go through an earthly priest to approach God, nor must he rely upon statements of law by a church in order to understand God's will. Baptists recognize the priesthood of all believers. The Baptist emphasis upon the worth of the individual is clearly seen in their democratic form of church government which encourages membership-wide participation.
3. "The absolute separation of church and state." John Smyth wrote, "The magistrate is not by virtue of his office to meddle with religion, or matters of con-science, to force or compel men to this or that form of religion, or doctrine" (Torbet, 1963, p. 489). Many Baptists suffered persecution in defense of this principle. In the United States, the provision in the Bill of Rights guaranteeing separation of church and state is there largely as a result of Baptist influence.
4. "Baptism by immersion, of believers only." From their beginning, Baptists have held that baptism is a believer's privilege. Thus, they have never recognized the baptism of infants as valid. For a time, very early in their history, some allowed sprinkling for baptism, but this practice soon disappeared. Baptists do not regard baptism as necessary for salvation, but as necessary for obedience. Therefore, they hold that there are saved believers in all denominations. These believers may be accepted into a Baptist church upon a vote of the membership.
5. "The complete independence of the local church, and its voluntary interdependence in associated fellowship with other Baptist churches." Baptists emphasize the right of each church to govern itself, "call" its own "pastors", and determine the course of church work. Paradoxically, Baptist churches commonly band together in county and state associations as well as national conventions which promote unity in work and doctrine. The reasoning which brought these associations into being was developed long ago in England:
"Early Baptists emphasized the need for a wider fellowship of the congregations through membership in what were called associations. This was based not only upon expediency but upon a conviction that such connectionalism was essential to express the church universal, a position clearly indicated in their early confessional statements" (Torbet, 1963, p. 31).
6. Salvation by faith alone through grace and the operation of the Holy Spirit. Hiscox' New Directory for Baptist Churches states, "justification includes the pardon of sin and the promise of eternal life on principles of righteousness...it is bestowed, not in consideration of any works of righteousness which we have done, but solely through faith in the Redeemer's blood" (quoted in Olbricht, 1972, p. 44). This process is usually called the "new birth" and it involves a direct action of the Holy Spirit upon the heart which results in a "personal sense of being saved" (North, 1977, p. 72). Once saved in this way, the vast majority of Baptists believe that one can never be lost.
< Weak Points in the Baptist Faith >
1. The Name and Nature of the Baptist Church VERSUS the church of the New Testament. Many Baptists still claim to be able to trace the origin of their church back to the New Testament. All Baptists claim to rely on the scriptures as their sole basis of authority. Yet, the Scriptures do not mention a Baptist church. No Christian is ever once called a "Baptist" in the New Testament. (John the Baptist died before Jesus went to the cross. Thus, he could not have been a Christian.) The New Testament does not refer to church members "voting in" other church members, or to churches holding conventions or joining associations. Instruments of music, choirs, pageants, and secular-styled entertainment were never a part of any worship service in the church you can read about in the New Testament. If a church claims to trace its historic and doctrinal origins to the New Testament, one should be able to read about that church in the New Testament. If one can't, the claim is proven to be weak.
2. Conventions VERSUS Church Autonomy. Baptist churches stand in self-contradiction when they maintain that each church is a self-ruling, self-determining body, and then turn around send representatives to a national convention. If each church is led by the Holy Spirit in determining its own beliefs and practices, why do churches send representatives to conventions which turn out policy statements on such issues? You can't have it both ways. Either the local church is sufficient for its own faith and work, or it must join with other churches.
by Steve Klein
--excerpted from the study of
"Denominations & World Religions" at
NewGeorgiaChurch.com