The Practice that Shapes Us
by Chris George, Senior Pastor
Our former Pastor Emeritus, Truett Gannon, once said, “Baptists exhibit a stubborn insistence upon the privilege of diversity.” He went on to add, “Where there are two Baptists, we are likely to find three opinions.”
Smoke Rise is a Baptist church filled with a wonderful collection of people from all sorts of different backgrounds. We are an ideologically, politically and theologically diverse congregation united in our commitment to Christ.
At Smoke Rise, we certainly respect the traditions of our brothers and sisters in Christ. We recognize that what matters more than the way an individual was baptized is the way they are walking in the newness of life. Our church has members from almost every Christian denomination and we celebrate what each person brings into this Body of Christ. We don’t do “baptismal background checks” to see when a person was baptized or how they were baptized. We welcome all who come to follow in the footsteps of Jesus.
Our congregation is made up of Catholics and Congregationalists, Lutherans and Methodists, Presbyterians and Pentecostals, Evangelicals and Episcopalians who are members and associate members as well as many others who are considering our church. Some of them have started asking the question: What does it mean to be Baptist?
Now, that question seems simple and, as a Baptist pastor, I should have a quick answer. But we Baptists can be a motley crew who defy a simple definition. As Bill Moyers, who was an American journalist and a political commentator as well as a Baptist, once noted in an address at Wake Forest University:
At last count there were more than two dozen varieties of Baptists in America. Bill Clinton is a Baptist. So was Pat Robertson. Jesse Jackson was a Baptist. So was Jesse Helms. Al Gore is a Baptist. So was Jerry Falwell. No wonder Baptists have been compared to jalapeno peppers: One or two make for a tasty dish, but a whole bunch together will bring tears to your eyes.
My wife, grew up in the Roman Catholic Church. On her first visit to a Baptist church, she wondered aloud, “Where are the saints, statues and kneelers in this place?” As a New Yorker, she had considered Baptists to be a strange southern cult of Christianity that preached hellfire and brimstone, included something like a bathtub in the sanctuary, and finished every service with a fried chicken supper. She was right on two of three counts.
So, what unites this strange confederation of people and helps define us as Baptists? We do not have a pope to serve as our leader, nor do we have a creed to provide us with a clearly outlined set of our beliefs. Baptists affirm the Bible as the guidebook for the Christian life, but may freely disagree as to its interpretation. Baptists agree worship is important, but may disagree on how to worship, when to worship, or where to worship. Sometimes, it is hard to get Baptists to agree on anything.
In September, we are embarking on a four-week sermon series about being a Baptist. For some, this series will be a Baptist 101 course, an introduction to the Baptist faith; for others, it will be an important reminder of what we hold near and dear as Baptists believers. But, even before I start the series, I am going to tell you the secret of what it means to be a Baptist. It can be answered in just one word: freedom.
Baptist are first and foremost a denominational family centered on freedom because we believe that freedom is a sacred gift from God. In John’s Gospel, Jesus says, “If the son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” St. Paul proclaims, “It is for freedom that Christ has set you free” (Galatians 5:1).
In our world where conformity is being enforced, where our news channels and social media feeds often serve as echo chambers for confirmation bias, diverse ideology is a rare and blessed and beautiful thing indeed. It is not an accident, but rather a natural expression of the dogged determination of Baptists to protect freedom for each and every believer and for each and every congregation. And, in fact, to protect the freedom even for those who choose not to believe.
What does it mean to be a Smoke Rise Baptist? Come and see.