Why stay Baptist?

It is a question worth pondering...and not just for moderates. I've been there several times when disgusted with the politics, backstabbing, and innuendo that frequent the press and the back-room meetings on both sides of the Baptist political aisles. But then, there are voices of reason and hope. Here is one that I'd like to think that we could agree upon (from Bill Wilson on Ethics Daily):

"Why stay a Baptist? We have inherited an amazing heritage, and while it is messy, our current setting offers us an opportunity to create a future that is unlike anything we have seen or known to date. What we need is courage, vision and humility."
Bill Wilson - pastor of First Baptist Church in Dalton, GA

Courage, vision, and humility...all good qualities that I consider to be worthy of Baptists. I don't mind messy. As a matter of fact, I embrace that word as key to how Baptists relate to the God of the Bible. Stay with me for a second.

We encourage new Christains to read their Bible and find a fellowship of believers where they can grow in their faith and mature in their Christian walk. The Bible in the hands of a believer is not a static document...as many times as I have read the new testament, God reveals something new to me every time. It is not unlike getting those multi-folded directions in a box that has a picture of a completed bicycle on the front...the directions may not be perfectly clear and there may be more than one way of assembling things, but ultimately the intent is a (near) perfect bicycle. As a Baptist, I have enough faith to believe that God speaks to us, personally, through His word to lead us in a path of positive growth toward completeness (whatever that means). I do not have a problem when things get messy and people differ on what God is saying to them through the Bible...we talk about it, we pray about it, we love one another in spite of our differences and trust God to be faithful in His leadership in our lives. That last statement is key to my loyalty to the body of believers who call themselves Baptists. The God of my Bible makes no claim to be a Baptist. I am a Baptist by choice. I am a Christian by the grace of God, not the grace of my Baptist heritage...yes, it is messy, and there isn't anything wrong with that.

That deluxe brownie mix is enriched even more by adding milk chocolate morsels to the mix... the Baptist in me will take that to a pot luck dinner and call it my own recipe. The messy part of me has already received great joy from scrapping the sides of the mixing bowl and savoring every lick. (I feel a sermon comin' on)