Texas Baptists take a solid stand for historic Baptist distinctives 
by James Dunn,
President, BJC Endowment 

"The Baptist Convention of Texas is not a farm club of the Southern Baptist Convention," Dr. McBride of First Baptist Church, San Angelo, said almost a decade ago. On Oct. 30, more than 74 percent of those at the annual state convention proved true his prophecy.

It's easy to dismiss this action as an internal church fight. Wrong! The decision by Texas Baptists to chart their own course has meaning for most believers, not only Baptists. It has political implications. It springs from theological depth. It will have social consequences. It sounds an ethical note.

How so?

Political implications: 

• Texas Baptists rejected the religious right posture of the Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. That agency, identified with school vouchers, football prayers and right-wing candidates, does not speak for Texas Baptists.

• Public servants need to know that Baptists in Texas will face political issues, fight injustice, form coalitions for social change, but will not abandon historic Baptist church-state separation principles. 

Theological depth: 

• Texas Baptists affirmed their loyalty to Jesus Christ as the ultimate test for biblical interpretation and doctrinal clarity. This view is shared by those who call themselves Christian: Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox. 

• They re-upped their intense dedication to personal religious experience, the right and responsibility of every believer to read and understand the Bible for himself/herself. No creed that must be signed or hierarchy that must be obeyed can trump one's immediate access to God and individual accountability. Everyone hankers for that sort of vital and voluntary religion. Everyone from new age seekers to square-baled, thick-skinned, narrow-minded, hard-shelled Baptists hungers for intimate personal faith. There is, indeed, a God-shaped empty space in every life. 

Social consequences: 

• Texas Baptists committed significant funding (big bucks) to theological educators that they know and trust. Lay persons demonstrated that they know the difference between indoctrination and education, between close-minded, propositional, safety-first, creed-signing professors and those who refuse to be bound. W.T. Connor said "every generation must rewrite its theology." We've just got to speak the language to share the message. 

• They took note of the demography of the state and the opportunity for outreach. As the state rapidly becomes multilingual, the Hispanic Baptist Theological School is being enabled to equip leaders for the new pluralism. Now, if only every Texas Baptist will learn Spanish! 

Ethical note:  

• Texas Baptists, it is fervently hoped, reminded Southern Baptist spokesmen that you cannot fool all of the people all of the time. The sub-Christian behavior of the fundamentalists backfired. High-handed hubris fell flat  (I Corinthians 10:12). Taxation without representation won't work in a democratic polity. 

• But more seriously the basic ethic of responsible freedom was lifted up. The one distinctive gift of Baptists to the larger family of faith in the biblical tradition (Christians, Jews, Muslims) is the emphasis on soul freedom, the competence of the individual before God. 

We believe and identify with all others who join this accountable band that persons can, must, do and will decide for themselves about their relationship with God. When anyone's religious liberty is denied, everyone's religious liberty is endangered. We hold that religious freedom, not mere toleration, is a universal human right, that self-determination about affiliation, beliefs and policies are a logical consequence of that right and responsibility.

So Baptists resist a binding creed, a propositional religiosity, a book-bound bibliolatry, any external control of a local church, any use of the state by the church or any use of the church by the state.

At least, real Baptists do. Texas Baptists took a big step toward staying Baptists.