Make Sure Your Church is a “Baptist” Church
By Brian L. Harbour
Western Hills Baptist Church, Ft. Worth

I owe a great debt to Texas Baptists.

I was saved in a Texas Baptist church at the age of 8, the First Baptist Church of Ganado, in south Texas, under the preaching of Brother Tierce and the influence of my Christian parents.

I was called to the ministry in a Texas Baptist church as a senior in high school in the First Baptist Church of Rogers, in central Texas, under the preaching of Clyde Lee Herring.

I was educated in a Texas Baptist institution – Baylor University – where I received my B.A. and my Ph.D. degrees.

I have served most of my ministry in Texas Baptist churches. The legacy of Texas Baptists has shaped my ministry.

And I am deeply concerned about the legacy Texas Baptists will provide for the young men and women God is calling to ministry today and will be calling in the days ahead.

It has been my privilege, since the day Truett Seminary opened, to be a part of the adjunct faculty. Every week when I get in my car at 5:15 on Friday morning to make the trip to Waco, I ask myself, “Now, exactly why am I doing this?”

Then, as soon as class begins and I look into the faces of the bright young people God has brought to that place, I know why I’m doing this. Because I want to contribute to the legacy Texas Baptists is providing for those young men and women. Truett is a part of that legacy.

It was my privilege to serve as the first chairman for the Baptist Distinctives committee in 1995-1996. Every time I set aside my schedule to go down to the Baptist Building and spend a day working with that committee, I would ask myself, “Now, exactly why am I doing this?” But now, as I observe the wonderful work this committee is doing to keep Texas Baptists “Baptist”, I have my answer to that question. Texas is still a place where Baptists can be real Baptists. The Baptist Distinctives Committee and the Texas Baptist heritage center are helping to insure Texas will continue to be that kind of place.

It has been my privilege for the last eleven years, since coming back to Texas,to attend the state conventions as we have met across the state. When I sit in the business sessions and hear the bickering back and forth, I ask myself, “Now, why exactly am I doing this?” I’d rather be having a root canal. But then when I realize what is at stake, when I see what has happened to other state conventions, I know the answer to that question. I go to those meetings because we must continue to support the leadership in Texas who will provide a climate for the Baptists of this state to be genuinely Baptist. Charles Wade is that kind of leader.

The legacy of Texas Baptists has shaped my ministry. I feel an obligation under God to provide that same legacy for the men and women God is calling into the ministry today and will be calling in the days ahead.

So how can we do that? Many strategies must be developed, and I am thankful for David Currie’s leadership in developing and carrying out many of those strategies.

Let me give one simple answer to the question: “What can we do?”

We can make sure the churches of which we are members remain genuine, free Baptist churches. Let me elaborate on what that means.

Christologically Focused

Our churches must be, first of all, christologically focused.

When Jesus asked the disciples at Caesarea Philippi, “Who do you say I am?” Peter confessed, probably speaking for the entire group, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt. 16:16).

According to Matthew’s account, Jesus responded:

“Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it” (Matt. 16:17).

That statement needs to be regularly repeated in our churches as a reminder that the church is not ours but his.

If I remain as the pastor of First Baptist Richardson until my retirement, I will have pastored that church longer than any other pastor in its 150 year history. But being the pastor with the longest tenure will not make it my church.

Some of you lay people here tonight have contributed sacrificially over the years to your church:

• in money,
• in time, and
• in leadership.

But that sacrificial offering to that congregation does not make it your church.

The church is not my church nor our church. It is Christ’s church.

And if we are to remain distinctively Baptist, we must keep Christ at the center.

People Inclusive

Our churches must also be people inclusive, churches where every Christian is free to minister at whatever level he or she is gifted to serve.

This is not the case in every church. A universalization of some New Testament texts that were addressed to particular situations in specific churches in the first century world, and a neglect of other texts, has led to a distortion of the biblical teaching.

Some churches, consequently, have refused women certain positions of leadership.

Other churches have treated individuals differently based on their marital status.

The New Testament calls us to be Galatians 3:28 churches where “there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female” but all are one in Christ Jesus.

When dealing with practical problems in the churches, Paul did give some specific instructions for churches concerning women in leadership.

But when he discussed the theology of the church in Ephesians 4, he did not mention gender. Instead, he established a person’s role in the church strictly on the basis of spiritual gifts.

The New Testament clearly affirms that the spiritual gifts and the ministry in which to use those spiritual gifts are determined by the Holy Spirit, not by us.

I pray for churches where the only question that is important when it comes time to fill a position of leadership is not “are you a man or a woman,” not “what is your skin color,” not “are you married or single,” not “are you old or young,” but simply… “are you gifted by the Spirit of God to do the job!”

Churches where everyone is free to do anything God has gifted him or her to do, churches that are people inclusive.

Methodologically Pragmatic

Our churches must also be methodologically pragmatic.

One of the most difficult things for a church to do is to distinguish what we do from how we do it, to distinguish the ministry from the method in which that ministry is carried out.

Only when we have made that distinction, however, will we be able to adapt the most efficient methods in each new situation to carry out our core ministries that do not change.

Jesus was methodologically pragmatic. For each person he addressed, Jesus adapted a method that fit that individual.

He talked to the woman at the well about waters of life and to the rich young ruler about giving away everything and to Peter about becoming a fisher of men.

In each situation, Jesus adapted methods that were appropriate to that situation.

Paul was also methodologically pragmatic. You remember how he put it in his Corinthian letter:

“I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some” (1 Cor. 9:22).

Then, he explained why he was willing to be methodologically pragmatic: “I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings” (1 Cor. 9:23).

For the sake of the gospel, we must be willing to become all things to all people so that by all means we might win some.

• Christologically focused,
• People inclusive, • Methodologically pragmatic, and then,
• Theologically balanced.

The ideology of fundamentalism has invaded Southern Baptist life in our day.

• Its methodology is top-down authoritarianism.
• Its theology is negative and restrictive.
• Its spirit is judgmental.
• Its approach is exclusivistic.
• Its goal is a theologically pure church.
• Its politics is right wing with a vengeance.

As Texas Baptists, we must continue to resist fundamentalism so that we can be New Testament churches:

• churches that magnify the autonomy of the local church,
• churches that magnify the priesthood of the believer,
• churches that understand the eternal relevance of the separation of church and state,
• churches that contend for the faith once for all delivered to the saints but do that in the spirit in which the faith was once-for-all delivered,
• churches that believe in God but do not play God in their judgment of other people,
• churches that do not tell all of its members what to believe but instead teach them to develop their belief system themselves through a careful study of God’s Word,
• churches that do not build their theology on a few carefully selected passages on a few specifically chosen issues but churches that build their theology on the whole Word of God,
• churches that are theologically balanced.

Mission Oriented

Our churches must be mission oriented, churches of transformed people who are transforming the world.

The purpose of the church is missions. Our mission field is the whole world. We cannot be – we dare not be – village churches with a village God.

Six billion plus people live on the sphere called earth. God created every one of those 6 billion plus people in his image for fellowship for him.

Every one of those 6 billion plus people must come to God through Christ if they are to have eternal life.

The only way those 6 billion plus people will ever know about Christ is if we make the effort to tell them.

• Praying for our missionaries,
• Giving to missions,
• Developing partnerships with other churches to do missions,
• Adopting an unreached people group,
• Sponsoring prayer walks,
• Collarobrating with other Christian groups,
• Organizing mission trips.

These are just a few of the strategies that will enable us to be a church without walls in a world without borders.

How can we keep Texas Baptists “Baptist”? Each of us here needs to make sure the church in which we are members remains a genuine, free Baptist church.

This is what that will mean

In your church, keep Christ at the center. Don’t let some clay pot who was called to be your pastor claim to be the head of the church. That position is already taken. Christ is the head of the church.

In your church, make sure everyone is free to do anything God has gifted him or her to do. Don’t allow the culture to marginalize those whom God has called and gifted for ministry.

In your church, don’t confuse the method and the ministry. Don’t keep using outdated strategies that no longer work. Find ever new methods to carry out the unchanging ministry of the church.

In your church, do not let fundamentalism win the day. Fight for the Baptist principles that will enable your church to remain a free Baptist church.

In your church, do not settle into your comfort zone and forget a world that needs the gospel. Lead your church to develop a mission strategy big enough to touch the whole world.

I hope that thirty years from now, some Texas Baptist pastor can stand up in a meeting and say, “The legacy of Texas Baptists has shaped my ministry and I am thankful for those pastors and laypeople, back at the beginning of the twenty-first century, who paid the price to keep Texas Baptists genuinely Baptist.”

If that is to be, it is up to me—and you.

October 2001