Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Christianity for the Next 1000 Years: "No" Can Mean "Yes"

Welcome back.  I pray you are well.  I hope the following entry makes you smile and gives a thought to carry you throughout your day.

There are some times when Baptists traditionally have said, “No,” and it was a good thing.

“Is the Sermon on the Mount symbolic and too impossible to attempt?”
“No.”
“Jesus never really intended us to really live out the Sermon on the Mount.  I mean really?”
“No.”
“Should I go to war?
“No.”
“Should I kill?”
“No.”
“Should I coerce anyone to believe what I believe or should anyone coerce me?”
“No.”
“Can an association of churches tell my church what to do?”
“No.”
“Can any government ever force me to pray their prayer, read their scripture, or worship according to their church?”
“Hell no!”

I remain a Baptist because by saying “no” to intolerance and repression, I am saying “yes” to religious liberty.  I believe in the separation of church and state, the freedom of conscience, and the competency of the soul.  Ours is a rich history of defying civil authorities who are killing us.   And you thought the puritans were persecuted?
  
It is troubling today to see Baptists argue against the separation of church and state.  Ironically, they claim that the phrase “separation of church and state” is not in the Bill of Rights. 

The phrase comes to us from Thomas Jefferson who used it when he replied to the letter he received from the Danbury Baptists in Connecticut.  The congregation had expressed their fear to Jefferson that the federal government might grow into a religious tyrant.  

Ironically, President Kennedy was speaking to a group of Southern Baptists in 1960 when he said that he believed in the absolute separation of church and state.  Back then, Southern Baptists feared the Pope would be ruling the United States. 

Now that the SBC has so much political influence, I doubt they would want to hear our current president avow absolute separation of church and state.

Ironically, these Baptists today who believe that the separation of church and state is a myth do believe in “separation of powers.”  This phrase is not found in the U.S. Constitution. 

Imagine if our president suddenly declared every American has the right to make his or her own moonshine.  Imagine if he gave an executive order declaring all Americans must learn the art of distilling in federally funded schools.

Lord have mercy!  My Baptist brothers and sisters would gnash their teeth over his egregious violation of the separation of powers.

Incidentally, we Baptists traditionally believe in the trinity, a word not found in the Bible.

I am aware my denomination is not perfect, but I shall remain a Baptist.  My historical heritage and people are too interesting to abandon.   We are good people who lose our way from time to time, for decades on occasion, but some of us find our way again.  Religious liberty allows me to say, "No!" to my church.  

Which is the most impossible journey for a Christian?  Living out the Sermon on the Mount or possessing the correct theology?  I choose the Sermon on the Mount.  It manifests the nature of God. 

I am too stubborn to change, too loyal.   Besides, I am ordained.  Nobody can take that away except the one who called me. 

Next, I want to reflect on spiritual psychology.  I hope to see you here.  Blessings…

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