In fact, He intended quite the opposite actually. He never intended to create a class of untouchables within biblical community who were not to be welcomed or tolerated.
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He knew that all people long for peace and hope and love. He really meant all.Ĭhrist knew that all people have a desperate need for reconnection with their Creator. He didn’t add but don’t bring me the poor, the gays, or the minorities. He didn’t mean all the people that society approves of or who you consider “normal.” He didn’t mean bring me the successful, the intelligent, the praiseworthy alone. However, I also know that when Christ said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened…” he meant literally all. I have very strong opinions about the ecclesiological mandate for biblical marriage as well as opinions of how God intended to use marriage to create strong, biological families, which along with the church, would form the basic building blocks of true, spiritual community. Let me be clear as to avoid any confusion. Now onto the underlying issue of the place of gays and lesbians in the church body. It is a break, pure and simple, from Baptist teaching and tradition. It is a case of a complete supplanting of the Convention’s opinions for that of the local church. This is not a case of the SBC overreaching the bounds of its authority. It is quite another to do so over the design and layout of a church directory. It is one thing to disassociate from a church because the congregation fails to recognize the historical accuracy of the resurrection or refuses to submit to Christ’s mandate for baptism or is reluctant to recognize the sinless life of Jesus Christ. That is not how Baptists have operated historically, and indeed, if we are to even maintain some semblance of meaning in the word “Baptist,” we cannot sacrifice the core principles of Baptist organization over minor theological quibbles.
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By making this decision and ending a 125-year union with Broadway, the SBC decided to substitute its opinion for that of the congregation and impose its will on Broadway at the end of the proverbial barrel of a gun. Instead, we feel that as all Christians are afforded grace and wisdom from God, that God intends us to use that wisdom to direct our own affairs in accordance with our conscience and our understanding of scripture. We have not constructed organizations of weighty overseers who micromanage the affairs and doctrinal teaching of each individual, local church. Baptists have traditionally been known as different from other denominations because we allow freedom of conscience, democratic decision-making, and autonomy of the local church. Let me begin by saying how thoroughly un-Baptist this decision by the SBC is. This “sin” precipitated their expulsion from the Southern Baptist Convention. After prolonged debate on the issue, Broadway decided to allow anyone who wanted to take their picture together to do so for the church directory. When the time came to take pictures of families and members in the congregation for a photo directory for the church, some gay and lesbian couples wanted to have their pictures taken together.
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You see, Broadway Baptist Church, like all Baptist churches of any size or population has gay and lesbian members in their congregation. You may ask, what in the world could possess the SBC to do such a thing, to take by all accounts a faithful, historic congregation and cast them out of our association? The answer is: a church directory. That being said, I have been a member of an SBC church since 2004, so when the SBC decides to do something distasteful and un-Baptist, I feel the need to speak up.Īt its annual meeting last week, the Southern Baptist Convention broke precedent and ended a 125-year relationship with Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas. I was baptized at age 18 and denominations were no part of my decision to affiliate myself with the person and body of Christ. I have never considered myself to be a dyed-in-the-wool Southern Baptist.