It Takes An Emergent Village..
Over the years since the IBFNA was organized, we have struggled over
those who abandoned the name Baptist as a term
that identified them. While some used to complain that its use
identified us with the Conventions, in fact, churches, schools,
agencies and other organizations changed because they felt constrained
or limited by the term and eagerly shed the title to become more
friendly to the world and more seeker sensitive.
But what about those organizations that made the move but kept the
title?
In hindsight I am thankful for those who came out of the proverbial
closet to declare that they do not wish to be so narrowly defined. At
least we can respect their integrity, if not their doctrinal position.
The real question, however, is how many other organizations and
ministries have moved away from a fundamentalist Baptist position but
keep the title to mask recent changes in their positions, or at least
to keep Baptist dollars rolling in that might otherwise be cut off.
In some recent research, I found a few examples to demonstrate my
point:
From a Baptist mission agency:
"..Is an
independent faith mission agency that exists to serve local churches in
carrying out the task of world evangelism...(Which is also) in
partnership (with a school) to provide theologically conservative
graduate education..."
From a school that abandoned its rich Baptist heritage and dropped
Baptist in one name but retains it in another: Is an
evangelical Christian university..recognized for its distinctive
commitment to Christian worldview and leadership
development.
From the same school's Confession of Faith:
"..Affirms a core confession of convictions in common with
the creeds of the early church, the confessions of the Reformation and
all conservative Evangelical Christians."
For those who have set aside the title Baptist, the direction of their
movements is unmistakenly towards Evangelicalism, New or otherwise. If
you're one of those who consider the name drop and move into
Evangelicalism as benign, you need to takeoff the blinders. Beside
being market-driven by what people want in a church, there have been
other changes like elder rule in place of congregational polity and an
open, if not Reformed, perspective on eschatology. These and other
changes are clearly the undermining of Baptist distinctives, much like
we continue to suffer under the influence of people like John
MacArthur. While we have rightfully criticized the movement towards
entertainment instead of worship and into contemporary music (which
MacArthur now defends) instead of the great hymns of our faith, these
are but the symptoms of a deeper doctrinal shift that seeks to redefine
Christianity and the Church and to challenge our fundamental doctrines.
Evangelicalism not only has opened the door to historical Liberalism
but has also built a bridge to Ecumenicism, as recently represented by
the Emerging Church Movement (ECM), also known now as the Emergent
Village. In a recent occasion where I met a staff member of the local
Calvary Chapel, I asked what their position was regarding the ECM. His
reply was that Calvary Chapel strongly opposes it and his pastor would
preach against it, except the movement or its leaders would never be
identified by name from the pulpit. I can understand Calvary
Chapel's opposition to ECM. After all, it is the next step
down an already slippery slope towards Ecumenicism; and contemporary
worship churches may yet be threatened by the loss of people to ECM
operations or face the necessity to become like ECM in order to keep
their people from leaving. It will be an interesting test of the people
drawn to contemporary churches whether they will still seek some
measure of Biblical preaching or gravitate towards the more open views
of Scripture characteristic of the Neo-Orthodoxy of ECM.
If the term "Baptist" is to mean anything to the
present generation and if we would be faithful to its true heritage, we
cannot be part of the watering down of the authority of God's
Word. Our reaction to such changes and nonsense should be a deeper
conviction to preach the whole counsel of God's Word, teach
our people its doctrine and challenge our people with a renewed zeal
for holy living. It is not a time to stand on the sidelines and watch
the wreckage cause by compromise. Neither is it a time to wring our
hands in despair, as if there is nothing to be done about it. We need
to faithfully preach His Word, with His power, for His glory and see
how God still changes hearts in the midst of confusion caused by the
folly of men. As things change more rapidly and more widely than ever
before, it is a blessing to cling to the One Who changes not.
Dr. Charles L. Dear