Thankful

There are a lot of things that I could talk about that I'm thankful for--family, friends, Jesus Christ, my husband--but today I'm reminded of something else.

For a long time, even though I'm a Baptist, I didnt want to be labeled as one. "I go to a Baptist church, but I'm not a Baptist"--I saw things in Baptist churches that I wasn't comfortable with so I didnt want to get grouped with them. But through this semester, I've learned a lot. Dirk has been taking a Baptist Heritage class at seminary(a class I had turned my nose up to) and I've learned that the things that I didnt really like about Baptist churches were really not Baptist "things" at all. We discussed this at length last night at church as well, and here is a pretty good list of things that are what historians would call "Baptist distinctives":

• Historically orthodox
• Salvation by grace (incedentally, "salvation by faith" was deemed a heresy we call Pelagianism at the Council at Ephesus in 431. The orthodox veiw would be "salvation by grace through faith")
• Bible as the sole authority
• Autonomy of the local church
• Regenerate church membership
• Priesthood of all believers
• Soul, or Religious Liberty
• 2 Ordinances (Believer's baptism, and the Lord's supper)
• 2 Offices (Deacons and Elders)

I'm not uncomfortable about any of these things, in fact I like them, I want to be part of a church that values them. All the other parts of Baptist churches that always bothered me like the altar calls (invented by the Charles Finney, a questionable evangelist during the Second Great Awakening), prevalent anti-intellectualism(a reflection of the culture), "canned" sermons(see previous), excessive traditionalism (we've-always-done-it-that-way mentality) and so forth aren't even Baptist.

Interestingly, reformed Baptists can trace their heritage to the English Separatists that came to America from England--Otherwise known as Pilgrims [not all Puritans were Pilgrims, but its safe to say that most Pilgrims were Puritans]. John Adams, one of our founding fathers, called reformed Baptists "the most thorough-going reformers", which is a high compliment.

I am thankful for a church that is distinctively "Baptist" for all the right reasons, that doesnt mimic the prevalent model for Baptist churches, which seems to be the way of the "get-rich quick schemes" or "get-big-fast schemes". I dont think there is another denomination(and yes even non-denominational's are a denomination....whatever) that at its heart is as truly biblical as reformed Baptists.. I'm putting myself out there by using that statement. But shouldn't you feel that way about the church you attend? Shouldn't you search the scriptures to see if what your church does and believes is truly biblical?? And if you haven't, what right have you to attack or disagree?

I'm thankful to be a Baptist. Yes, you may label me, as long as you know what kind of Baptist identity I'm refering to. Now that you know, you separate what is historical and what is a new development. Label me as a historical Baptist. I'm thankful for my heritage.

--Kathy