New Baptist Covenant

Due to several factors, not the least of which was a packed schedule and tuition, I was unable to attend the New Baptist Covenant in Atlanta, GA. I had hoped to attend the meeting. You can read my good friend and former colleague Mike Ruffin's thoughts here.

A fellow student of mine at Southern, he is a Ph.D. Candidate named David Roach, did have the opportunity to attend the meeting. Upon his return to Louisville, he wrote an insightful article for the SBTS community. His comments I think are right on and are pertinent not just to the NBC, but to any kind of situation where good meaning people are involved in differing organizations. Here is some of what David had to say:

"The New Baptist Covenant is certainly right to insist that professed Christians treat one another with love and kindness. However. . . some groups, by their very natures, cannot partner with certain other groups in cooperative ventures. Yet that lack of cooperation does not necessarily make those groups either unloving or unkind.

I think that is an important point for both SBC supporters and CBF folk to remember. I affirm the NBC's call for unity in spreading the Gospel and appreciate their zeal for social justice. As a Christian first and a Baptist second, any kind of unloving or unkind attitude toward my fellow brothers and sisters should clearly be set aside. But that does not mean that I, even though a Baptist, should necessarily unite with the NBC (should there be something to unite with) just because I am a Baptist and I am called to love. Roach goes on to quote Pastor Gerald Durley from Atlanta who was the leader of one of the break-out sessions. My suspicions I think were validated by this kind of teaching:

"[he] said that Baptists need to get over the desire to convert everyone to faith in Christ and appreciate the beauty of religions like Islam. He compared the religions of the world to vegetable soup that is flavorful because of its diversity, saying, 'In a vegetable soup you've got carrots, you've got potatoes, you've got tomatoes, you've got all these vegetables and when they come together, I've never seen a carrot say, "Boy, I think I'll become a potato this evening."

That's pretty rough. Even if he is going to argue for pluralism, surely he can come up with something better than that. I don't want to fall into the fallacy of thinking the NBC as a whole holds this view because this one pastor was teaching it, but I do think it serves as a general idea of the theological mindset of the group. That is something I just can't be a part of. Not because I am unloving or unkind, but because it goes against a crucial part of Scripture that I believe is non-negotiable.

Here is the flip side. Those who are loyal to the SBC, the more conservative lot, should not make the mistake of thinking the good people over CBF churches are just liberal, unloving idiots. We can argue our cases, we can cite Scripture, we can debate. But if they decide to not partner with the SBC because of their own conviction to their belief structure, then we must respect that and continue to love. I am glad the often labeled "conservative resurgence" happened. However, from what I have heard, many involved in the desire to move the convention back to a more conservative position were less than loving and kind in the process. That is unfortunate. Nevertheless, I have no problem with people of faith standing firm in their convictions of matter of importance. We are blessed with a long history of men and women who have done exactly that, even at the cost of their own lives, so we can discuss these issues today.

So where does that leave us? It leaves us with actively living a life of love to all who we come in contact with, especially our brothers and sisters in Christ, even those who do not share our views. But it always leaves us with the understanding that we might not all fit into one group, fellowship, convention, or covenant together.