2008 Woodie Awards
On Faith: I'm a Post-Denominational Emerging Baptist
Zach T. Roberts, Special to The Carolinian
Issue date: 10/24/06 Section: Life
This a confessional sketch. I am not speaking for the UNCG BCM [Baptist Campus Ministry] or for the Baptist State Convention of NC. Although there are many in those two groups who resonate with what I am writing here.
I have been Baptist since I was in diapers crawling around the nursery at Chestnut Hill Baptist Church in Lynchburg, VA. Yeah, you read that right…Lynchburg, VA. "Falwell Land" as some like to call it. The only connection I had with Jerry was that we went to the same barber. By the grace of God my family did not get caught up in that brand of fundamentalism. However, my spiritual formation had its beginnings in the paradigm of conservative Southern Baptist spirituality. It was not until seminary that things began to change.
In seminary I engaged the history of my tradition which was marked, like most histories, with glory and tragedy. One such tragedy was still in full swing while I was a student: the battle for the Southern Baptist Convention. Some may know it as the Conservative Reformation or the Fundamentalist Takeover…depending on what side you have grown up on. For me it was heartbreaking. How could we fulfill the expectation of Jesus when he said, "They will know you are my disciples by your love for one another," and continue to act this way?
Since then, I have tried to define for myself another way of being Baptist. I saw myself in both sides of the old debate, but I did not want to choose sides or take up the sword. Besides, they are fighting over the past. I want to understand who to be right now, and who I can become in the future. They are arguing over who is most right, I do not want to argue at all. Their kind of arguing often assumes an absolute grasp of faith on either side. I believe that to be unattainable and even unhealthy. While Baptists have always been a surly bunch, I believe institutionalization has made diversity of perspectives untenable, and has led to efforts at unanimity and centralization.
Thus begins my understanding of being post-denominational. To be post-denominational is the same as being post-institutional. It is identifying with an organic tradition, but not with its lifeless machinery. How can you be post-denominational and still have a denomination's name?
The name Baptist came to be used some time around the 1640s. It was given to a group of separatists that shared some common convictions and practices concerning the church. "Baptist" as an institutional entity evolved over time in the incubator of modernity.
The point here is that the word Baptist represents people who have similar convictions and church practices. The people gave meaning to what was Baptist, not the other way around. As it was institutionalized "Baptist" began to define the people. This is quite un-Baptist for those who know our history.
I am post-denominational because I identify with Baptist persons going all the way back to 1609 and non-Baptist people going back to human beginnings. I am emerging in the sense that God is not finished with the project of my life, and the project of the kingdom. I am Baptist, but my imagination is not captivated by the institution. Rather, I am empowered by those Baptist shoulders on which I stand to do the work of articulating what it means to be Baptist in a new era of history. This present era has been called postmodern, but some, including myself, have recognized that we are still in transition or emerging from the previous era known as modernity.
So, what is a "Post-denominational Emerging Baptist (PDEB)?" A PDEB is not a 17th century Baptist although it retains the reformers' spirit. It is not a colonial American Baptist although it still insists that the government has no rule over the conscience of its citizens. It is not the religious-right Baptist although it persists in its role as a prophetic voice in the face of injustice. It is not the literal-inerrantist Baptist, although it is wholly and faithfully committed to the Scripture. It is not the monolithic imperial Baptist, but it persists in trusting that Jesus is the catalyst for the transformation and redemption of the world.
A PDEB trusts that what God has made is good and that God relates to creation redemptively out of love for what was made. While violence and corruption are present in the world, creation itself is not evil, but is instead sacred. As a result, a PDEB sees all of creation as a gift and a blessing to be embraced. In likeness to God humanity has been called to live in loving relationship with God and with all of creation. Jesus would be the first to incarnate this relational dynamic. His life exposed the truth that earthly empires, both religious and political, presumed to have power and authority over creation that belonged to God alone. As a result he was murdered by those powers.
In response to Jesus, PDEB's have an eco-social spirituality and ethic. We trust, like the apostle Paul, that the redemption Jesus incarnated is for the entire creation: human and nonhuman. We are also confident, like Paul, that all things will be reconciled…not some things or some people. PDEB faith is one of hope. The God we relate to and find in the Bible is not a tyrannical king that awaits a misstep on our part only to consign us to a bitter end in hell. That is too much like the imperialism Jesus debunked in his message and mission. PDEB faith is resurrection faith, trusting that Jesus' end was a new beginning and a foreshadowing of what will be true for all of creation in God's future. Since we place our trust in a God whose posture toward all humanity and creation has been one of embrace, we strive to assume that same posture in our living.
If you are Baptist and dissatisfied, you are not limited only to the prevailing options; liberal or conservative. You are also not limited to the stereotypes of Baptists in the media. You can surprise people, like I have, by actually being nice and by making friends with people Baptists have often publicly shamed. The truth is that God's love is bigger than our ideologies and institutions. We will always be in the process of reimagining our traditional identities. If we cease to do so and start defending a position we become guilty of idolatry. The kind of idolatry that divides churches, denominations, religions, and humanity, and utterly fails to live into the image of God. I'm kind of tired of that. Aren't you?
Zach Roberts is a Reverend with UNCG Baptist Campus Ministry.
Submit your own On Faith to: the_carolinian@hotmail.com.
I have been Baptist since I was in diapers crawling around the nursery at Chestnut Hill Baptist Church in Lynchburg, VA. Yeah, you read that right…Lynchburg, VA. "Falwell Land" as some like to call it. The only connection I had with Jerry was that we went to the same barber. By the grace of God my family did not get caught up in that brand of fundamentalism. However, my spiritual formation had its beginnings in the paradigm of conservative Southern Baptist spirituality. It was not until seminary that things began to change.
In seminary I engaged the history of my tradition which was marked, like most histories, with glory and tragedy. One such tragedy was still in full swing while I was a student: the battle for the Southern Baptist Convention. Some may know it as the Conservative Reformation or the Fundamentalist Takeover…depending on what side you have grown up on. For me it was heartbreaking. How could we fulfill the expectation of Jesus when he said, "They will know you are my disciples by your love for one another," and continue to act this way?
Since then, I have tried to define for myself another way of being Baptist. I saw myself in both sides of the old debate, but I did not want to choose sides or take up the sword. Besides, they are fighting over the past. I want to understand who to be right now, and who I can become in the future. They are arguing over who is most right, I do not want to argue at all. Their kind of arguing often assumes an absolute grasp of faith on either side. I believe that to be unattainable and even unhealthy. While Baptists have always been a surly bunch, I believe institutionalization has made diversity of perspectives untenable, and has led to efforts at unanimity and centralization.
Thus begins my understanding of being post-denominational. To be post-denominational is the same as being post-institutional. It is identifying with an organic tradition, but not with its lifeless machinery. How can you be post-denominational and still have a denomination's name?
The name Baptist came to be used some time around the 1640s. It was given to a group of separatists that shared some common convictions and practices concerning the church. "Baptist" as an institutional entity evolved over time in the incubator of modernity.
The point here is that the word Baptist represents people who have similar convictions and church practices. The people gave meaning to what was Baptist, not the other way around. As it was institutionalized "Baptist" began to define the people. This is quite un-Baptist for those who know our history.
I am post-denominational because I identify with Baptist persons going all the way back to 1609 and non-Baptist people going back to human beginnings. I am emerging in the sense that God is not finished with the project of my life, and the project of the kingdom. I am Baptist, but my imagination is not captivated by the institution. Rather, I am empowered by those Baptist shoulders on which I stand to do the work of articulating what it means to be Baptist in a new era of history. This present era has been called postmodern, but some, including myself, have recognized that we are still in transition or emerging from the previous era known as modernity.
So, what is a "Post-denominational Emerging Baptist (PDEB)?" A PDEB is not a 17th century Baptist although it retains the reformers' spirit. It is not a colonial American Baptist although it still insists that the government has no rule over the conscience of its citizens. It is not the religious-right Baptist although it persists in its role as a prophetic voice in the face of injustice. It is not the literal-inerrantist Baptist, although it is wholly and faithfully committed to the Scripture. It is not the monolithic imperial Baptist, but it persists in trusting that Jesus is the catalyst for the transformation and redemption of the world.
A PDEB trusts that what God has made is good and that God relates to creation redemptively out of love for what was made. While violence and corruption are present in the world, creation itself is not evil, but is instead sacred. As a result, a PDEB sees all of creation as a gift and a blessing to be embraced. In likeness to God humanity has been called to live in loving relationship with God and with all of creation. Jesus would be the first to incarnate this relational dynamic. His life exposed the truth that earthly empires, both religious and political, presumed to have power and authority over creation that belonged to God alone. As a result he was murdered by those powers.
In response to Jesus, PDEB's have an eco-social spirituality and ethic. We trust, like the apostle Paul, that the redemption Jesus incarnated is for the entire creation: human and nonhuman. We are also confident, like Paul, that all things will be reconciled…not some things or some people. PDEB faith is one of hope. The God we relate to and find in the Bible is not a tyrannical king that awaits a misstep on our part only to consign us to a bitter end in hell. That is too much like the imperialism Jesus debunked in his message and mission. PDEB faith is resurrection faith, trusting that Jesus' end was a new beginning and a foreshadowing of what will be true for all of creation in God's future. Since we place our trust in a God whose posture toward all humanity and creation has been one of embrace, we strive to assume that same posture in our living.
If you are Baptist and dissatisfied, you are not limited only to the prevailing options; liberal or conservative. You are also not limited to the stereotypes of Baptists in the media. You can surprise people, like I have, by actually being nice and by making friends with people Baptists have often publicly shamed. The truth is that God's love is bigger than our ideologies and institutions. We will always be in the process of reimagining our traditional identities. If we cease to do so and start defending a position we become guilty of idolatry. The kind of idolatry that divides churches, denominations, religions, and humanity, and utterly fails to live into the image of God. I'm kind of tired of that. Aren't you?
Zach Roberts is a Reverend with UNCG Baptist Campus Ministry.
Submit your own On Faith to: the_carolinian@hotmail.com.
Be the first to comment on this story