So What?
Over the last few posts, I’ve written about the way 19th century Baptists in the south thought about and reacted to the institution of slavery leading up to the Civil War. Many started out staunchly anti-slavery, then moved to a stance of neutrality when they realized that this was an issue with potential to divide and perhaps even destroy the Baptist denomination. Eventually, this neutral stance gave way to a pro-slavery one and the southern Baptists officially broke away from the northern ones.
The Southern Baptist Convention, still prominent today, was formed in 1845 as a response to northern Baptists refusing to allow southern Baptist slaveholders to serve as missionaries. It would take the Southern Baptist Convention 150 years to acknowledge and apologize for the racism inherent in its foundation - a statement they issued in 1995, within my very own lifetime.
While the split in the Baptist and other protestant denominations did not specifically cause the Civil War, the influence of the church on political leaders certainly intensified rising tension in our nation - a fact that should sit in the forefront of our 21st century minds.
The political climate over the last 5 years has been one that seems eerily familiar when reading and researching the influence of Baptist leaders on political issues over time. As someone who loves the church, loves and is proud of her Baptist heritage, and feels called to ministry within the Baptist church, it’s been disheartening that our cultural climate is one that almost demands us to pick political sides. I’ve found myself greatly frustrated by the way politics seems to creep into every aspect of the Church, how the Church seems to creep its way into the public political sphere claiming to speak for all Christians, and how ready the Church has been to hand-off its charge to take care of its neighbors to the government as a whole. There are, once again, very loud and influential church leaders who have thrown in their hats with one political party or the other, and who hold sway over the country in a way that I feel is in conflict with the original Baptist resolve to keep Church and state separate.
“But mostly, if survival of our churches or denomination is our main priority to the point where we ignore blatant injustice and oppression, then we need to examine our hearts.”
However, as the body of Christ, we cannot ignore situations of injustice and other issues that arise that are fuel for quickly catching political fires. There are some issues that we are called by God to engage; the question of how to engage those issues without allowing the state or our own politics, or even our denomination to become an idol is key.
That prominent church leaders recognize their influence and use that influence responsibly in a Christ-like manner is important - maybe even paramount - to the survival of our churches. That we take great care in our interpretation of Scripture and in our theology so as not to promote ideas that are harmful rather than true to the character of God is of equal importance.
But mostly, if survival of our churches or denomination is our main priority to the point where we ignore blatant injustice and oppression, then we need to examine our hearts. This, I think, is the true lesson of our 19th century Baptist foremothers and forefathers - let us never again opt for neutrality in the face of evil simply because it’s easier and safer for the denomination. We must never again put the survival of the Church over the lives of real people. May we learn from this story and be found faithful in our future witness.
