On Being Baptist…Religious Liberty Really Is A Big Deal To Us.
Baptists have historically been willing to pay a high price for religious freedom. Baptists, more zealously than most other denominations in American history, were not content to settle for mere tolerance but instead would campaign for religious freedom, not just for themselves but for all. John Locke once wrote, “The Baptists were the first propounders of absolute liberty, just and true liberty, equal and impartial liberty.” Our most ardent Baptist convictions, flowing out of our understanding of the nature of the Christian faith, drive us to seek the religious freedom for all faith traditions, even ones that we deeply fear. Only in a society where the free exchange of ideas and beliefs are tolerated (toleration is the belief that opposing views can be held with civility with out restricting the free expression of the beliefs of those in which I differ.) only there are we able to truly compel others to believe the Gospel.
I write this because I am saddened at how this foundation has been eroded by many in my beloved Southern Baptist tradition. Pastors and churches (many in my state of Tennessee), who refuse to do even a small amount of research, are condemning God glorifying organizations like the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission and the International Mission Board of the SBC for their support of religious liberty for Muslims in America. Mind you, there has not been one dollar spent on the building of a mosque even though many people choose to believe the underbelly of “alternative facts.” For crying out loud, “Religious Liberty” is the name of ERLC, a key Commission that Southern Baptists have historically seen as vital to our Mission.
I struggle with my Baptist friends who think there is nobility and sound judgment in neglecting the religious liberty of Muslims. Hiding their fear behind cleverly calculated vernacular, I fear that some Baptists are justifying their racism and nationalism by reclassifying Islam as a “geopolitical movement.” It saddens me that they are so blinded by their fear that they prove themselves to be what the world actually thinks they are…ignorant bigots. I know that sounds harsh and believe me, I hate saying it. But it does us no good to decry the revisionist attempts among liberal intellectuals to rewrite American and religious history if we are willing to do the same by believing “alternative facts” and “fake news” that justify our cultural bias. All of this does a massive disservice to our rich history as Baptists and even more the Mission we are called to: Declaring the hope of the Gospel of Jesus.
I pray we will confront this errant notion and push back this anti-Baptist, even anti-Christian notion of declining the religious freedom of any religious tradition. This is NOT what Baptists are all about. I’ll end this post by pointing us to a section of the SBC’s own Confession of Faith, the Baptist, Faith and Message, 2000 below:
XVII. Religious Liberty
God alone is Lord of the conscience, and He has left it free from the doctrines and commandments of men which are contrary to His Word or not contained in it. Church and state should be separate. The state owes to every church protection and full freedom in the pursuit of its spiritual ends. In providing for such freedom no ecclesiastical group or denomination should be favored by the state more than others. Civil government being ordained of God, it is the duty of Christians to render loyal obedience thereto in all things not contrary to the revealed will of God. The church should not resort to the civil power to carry on its work. The gospel of Christ contemplates spiritual means alone for the pursuit of its ends. The state has no right to impose penalties for religious opinions of any kind. The state has no right to impose taxes for the support of any form of religion. A free church in a free state is the Christian ideal, and this implies the right of free and unhindered access to God on the part of all men, and the right to form and propagate opinions in the sphere of religion without interference by the civil power.
Genesis 1:27; 2:7; Matthew 6:6-7,24; 16:26; 22:21; John 8:36; Acts 4:19-20; Romans 6:1-2; 13:1-7; Galatians 5:1,13; Philippians 3:20; 1 Timothy 2:1-2; James 4:12; 1 Peter 2:12-17; 3:11-17; 4:12-19.
Some Resources for further Study:
The Gospel & Religious Liberty by Russell Moore and Andrew Walker
Religious Liberty – Baptist Faith & Message, Article 17 – Tom Nettles
Why I I am a Baptist – Tom Nettles and Russell Moore
