Stylos

“…so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar (stylos) and ground of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15).

An occasional commentary by Pastor Jeff Riddle, Jefferson Park Baptist Church

“What Do Southern Baptists Believe?” Answering Common Questions and Misconceptions about the Southern Baptist Convention

July 2002

In these days, the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) has become known for taking clear and incontrovertible stands in the face of cultural relativism (the truth is “up for grabs”). In June 2000 the SBC approved a revision of its primary confession, the Baptist Faith and Message (BFM). Many of the SBC’s positions have been misinterpreted and misunderstood. Here are a few common questions and responses.

1. Does the 2000 Baptist Faith and Message represent an innovation among Baptists who have always been a non-creedal people?

No. Baptists have long held to confessions of faith that set out their basic beliefs. In fact, most early Baptist churches drew up a confession of faith as a standard for church membership. Among the best known early Baptist confessions is the so-called Second London Confession of 1689. Early Baptists in America also adopted confessions, including the influential New Hampshire Confession of 1833. Southern Seminary, the oldest Southern Baptist Seminary, founded in 1858, has always required its professors to sign a confession called “The Abstract of Principles” to encourage doctrinal accountability. The first Southern Baptist confession, the Baptist Faith and Message, was adopted in 1925. It was revised again in 1963 and once again in 2000. All three versions follow the basic outline of the 1833 New Hampshire Confession. Baptist confessions of faith are not creeds. The ultimate standard for Baptist Christians remains the Scriptures.

2. Isn’t it a new idea to make missionaries sign the Baptist Faith and Message?

No. In fact, Baptists have always held missionaries to doctrinal accountability. Pioneer English Baptist missionary William Carey drew up the Serampore Form of Agreement in 1805 to guide missionaries in India. The Foreign Mission Board of the SBC drew up a thirteen point doctrinal statement in 1919 to which missionaries were required to conform. In the 1960s the 1963 BFM began to be used as the doctrinal standard for missionaries. Each person under appointment was required to give a statement of faith and pledge to teach in accordance with and not contrary to the BFM. With the updating of the BFM in 2000 it is only natural that the confession be applied to the current missionary force.

3. Have some missionaries resigned rather than sign the new BFM?

Although some predicted that many missionaries would resign, in fact, only a few have done so. In the Spring 2002 trustee meeting of the IMB, Vice-President Avery Willis announced that about 10 of the over 5,000 missionaries (or c. 0.2%) had resigned as a direct result of the requested compliance to the new BFM. This means that about 99.80% of the mission force remains in place. The truth is that the vast majority of the missionary force is in strong agreement with the basic tenets of the confession.

4. Is it true that the IMB does not appoint women as missionaries?

No. Women are welcomed into missionary service. In fact the July-August 2002 edition of the IMB’s Commission magazine reported: “Today 54 percent of Southern Baptists’ 5,241 missionaries are women, about a fourth of them are single.” In addition to service in church and home evangelism ministry, women missionaries serve the IMB as strategy coordinators, church planters, associational leaders, doctors, nurses, agriculturalists, teachers, and business consultants.

5. Is the SBC misogynistic (anti-women)?

No. The SBC affirms the full equality of men and women. The article on humanity in the 2000 BFM affirms: “Man is the special creation of God, made in His own image. He created them male and female as the crowning work of His creation. The gift of gender is thus part of the goodness of God’s creation.” The article on family affirms: “The husband and wife are of equal worth before God, since both are created in God’s image.”

6. Does the Southern Baptist Convention oppose women in ministry?

No. In fact, the BFM 2000 plainly states that “both men and women are gifted for service in the church.” Southern Baptists affirm the ministry of women in countless official and unofficial capacities. Women serve in a wide variety of ministry positions on church staffs throughout the SBC. Women are admitted to all Southern Baptist Seminaries, including schools of theology where students pursue the basic professional ministry degree (the Master of Divinity) and doctoral programs. The calling to local church positions of ministry is a local church decision.

The 2000 BFM does, however, express the basic belief held by the overwhelming majority of Baptist churches that “the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.” Among passages cited in support of this qualification are: 1 Timothy 2:9-14; 3:1-15; 4:14.

The SBC has taken a “complementarian view” toward gender roles. Men and women are equal but not the same. Their differences complement each other. It is a good thing that we are different and not an “inequality” to be overcome. Our gender is not something we choose, but it is a fundamental way God has made us different from each other. One way that the Bible affirms the beauty of the gender difference is by affirming that men and women have different roles in ministry. In Biblical times, for example, there was an order of “widows” that excluded the participation of men (see 1 Timothy 5:3-16). In a similar way, the Biblical model seems to limit the role of Pastor or Elder to men only.

With the rise of feminism, equal rights, and the blurring of gender differences (homosexuality, transexuality, etc.), many see the complementarian position as unjust. What we have to struggle with is not how the current culture sees it, but whether or not it is a Biblically faithful position.

7. Do Southern Baptists teach that wives are “to graciously submit” to their husbands?

Yes. Many times, however, this part of the 2000 BFM is quoted out of context. The idea of submission is not a modern innovation nor is it anti-women. It comes from the Biblical teaching on marriage, as found in Ephesians 5:21-33. In the Christian context, “submission” is not a negative or demeaning activity. All Christians are to “submit to one another out of reverence for Christ” (Eph 5:21). Biblical teaching about wives submitting to husbands is always accompanied by the command that husbands self-sacrificially love their wives. The 2000 BFM follows the Biblical pattern by affirming: “A husband is to love his wife as Christ loves the church.” The 2000 BFM simply affirms loving, Biblical marriages where husbands and wives have different servant roles toward the other.

8. Do Southern Baptists hate homosexuals?

It has become common for homosexual rights activists to protest outside meetings of the Southern Baptist annual convention meeting. Are Southern Baptists homo-phobic?

Rather than saying that the SBC has taken a stand against homosexuality, it may be more fair to say that the SBC has taken a stand for committed marriages and Biblical standards for sexuality. The 2000 BFM affirms marriage as “the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime.” It further affirms marriage as “the framework for intimate companionship” and “the channel of sexual expression according to Biblical standards.”

Southern Baptists do not hate homosexuals, but they love them enough to speak the truth in love. It would be unloving to see someone persist in a sinful lifestyle and not warn them about the dangerous consequences. Biblical Christianity tells the truth about God’s standards in hopes that those engaging in homosexual behavior will turn, repent and be reconciled to God and his ways.

9. What do Southern Baptists believe about abortion and other social issues?

The 2000 BFM statement on “The Christian and the Social Order” reads in part: “In the spirit of Christ, Christians should oppose racism, every form of greed, selfishness, and vice, and all forms of sexual immorality, including adultery, homosexuality and pornography. We should work to provide for the orphaned, the needy, the abused, the aged, the helpless, and the sick. We should speak on behalf of the unborn and contend for the sanctity of human life from conception to natural death.”

10. Are Southern Baptists intolerant of people from other religions and faith traditions?

Some have criticized the SBC’s evangelistic and missionary zeal, including the IMB’s printing of prayer calendars to encourage the acceptance of the gospel among Hindus and Muslims.

It is true that Southern Baptist do not affirm the equality of all religions. Instead, they argue that salvation is found through faith in Christ alone. The 2000 BFM states: “There is no salvation apart from personal faith in Jesus Christ as Lord.” This is as true for unsaved Hindus and Muslims as it is for unsaved Westerners. The acknowledgement of this exclusive claim lights a fire and passion among Southern Baptists to preach the gospel to the nations.

11. Are Southern Baptist always right?

Of course not. Southern Baptist churches are not perfect nor do they hold the exclusive corner on the truth. Thank God! The Kingdom is a whole lot bigger than the SBC! Still, the SBC is a movement that has been used by God in the past to advance the kingdom, and it is still being used by God today. May it always seek to examine its beliefs and actions under the searchlight of Scripture!

Jeffrey T. Riddle
Pastor, Jefferson Park Baptist Church

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Stylos

“What Do Southern Baptists Believe?” Answering Common Questions and Misconceptions about the Southern Baptist Convention

July 2002

Jeffrey T. Riddle Pastor, Jefferson Park Baptist Church

Jeffrey T. Riddle
Pastor, Jefferson Park Baptist Church