For those who don’t know me, I’m a member of this progressive, liberal, affirming, diverse, and ecumenical congregation. I’ve been an adherent to American Baptist values most of my adult life.
Let me tell you more about myself: I’m a political conservative, I voted for Bush, I watch Fox News, I belong to the NRA and own guns, I’m a card carrying Libertarian, I only watch Bill Moyers on TV to see if he will lean so far to the left he tips over, I subscribe to Buckley’s “National Review”, and I believe in the concept of just war. You might ask what am I doing at Judson?
This congregation has a long history of respectful dissent and creative diversity. This congregation does not impose conformity or the need to be compliant with some prescribed doctrine. In fact, the core of our Baptist heritage is that of soul and Bible freedom.
This means the freedom I have to discern God’s intentions for me through reading and studying the scripture and engaging in careful reflection and openness to the holy spirit.
I use the best biblical scholarship to determine the original meaning of a text, and understanding the language, assumptions, and the historical settings that shape the writing. I use the traditions of the church and how it has struggled with the moral and theological questions of the day. I use my God-given capacity to think clearly and logically to help me understand God’s revelations in Scripture. I use my life experiences as well as the stories of others to ask questions and seek new understanding of God’s intentions for me. Some fundamentalists would say I am over-analyzing the scripture, that I’m insulting God, and that the inerrancy of the Bible doesn’t need further discussion.
Now I must tell you how deeply I am disappointed and angered by the actions of some of our denominational leadership who are now acting in a very non-Baptist way to enforce adherence to their scriptural interpretation on the ordination of certain people. Somehow they have become infected with a virus of self righteousness, and a disregard for justice.
Let me give you an example: Two hundred years ago the issue was the legitimacy of holding slaves, a hundred years ago it was whether women should vote, today it is the ordination of openly gay people, and in every instance some clergy have cited the Bible as supporting slavery, prohibiting women from voting, and condemning gays.
Tomorrow it is likely to be bioethical issues surrounding the use of medical use of human tissue, which some would say is prohibited as it is killing, or if we can involve ourselves on issues of social justice to non-Christians, which some will say is yoking ourselves with unbelievers, both “prohibited” by their narrow reading of the scriptures. So if I undergo a therapy that uses embryonic stem cells, will my denomination deny to accept me at the communion table?
Our American Baptist denomination, in the Statement of Purpose in the Bylaws, emphasizes the importance of creative diversity. Here at Judson, no one has condemned me for how I vote, or what TV news program I watch. Diversity is affirmed. What some of our denominational leadership have done is the same as saying: “we respect your right to vote for the candidate of your choice but we won’t give you a ballot,” or “you can watch Fox News all you want but we won’t let you plug in the TV set.” To claim to honor diversity, but withhold my freedom to act, is a sham. It is to place a stumbling block in my path.
Ours is a faith that takes its authority from the grass roots, which is the local congregation, from the “bottom up”. We have no pope, and no Book of Discipline to tell us what is acceptable and what is not. Others faiths operate from the “top down”, they have bishops and creeds. and they are equally sincere and faithful and blessed. You see, I believe that truth is plural not singular, there is more than one right answer and there are multiple pathways to God. I’m an American Baptist and I don’t need a Bishop to tell me what to believe. What part of “equal rights and equal opportunities” is confusing?
Now, having said all this, does our denominational leadership do anything right? Of course they do. It has missionary programs throughout the world that raise the living standards of the poor. It is a gatekeeper in assuring the First Amendment separation of church and state. American Baptists are the most racially diverse of all protestant denominations in the USA.
How do we productively work through disagreements? In a word, we do this in love, respect, forbearance, kindness, and a willingness to listen to others, forgive them, and work with them no matter how much we disagree. The issues on which we disagree today and tomorrow will be those for which there can be no compromise. That we agree to disagree will be to continue our Baptist tradition. Fellowship needs to be built on something more basic and lasting than agreement; it needs to be built on love and respect for every other child of God.
Let me say I’m proud to be a member of this congregation. I am angry with American Baptists leadership for withholding a basic individual freedom, My dilemma is how to be both angry and proud.