Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Church Grammar

Home
Evangelical
Baptists, Ecumenism, and the Future

Baptists, Ecumenism, and the Future

Last updated on: July 12, 2017 at 8:37 pm by Brandon D. Smith

Baptists, Ecumenism, and the Future 2017-07-12T20:37:30-05:00 Brandon D. Smith

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

In a recent interview posted at The Center for Baptist Renewal, Timothy George was asked how the next generation of Baptist leaders can maintain Baptist identity while also spearheading efforts at ecumenism. His answer was threefold:

I believe in an ecumenism of conviction, not an ecumenism of accommodation. We do not advance the cause of Christian unity by abandoning our biblical understanding of the church. But how do we hold these together? Three things: First, recognize the centrality of Jesus Christ. The closer we come to Jesus Christ, the closer we come to one another as brothers and sisters in him. Second, study the Bible together. The Bible belongs to the whole people of God, not just to one denomination or church tradition. We can clarify differences and find a deeper unity by going deeper into the Scriptures. Third, prayer. Jesus prayed to his heavenly Father (John 17:21) that his disciples would be one so that the world might believe. We can join our prayer to the prayer of Jesus and in so doing become a part of its fulfillment.

Read the whole interview here.

For those outside of Baptist circles, one might not understand why it’s so important for George to affirm the need for Baptists seeking ecumenism. Shouldn’t all denominations and groups find commonalities we can all agree on? I say yes. So does George.

However, Baptists often scoff at the idea of ecumenism, because they see ecumenism as a step toward watered-down theology and ecclesiology, or as some sort of concession of Baptist principles. But George offers the right balance here—maintain your Baptist identity and convictions, but do so while humbly learning from others and seeking unity with the global Body of Christ where possible.

As inherently autonomous people—given our local churches’ voluntary associations without external governance—we Baptists are prone to be insular, creating dogmatic fences that keep others out. So much so, it’s even rare to find Baptists who seek to incorporate church history and tradition into our theology and ecclesiology.

Gratefully, I think this is changing. My generation of leaders and future leaders agree broadly with George on this—let’s partner where we can and learn from others when we can. That doesn’t mean we begin promoting infant baptism just to “get along,” nor does it mean that we sacrifice core gospel truths at the relational altar of heretics. But it does mean we look at other orthodox denominations who can teach us about the importance of theological reflection, liturgical intentionality, and historical appreciation.

Let’s face it: Baptist theology hasn’t been the bastion of any of the aforementioned practices in the past 50 years. Our connection to the historic Christian tradition in both theology and ecclesiology, in many ways, has recently gone by the wayside in favor of “church growth” obsessions and American business-model platforming. We can and must do better.

As a member of the Christian Standard Bible team, I’m grateful to serve with a theologically, denominationally, nationally, and ethnically diverse group of translators and endorsers who all love God’s Word and his mission of reconciling the world to himself. We model the type of ecumenism that we should seek. I pray that as Baptists, we will continue to march on with Baptist conviction without sacrificing theological and relational humility.

—

Stay in touch! Email me at [email protected].

Previous Post

June 10, 2017

What Kind of a Book Is Revelation?

Next Post

July 1, 2017 Farewell, Social Media

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Academics Apologetics Baptists Biblical Interpretation Biblical Studies Blog News Books Christian Life Church History Culture Ecclesiology Eschatology Gospel Interviews New Creation News Politics Science Scripture Sexual Sin Social Media Spiritual Discipline The Smorgasbord Theology Trinity Word Matters Podcast

Select a Month September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which book of the Bible ends with the word 'Amen'?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Philippians Revelation Jude Romans

Books by This Author Books by Brandon D. Smith

See All Titles »