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by Stan Smith
They made the news in Greenville, SC, when the historic First Baptist Church opted to allow ordination and marriage of homosexuals (sorry, "LGBT"). The South Carolina Baptist Convention has asked the church to either recant or withdraw from the denomination. "But ... why?" some will ask. "They're baptists, aren't they?" Oh, it gets stickier than that. In their Report from the LGBT Discernment Team (yes, they had an "LGBT Discernment Team"), they affirmed, "In all facets of the life and ministry of our church, including but not limited to membership, baptism, ordination, marriage, teaching and committee/organizational leadership, First Baptist Greenville will not discriminate based on sexual orientation or gender identity." Ironically, their footer is a mission statement which includes, "We believe in the authority of the Bible."
I'm not talking here about the particulars of that case. I'm talking about the problem of belief. Go to almost any church website, look up their "statement of faith" or whatever they might call it, and you will likely find a mostly orthodox statement of beliefs. This used to be a helpful method of determining whether or not you wanted to go to that church. I mean, if you concur with their statement of faith, go; if not, don't. Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way anymore.
Using the example of the First Baptist Church of Greenville, their mission statement affirms the authority of the Bible, but their beliefs ignore it. No Scripture includes "not discriminate based on sexual orientation or gender identity". All Scripture on subjects of "sexual orientation" classify anything other than sex between a man and a woman within the confines of marriage as the only righteous "sexual orientation", and in terms of "gender identity, only those specific gender roles for males and females that correspond to their sex are correct. But it didn't matter to the "LGBT Discernment Team". Or to the congregation (whose "consensus" was a factor in this decision). Or to the leadership of the church. So much for the Bible as authority. It was only authority if it coincides with "consensus" and how we feel about it. Otherwise, not so much.
I see this a lot ... churches with a commendable list of beliefs who apparently don't actually believe them. More than that, it is individuals who claim to believe things they don't actually believe. Baptists that believe in the authority of Scripture while denying Scripture in their policies. Open theists who believe that God doesn't know the future and still affirm the Omniscience of God. A Presbyterian church that "believes in God" whose pastor is a self-declared atheist. Even well-meaning, genuine Christians who affirm the Sovereignty of God but worry about tomorrow.
What do you believe? What you truly believe will always be demonstrated in what you do and not necessarily in what you say. Jesus recognized that when He said, "You will know them by their fruits." (Matthew 7:20) And it might be a helpful tool to for you to "Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith." (2 Corinthians 13:5) And for those of you who think it's wrong to question the beliefs of others, please consider the Scriptures on the matter. The Bible disagrees with you.
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I'm married with four grown children and (currently) four grandchildren. My wife and I live in sunny Phoenix by choice. I hope to encourage people with my words and to share with others what God has shared with me.
For more writings you can see my blog at birdsoftheair.blogspot.com.
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