Southern Baptists: Diversity in Unity

If diversity in unity is best represented by any one denomination, I would cast my vote for Southern Baptists. For better or worse, like it or not, within her camp one finds five- and four-point Calvinists, Molinists, some Arminians, “non-Calvinists” (or what some are now vying for, “Majoritarian Baptists,” which claim to be neither Calvinist nor Arminian), Anabaptists, semi-Pelagians, and Charismatic/Third Wave proponents.

Even among those Southern Baptist expressions one finds in their churches Presbyterian-modeled church government, churches with congregational-modeled government, and churches with a satellite campus model. Some Southern Baptist churches revere using the name “Baptist” in their title (e.g. Christ Fellowship Baptist Church), while others disdain the Baptist association or identity (e.g. The Summit).

While some people appreciate an enlarged ideological-theological denominational umbrella, others are not so enthusiastic. Let me explain. Let us imagine that a young, married couple, not well-versed or schooled about various denominations and sub-denominations, is trying to decide on a church to attend. They are looking for a good, Bible-believing “Baptist” church. They both know nothing about the distinctives of Independent Baptists, Southern Baptists, Northern Baptists, Free Will Baptists, American Baptists, Baptist General Association churches, General Baptist Association churches, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship churches, so forth and so on. The couple simply wants to find a good, Bible-believing “Baptist” church. Already the task is complicated.

Let us further imagine that the couple is seeking out solely Southern Baptist churches in any given area. They search on-line for Southern Baptist churches in their area, but information is, on many occasions, sparse regarding the beliefs of the various churches. So our couple decides to spend two months visiting local Southern Baptist churches, unaware of what they will experience.

On one Sunday, they enter a Southern Baptist church, and the pastor’s message is akin to the teachings of Charles Finney. He preaches fervently about “making a decision for Christ” by one’s own free will, complete with an emotional altar call intended to illicit a faith-response.

On the following Sunday, they enter a Southern Baptist church, and the pastor’s message is akin to the teachings of John Calvin. He preaches solemnly about “man’s depravity,” and how God has unconditionally chosen to save only some by His ominous, eternal decree.

On the following Sunday, they enter a Southern Baptist church, and the pastor’s message is akin to the teachings of Jack Hayford. He preaches engagingly about the ministry of the Holy Spirit, and how we need to be baptized in the Holy Spirit (which may be evinced by “speaking in tongues”) in order to be effective witnesses for Christ.

On the following Sunday, they enter a Southern Baptist church, and the pastor’s message is akin to the teachings of D. L. Moody. He preaches on how he and his congregation are neither Calvinistic nor Arminian; they are the majority view of Southern Baptists, whose approach to the doctrine of salvation vies for a middle way between the two.

Clearly, all of these folks, so they claim, “just believe the Bible.” Only one month into searching out a Southern Baptist church and the couple has before them differing flavors of “Southern Baptist” churches from which to choose. While some view this as a negative, seeing confusion and disorganization, others view this as a positive expression of the Body of Christ in general. We, each one of Christ's followers, though many are one body. The Southern Baptist Convention churches, with all of their diversity, actually represent well the body of Christ because of the diversity in their unity!

What is a Southern Baptist? Besides the essentials upon which all orthodox Christian denominations are agreed, what most identifies a congregation as “Southern Baptist” are the following distinctives: 1) the doctrine of Believer’s Baptism, which is by immersion only of believers only; 2) autonomy of the local church; 3) the doctrine of the Inerrancy of Scripture; 4) soul competency; 5) the priesthood of the believer; and, by far one of the most significant distinctives, 6) the doctrine of Eternal Security. Beyond the essentials of the Protestant Christian faith and these distinctives, a Southern Baptist congregation could believe just about any other secondary or tertiary doctrine it wishes and still remain “Southern Baptist” (within reason, of course).

Historically, Baptists, while holding to their distinctives, have had the privilege to believe whatever any Baptist congregation wanted to believe (within reason, of course), and could not be obligated to believe any particular (secondary or tertiary) doctrine by any Synod or Convention. General (Arminian) Baptists were the first Baptists to organize. There followed Particular (Calvinist) Baptists, who separated from the General Baptists. From the outset, Baptists were divided over soteriology (doctrine of salvation). The General Baptists held to a general atonement offered to all, but applied only to believers. The Particular Baptists held to a particular atonement which was intended only for the unconditionally elect.

General Baptists, theologically, were convinced that God had not unconditionally elected to save only some by a mere decree, disagreeing with their Particular Baptist brothers and sisters. Nothing has changed over the last five centuries, except that “General Baptists” of this era no longer want to be identified as such because they disdain certain excessive or erroneous theological baggage that comes along with all that the name or connotation "Arminian" brings, which I understand first-hand.

Even so, though Southern Baptists disagreed over the issue of the atonement, they as a rule have always held to the doctrine of Eternal Security, a doctrine which many Arminians have historically rejected. Therefore no one is surprised to find most "five-point" Arminians in other, non-SBC churches. No matter how large the SBC umbrella may become -- no matter how much diversity is allowed in its unity -- it will not cover any Arminian who does not adhere to this most significant doctrine.

Southern Baptist distinctives are very important to its members; and even though they display great diversity among fellow believers, they maintain strong unity. For this reason alone we should celebrate Southern Baptist diversity in unity.