There are drawbacks from reading Baptist history and observing the conduct of our forebears when there were giants in the land. One alarming development is the capricious attitude that is displayed these days with respect to membership and the authority of the congregation where one is a member. Is God no longer on the throne?
It was not unusual before the Revolutionary War (on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean) for someone who was sought after to become the pastor of another congregation to seek the endorsement of his home Church and to remain in his home congregation if permission to depart and join another congregation was denied. Such was the attitude of God-called men back in the day. They did not think they had authority greater than the authority of the Church in which God placed them. Neither did they believe they had the wisdom to thwart the will of the congregation where they served.
Such is certainly not the case in modern times, where pastors, missionaries, and evangelists change Church memberships and/or fields of service without regard to the will of the congregation where their membership was held. Frequently these days evangelists set up non-profits in order to operate quite independently from their Church, sometimes because they change membership so frequently.
Do you think this approach to Church membership helps to explain why so many Church members take their responsibilities as members so lightly? Is this partly why charismatic congregations have no memberships at all? Yet we Baptists rarely, if ever, see real integrity when it comes to membership. Pastors do not usually honor the memberships of other congregations anymore when receiving new members. Remember when Church letters were sought and granted? Not anymore.
We have slipped considerably from the days when Baptists acted like Baptists, when spiritual leaders believed Christ built His Church, and when undershepherds returned strays to their proper place.
God help us preachers in 2019 to reflect Scriptural mandates better and to conduct ourselves more like the giants of days gone by.
It was not unusual before the Revolutionary War (on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean) for someone who was sought after to become the pastor of another congregation to seek the endorsement of his home Church and to remain in his home congregation if permission to depart and join another congregation was denied. Such was the attitude of God-called men back in the day. They did not think they had authority greater than the authority of the Church in which God placed them. Neither did they believe they had the wisdom to thwart the will of the congregation where they served.
Such is certainly not the case in modern times, where pastors, missionaries, and evangelists change Church memberships and/or fields of service without regard to the will of the congregation where their membership was held. Frequently these days evangelists set up non-profits in order to operate quite independently from their Church, sometimes because they change membership so frequently.
Do you think this approach to Church membership helps to explain why so many Church members take their responsibilities as members so lightly? Is this partly why charismatic congregations have no memberships at all? Yet we Baptists rarely, if ever, see real integrity when it comes to membership. Pastors do not usually honor the memberships of other congregations anymore when receiving new members. Remember when Church letters were sought and granted? Not anymore.
We have slipped considerably from the days when Baptists acted like Baptists, when spiritual leaders believed Christ built His Church, and when undershepherds returned strays to their proper place.
God help us preachers in 2019 to reflect Scriptural mandates better and to conduct ourselves more like the giants of days gone by.
