Some among us were recently up in arms over the decision by Calvary Baptist Church in Washington, DC to call a lesbian couple as co-pastors. The story was even covered by The Washington Post. When I first read the story at the Baptist News Global site, I shrugged my shoulders. It wasn’t that I approved of the decision or felt that it was right in any way, but I wasn’t surprised.
This same church—and I use the word “church” very loosely in this case—ordained a transgender person to ministry in 2014. If they would ordain a transgender person, why was anyone surprised that they would also hire lesbian co-pastors? Yet some in our Southern Baptist tribe spoke out as if this were breaking news. Al Mohler spent over half of the January 10 episode of his podcast addressing the issue and some of its implications. While his commentary is accurate, I still cannot quite understand the attention this story received.
For quite a while now we have known of churches embracing homosexuality. Splinter groups have separated themselves from the Southern Baptist Convention over the issue. Some churches have been removed from our fellowship for accepting homosexuality as good and right, while others have simply left voluntarily. We have been dealing with this issue, and it doesn’t look like it will be going away anytime soon.
I have had to deal with this issue in both the local association and state convention that I was previously a part of through my previous church. While some in our local association opposed taking any kind of stand on the issue, I stood up and spoke in favor of a proposed amendment to our association constitution. The amendment would have defined our position on the issue, thus causing any church taking a different position to be automatically out of fellowship with the association. I also drafted a resolution for the 2015 annual meeting of the Baptist General Association of Virginia which served as a reaffirmation of two resolutions passed by the association in the late 90s concerning homosexuality and so-called same-sex marriage. An edited version of my resolution was passed. Proactively dealing with these issues was necessary in both cases because of various things taking place around us.
One of the issues that Dr. Mohler addressed in his piece was the refusal of the DC Baptist Convention to remove Calvary Baptist from their convention. He wrote:
“But that raises a huge issue, and this arrives most prominently at the door of the District of Columbia Baptist Convention. That convention has not been a paragon of theological conservatism to say the very least, but now they face a very dramatic challenge. If they do not expel Calvary Baptist Church from their membership, then they by very definition simply become a convention that will accept that, indeed, does accept a church that has legally married lesbian copastors in terms of their own membership.”
Of course, he is simply stating the obvious, and he is absolutely right. But another question arises in my mind. How many degrees of separation are needed for continued cooperation? The DC Baptist Convention has a relationship with the Southern Baptist Convention. Can that relationship continue with the DC Baptist Convention becoming “a convention that…does accept a church that has legally married copastors in terms of their own membership”?
What about other groups like the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship? The SBC has no official partnership or relationship with the CBF, but there are plenty of churches that choose to cooperate with both. If the CBF this summer decides to become a welcoming and affirming fellowship, will churches that remain in that fellowship be considered out of friendly cooperation with the SBC because they are voluntarily affiliating themselves with a fellowship that affirms homosexuality even if the church itself does not hold that position?
The tangled web this whole issue weaves can get very messy very quickly. Where will we draw the line? How many degrees of separation are needed? What about the SBC church that does a mission trip with a welcoming and affirming church even if the SBC church does not approve of the welcoming and affirming church’s position on homosexuality?
I’m not sure I have many specific answers. We must stand for truth, but we cannot spend all of our time off in the weeds chasing snakes. It is definitely a strange day in which we live. I’m interested in hearing your thoughts. How many degrees of separation are needed for cooperation?
Those are very good questions? I think the answer to your questions is Thom Rainer’s favorite answer, it depends. You would think this is a no brained, but each church, each association, and each convention get their own choices. I’m of the opinion that we all lost significant ground in the stand for truth on this issue when some of our leaders have an enthusiastic endorsement to a president who supports gay marriage.
There is a difference between meeting with, participating with, joining together and being in one accord. I am willing to MEET WITH just about any religious group. If the Gov asked me to meet with him as part of a council of religious leaders that included Catholics, Mormons and even Muslims and other faiths I would have no pblm because it is not my org. I am not affirming the beliefs of any group in any way. Those I am willing to PARTICIPATE WITH is a slightly smaller group. If I am part of an SBC Disaster Relief group and… Read more »
You rightly say that there are high weeds in all this. A question: you say “The DC Baptist Convention has a relationship with the Southern Baptist Convention.” How so? I may be uninformed here but the SBC has relationships with churches. Associations also? You speak of churches being “automatically out of fellowship” with an association. I rather think that this isn’t as automatic as I’ve seen a few AMs imply, as if an investigation and vote isn’t required. We have to face the reality that SBC groups (national, state, and association) have to expel churches, which can be ugly. Associations… Read more »
“How so? I may be uninformed here but the SBC has relationships with churches. Associations also?”
When a state convention forwards funds from local churches to the SBC, is that not a relationship?
http://www.dcbaptist.org/history
State conventions have direct relationships but i don’t believe associations do. So far as I recall, the SBC (and, separately, states) expel churches. Don’t know what the solution is for aberrant associations, other than churches pulling out and starting their own.
The threat of lower CP giving should have no bearing on us doing what is right.
Depends.
Adam, I look for us all to be up in arms and never to lose the shock and amazement each time one of our own calls God a liar in arrogant disobedient and self-justification. I fully expect to have a sense of disbelief and disgust no matter how many Calvary Baptist episodes arrive. The devil and the LGBTQ enterprise have both come to assume our passive, Oh Well, lay down posture. They trained us and we comply. “Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body.”… Read more »
Glenn, I hear you and mostly agree. My point was simply that this “church” had already forsaken orthodox Christian beliefs when they ordained a transgender person, if not before then. If you and others were surprised when they then hired lesbian co-pastors, fine. But I hardly think there’s a biblical mandate based on the example you quoted for me to be equally surprised. My lack of surprise doesn’t make me any less against what they have done. It doesn’t mean that I have any higher view of this “church” than you do. As far as I am concerned, they have… Read more »
Forgive my preachy-ness Adam. Not meant towards you.
I hope to see our churches and leaders with appropriate boldness and courage when facing this and all matters of flagrant, proud apostasy.
As Paul said, “You are proud, when you ought to feel bad enough to chase away anyone who acts like that.” (I Cor. 5:2)
Disassociation, just as passive compliance, can come in many forms.
Adam, First, I to reiterate that I was unaware of Calvary Baptist’s previous formation of a transgender individual. I have to agree with Glenn. While I am not shocked that another liberal church has chosen to thumb its nose at God and His scripture, I am shocked and will always be shocked to the very core when a group refers to themselves, and I use this term is loosely as you do, a church yeah proceeds to commit sins against God. I said it before and I’ll say it again, Calvary Baptist qualifies as a church as much as Westboro… Read more »
Hey Joey, I know. No offense intended.
No offense taken my brother. Just throwing it out there. Blessings!
I would think that the SBC should no longer associate with the DC Baptist Convention since they do not hold to our beliefs in this manner. As far as with churches that associate with both the CBF and the SBC, I would think we could still keep them in the SBC as long as they don’t take a stand that homosexuality is right. To do otherwise could unfairly make a stand against a church that truly stands for Christ.