Christians & Baptists
At Bethlehem Baptist Church, being a Christian is both a state of belief and a constant expression of that belief. To be a Christian is a verb that requires consistent and intensive exercise. Former pastor John Piper described Christianity in the following way:
“Christianity is not first theology, but news. It is like the prisoners of war hearing by hidden radio that the allies have landed and rescue is only a matter of time. The guards wonder why all the rejoicing.” -John Piper1
At Bethlehem, "Christian" is not simply a label applied to those who believe. Being a Christian requires more than belief; it requires expression of that belief in the form of action. As Piper described it in a 2011 book:
“No one is a Christian who does not embrace Jesus gladly as his most valued treasure, and then pursue the fullness of that joy in Christ that honors Him.” – John Piper2
But Bethlehem is not just Christian. It is a Baptist church, a member of the Converge denomination, formerly called the Baptist General Conference. But what does it actually mean to be Baptist? And how it the Baptist faith practiced at Bethlehem?
Who are Baptists?
The Baptist tradition is hardly uniform and defies simple definition. This is in part because of Baptist's congregational polity, an approach to church governance that respects the relative autonomy of distinct congregations. A web search for “famous Baptists” yields a fascinating range of results—from Martin Luther King Jr. to Billy Graham to Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton. This seemingly random mix is no mistake; indeed there are multiple American denominations of baptists: the National Baptist Convention, the American Baptist Convention, the Southern Baptist Convention key among them. To understand Bethlehem Baptist’s long history in Minnesota, it is necessary to get a sense of where the church sits on the continuum of Baptist belief.
Baptists were first formally recognized in seventeenth century in England. A movement of Reformed (that is, Calvinist) Protestants, early Baptists distinguished themselves by their approach to the "gathered church," a rigorous moral community of women and men gathered out of the world. While this view was shared by the Presbyterian and Congregationalist branches of the Reformed, or Calvinist tradition, some took the moniker "Baptists" because of their criticism of the practice of infant baptism and conviction that only those having made an adult profession of the faith could receive the sacrament of baptism.3 Still, because of Baptist's commitment to the autonomy of each congregation to set its own standards, a considerable range of beliefs and practices emerged from early on.
-
402 footnote citation here↩
The first home for Baptists outside of England was in the new English colony of Rhode Island, a haven for Protestant misfits like Roger Williams, whose Baptist leanings led to his exile from Massachusetts. From here, Baptist teachings spread throughout the young colonies in the revivals of the First Great Awakening. Even more diffusion among Baptists occurred at this time, with Separate Baptists focusing on the enthusiasm for conversion that stirred up in the Great Awakening, and Regular Baptists more focused on traditional religious practice.
Beginning in the late 18th century, Baptist revivals introduced many enslaved and free African Americans to the faith, and who began organizing and forming their own Baptist churches. Some Baptist missionaries supported slavery because it was a means to spread salvation. Others opposed the institution of slavery altogether.
A major division of Baptists formally took place in 1845, with the formation of the Southern Baptist Convention, creating a north-south division much as it would in the Methodist and Presbyterian denominations. At the same time, African Americans, slave and free, had cultivated their own distinct local Baptist communities. The strength of their faith empowered some, like the Rev. Nat Turner, to lead slave rebellions. After the Civil War, these black Baptists formed their own denomination—the National Baptist Convention.
Baptist Beliefs
Baptists took on the moniker because of their distinctive approach to the ritual of baptism, believe that baptism should properly only occur at an age where the individual can make a public profession of their faith. Additionally, Baptists were, and are, insistent on the centrality and truth of the Bible, although there is a range of approaches to that truth; by no means are all Baptists literalists or fundamentalists. Baptists also believe in the Reformation maxim, the "priesthood of all believers," by which everyone is capable of their own relationship with God, unmediated by a priest. In this respect, Baptist clergy are not set off by any bright line from congregants, and in some cases aren't necessarily distinguished by seminary learning or garb. This is why some Baptist ministers dress no differently than those in the pews.
Baptist ministers are not set off by any bright lines from their congregants.
This egalitarian ethos extends to the structure of Baptist churches, based on a “congregational” polity. While congregations join various Baptist denominational organizations, they retain considerable autonomy relative to other Protestant denominations. Its also true that Baptists traditionally have emphasized the separation of church and state; the Connecticut Baptist minister Isaac Backus was influential in the making of the First Amendment. Today, however, Baptist diversity again becomes visible with a wide range of positions on the relationship of religious and civil authority.
Across the board, Baptists resist over-simplification. They have both led Civil Rights movements and combatted them. Women are ordained to serve American Baptist and National Baptist congregations, while the Southern Baptist Convention rejects the ordination of women to the pulpit. This internal diversity is, at least partially, a result of the independence allowed to each Baptist church. Bethlehem Baptist in Minneapolis has not sat on the margins of this history. It has been in the Twin Cities for over 150 years, contributing to the complex Baptist story again and again.
