Baptists are a minority within the Body of Christ but we are a significant minority. For 400 years we have fulfilled an important role of witness, dissent and ministry. The tradition designated by the word Baptist is a noble one. Like any tradition it has been shaped by frail and fallen people. But what is important to say is that it is a tradition that has been shaped by people of faith in Jesus Christ. We are Baptist Christians, and the first emphasis should be on the word Christian.

The Baptist WITNESS

When we have been at our best, our evangelical fervor and evangelistic zeal has concentrated on helping people to Christ and not to our Baptist tradition. Through the years I have heard pastors declare, “What’s most important is not whether you are a Baptist, but whether you are Christian.” And I believe that many were sincere in that proclamation. However, when we were at our worst, Baptists have acted as if we were the only authentic Christians. We have lived in isolation from other believers with little or no interest in ecumenical efforts, either at the local, national or global level. Maybe we gave lip service to Christian unity or the Kingdom of God but our real passion was growing our own church and denomination.

One of the encouraging signs to me among missional Baptists is a sincere desire to be authentic disciples of Christ, above all else, and to make authentic disciples of Christ more than trying to make everybody a Baptist. I see a genuine yearning for Christian spirituality, Christian community and Christian mission.

I sense a desire among missional Baptists to work for social justice and to advocate for racial reconciliation with other Christians (as well as people of other faiths) more than promoting a Baptist agenda. And I discern a yearning among missional Baptists for a greater oneness among all believers in Christ. We share common commitments with Christians from many traditions. It seems to me that there is now a convergence from these many traditions that is seeking a greater unity across traditional and denominational lines. I celebrate this convergence and believe that we need to make every effort to participate in it and promote it.

This past week CBF participated in the celebration service of Christian Churches Together in the USA, a new ecumenical body. The participants gathered in Los Angeles to pledge that we will draw closer to one another in Christ and to explore how we as Christians can be more effective witnesses in our secular society. We worshipped together and prayed together. We talked with one another about evangelism and poverty. We listened to one another and just enjoyed being together. There was leadership from five faith families: Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant, Evangelical and the racial, ethnic denominations. And though we have our differences, there was a celebration of our essential unity in Christ.

The BAPTIST Witness

All this does not mean, however, that we need to minimize our commitment to the convictions that make us Baptist. In fact, I believe that now more than ever Baptists need to be unapologetic about their identity as Baptists as well as their identity as Christian. As Baptists we hold some convictions, although not exclusively, of freedom and autonomy. We cherish the priesthood of each believer and the voluntary principle. We resist religious coercion in any form but especially when it comes from ecclesiastical bodies or from governments.

Some would say that these convictions are more Christian convictions than they are Baptist convictions. I would prefer to say that these convictions of conscience are a Baptist way of understanding the Christian faith. They are the interpretations and implications we draw from Scripture. They are our understandings of how the Christian faith should be lived out in daily life, in community and in society.

I believe these convictions are terribly important for today, maybe more so today as any time in the past. I realize that in the U.S. we do not live in a church-state nor do we contend with a state-church. However, that is not the case in many parts of the world. Secular states, as well as religious states, persecute Christians and people of other religions because of their convictions. Freedom of religion is simply not a universal reality in 2008. The world needs the witness and advocacy of Baptists.

In our country it was easier for Baptists to advocate for religious freedom when we were a small minority. Now that we are part of the religious establishment, it is more difficult to be as fierce and determined in our advocacy. I’ve come to know several Muslims in the U.S. and it is disturbing to me as I listen to their struggles. Where are the Baptist voices championing the rights of Muslims? Where are the Baptists befriending this religious minority?

And why are Baptists so silent in the midst of a loud drum beat from the religious right calling for prayer in public schools, the display of the Ten Commandments on government property and school vouchers for Christian education? The Baptist witness is still very important in our civic life.

When it comes to congregational life, why are so many Baptists buying into the church phenomenon where the pastor is more like a CEO than a shepherd and the church is more like a corporation than a fellowship? What happened to the believer’s church or congregational polity? Or voluntary cooperation in missions beyond the local church?

So I do not want to relinquish the centrality of our Christian commitment or our convictions as Baptists. I’m not trying to be confusingly subtle when I say that we need to be unapologetic and bold in our Baptist WITNESS and in our BAPTIST witness.

This June at our General Assembly in Washington, D.C., we will gather on Friday night with our brothers and sisters in the American Baptist Churches, USA, to celebrate a common faith and shared heritage. We will also be joined by official delegations from the Progressive National Baptist Convention. I believe it will be a blessed and glorious event as well as something of a precursor to an even larger gathering of Baptists here in Atlanta next January to celebrate “The New Baptist Covenant.”

I realize that in Glory there will not be any denominational distinctions between us (just as there will be no marrying and giving in marriage). But we are not in Glory yet. We are on earth. So for now, I am not willing to give up my identity either as a Christian or as a Baptist.

Daniel Vestal has served as coordinator of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship since 1996.