WHO ARE CONSERVATIVE VIRGINIA BAPTISTS?

by T. C. Pinckney, editor                                                                                                        Vol. VIII, No. 4, April 1995

These months are a dine of challenge. of decision for Virginia Baptists. There is no wav to avoid such decisions, for NOT to make a conscious decision is to make an unconscious derision. And it is no less a decision simply because one was unwilling to examine the issues openly and fully.

When hard decisions must be made, hard words are often spoken. In this short piece I want to deal with certain of the hard words which sometimes implicitly, sometimes explicitly have been directed at conservative Virginia Baptists. The following is brief and makes no claim to address every issue, but it is designed to shed light, not heat; to clarify matters for some who may be in doubt or a bit confused as to where conservative Virginia Baptists stand.

First, conservative Virginia Baptists stand firmly upon the complete authority, infallibility, and inerrancy of the Bible. It is not the Bible plus church tradition. Nor the Bible plus your or my judgment. If God’s written Word addresses the subject clearly and explicitly that settles it; you and I have no right to impose our judgment upon what God has said. Moreover, it is ALL the Bible. We may not pick and choose which portions we like to obey. We are slaves of Christ, not free agents negotiating a contract with the ball club owner.

Second, conservative Virginia Baptists are SOUTHERN Baptists! We are delighted with the turn of our Convention away from the slippery slope down toward liberalism the SBC had followed for several decades, back to orthodox, biblical, evangelical Christianity. We rejoice in the renewed blessings God has begun to shower upon the SBC as our missionaries record new highs in baptisms and church starts year after year. We thank God for the biblically happy changes which have taken place, are underway, and will in the near future occur in our SBC seminaries.

Sometimes it is charged or implied that conservatives are not inclusive, that we do not adhere to the priesthood of the believer, that our pastors are dictators, and that we denigrate women:

• Inclusive? Of course we are inclusive.

     – We include every Baptist who believes in the plenary inspiration of every syllable of God's holy Book.

    – We are inclusive of every Baptist who is willing to forget about his “rights” and focus on his responsibilities before God.

    – We are inclusive of every Baptist who is willing to abide by the constitutional decisions of the Southern Baptist Convention.

    – We include even Baptist who is willing, when necessary, to contend for the faith, as we are instructed in Jude.

• Do we believe in the priesthood of the believer? You bet!

    – We take great satisfaction in the wonderful privilege of studying personally and submitting voluntarily to the decrees and doctrines set forth in the Bible.

    – We recognize that being a priest confers NO peculiar “right," (certainly not the right to interpret the Bible any way we please), but instead brings to us important and joyful responsibilities to serve God and man in loving voluntary submission.

• We are fellow ministers with our pastors.

    – We recognize and honor their biblically ordained role of spiritual leadership.

    – Like the Bereans, we test their teachings by Scripture (NOT by personal likes and dislikes) and joyfully follow them as they remain true to the Book.

    – Of course, we believe strongly in congregational polity, just as we do in mutual, voluntary submission.

* We honor the Christian service of all believers including men and women equally.

    – We admit of no difference between men and women before the throne of grace.

    – But we recognize the biblically endorsed differences of function between men and women.

    – In the family as the wife lovingly and voluntarily submits to the husband, he lovingly and voluntarily sacrifices himself for her as Christ did for His bride, the church.

    – In the church as men fulfill biblically identified functions and women do the same, NOT because one is less Christian, less capable, less respected than the other. Even to consider such an interpretation, much less to complain about it, is to reject our Savior's example in washing the disciples' dirty feet when none of them would stoop to do so. The claim for "rights" springs from pride, Christian service from humble love.

Well, these few words have been an attempt to set the record straight a bit about who conservative Virginia Baptists are. You know, I wouldn't be surprised if you decide you are one of us.