A couple of weeks ago, I got a chance to participate in the CBF General Assembly.
Now, this was not, as some of our objectors have supposed, a political move on the part of Save OBU. I went to the assembly because I am in seminary, I am a member of a CBF church, and, because it was in Ft. Worth, my seminary paid the fees for a few of the events for Baptist Brite students. (There aren't a lot of us, but we are there!) Getting to talk with like minds about Save OBU was merely icing on the cake.
With that said, I'd like to take a post to briefly share some of my thoughts on the experience. Later this week, Jacob will share some of his thoughts on the SBC assembly.
At Save OBU, we are pushing for a split from the BGCO. We have cited many reasons why we believe the split would be beneficial for both organizations and you can click on pretty much any post in this blog to find them. But some have seen this as an argument that OBU should quit being Baptist. This is not the case at all.
Rather, we believe (and we are not alone) that the mission of the SBC and the mission of Higher Education are no longer in line. But that does not mean that OBU should not be Baptist or that we don't think Baptists care about higher education. I count myself as one such Baptist.
Being at the CBF assembly reminded me of something I have sought to say over and over on this blog. Splitting with the BGCO is not a refusal to be Baptist. It is a refusal to accept the SBC's increasingly narrow definition of what it means to be a Baptist.
I'm not arguing that OBU should join up with the CBF instead-- although I do think that OBU could benefit from partnering with organizations like the CBFO and already does many things with the two substantial CBF (I think they are both dually aligned with the SBC as well) churches in Shawnee.
No, I stand by my claim that OBU can only protect its academic inheritance if it is a free-standing body with a board of trustees, administration, faculty and staff which are loyal only to OBU and its mission. However, the existence of organizations like the CBF which has refused to allow the SBC to define what it means to be a Baptist gives me hope for OBU to stand up and do likewise.
All of this is to reiterate the point we have made all along. In order for OBU to remain both truly Baptist and an excellent institution of higher education, it must part ways with the BGCO.
For anyone who still does not see the incompatibility of the SBC and higher ed, please see Clayton's excellent post on the matter.
Showing posts with label Baptist. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Baptist. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Monday, April 23, 2012
Religious Freedom
Again, this freedom may have less to do directly with the academy, but it does help emphasize what kind of people Baptists are.
Various Christians have had various views about the relationship between church and state throughout Christian history, but Baptists have always been a people who have called for separation. In fact, the Baptist founders John Smyth and Thomas Helwys may have been the first to ever call for complete religious liberty for all-- Christian or not. Although at times, we seem to have forgotten these roots as we climb the ladder of political power, we are a people who believe in freedom for all.
This stance, again, comes from the Baptist view of the individual. All people are made free before God and as such are free and responsible for their own religious convictions. It is no one's place to coerce that decision.
After all, for much of their heritage, Baptists were asking for religious freedom as a right they did not have. But they did not ask only for themselves. In 1791, John Leland wrote on the subject,
Again, this may not be directly related to our situation at OBU. But it does continue to highlight what kind of people Baptists have been historically.
Baptists are the kind of people who believe that every person-- no matter what they look like, believe, act like, dress like, or think like, is made in the image of God. Every person is just as valuable in God's eyes as we ourselves are-- no matter how different they are from us. We have always petitioned not only for our own freedom, but also for the freedom of all people.
Baptists do not believe in toleration with preference towards some, but in equal rights for all. We need no government or any other body to defend our faith for us.
And above all, we are a people of radical freedom. We will not tolerate any person or institution trying to define for us what faith must mean.
Various Christians have had various views about the relationship between church and state throughout Christian history, but Baptists have always been a people who have called for separation. In fact, the Baptist founders John Smyth and Thomas Helwys may have been the first to ever call for complete religious liberty for all-- Christian or not. Although at times, we seem to have forgotten these roots as we climb the ladder of political power, we are a people who believe in freedom for all.
This stance, again, comes from the Baptist view of the individual. All people are made free before God and as such are free and responsible for their own religious convictions. It is no one's place to coerce that decision.
After all, for much of their heritage, Baptists were asking for religious freedom as a right they did not have. But they did not ask only for themselves. In 1791, John Leland wrote on the subject,
"Let every man speak freely without fear, maintain the principles that he believes, worship according to his own faith, either one God, three Gods, no God, or twenty Gods; and let government protect him in so doing."Baptists have long been a people who empower other with rights and responsibilities, not simply tolerance. As we have long been people who know that Jesus is lord, and not Caesar, faith is no matter for Caesar to decide, whether for us or against us.
Again, this may not be directly related to our situation at OBU. But it does continue to highlight what kind of people Baptists have been historically.
Baptists are the kind of people who believe that every person-- no matter what they look like, believe, act like, dress like, or think like, is made in the image of God. Every person is just as valuable in God's eyes as we ourselves are-- no matter how different they are from us. We have always petitioned not only for our own freedom, but also for the freedom of all people.
Baptists do not believe in toleration with preference towards some, but in equal rights for all. We need no government or any other body to defend our faith for us.
And above all, we are a people of radical freedom. We will not tolerate any person or institution trying to define for us what faith must mean.
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Church Freedom
This post will, of course, have less to do with the academy than the two preceding, but this is also an important Baptist Freedom, so we will still give it an overview in the spirit of determining what kind of people Baptists are.
As I said in the last post on soul freedom, Baptists are individualistic, but that is not the whole story. These individuals are always individuals in community. When choosing to follow Jesus, we also choose to be a part of a community filled with others who have also chosen this path.
Baptists have always been a part of the free church tradition. This means a few things. The local congregation is autonomous. This church is a "gathered church" of those who have joined freely and voluntarily. This depends heavily on the concept of soul freedom-- as each person is both free and responsible to make their own faith decision, it is a decision of each person to be baptized and join the community.
But as Shurden says, this choice of faith should not be equated "with mere intellectual assent to doctrinal ideas... Baptists have been interested in far more than a nod of the head to a certain theology. Baptists want a personal commitment to the Jesus way of living."
Baptists emphasize the local church, but they do not fail to see the importance of the universal church, which encompasses all believers, not only Baptists. For Baptists, these Christians are just as much Christians as we are.
As a "statement of the equality of all believers in determining the mind of Christ," Baptist churches follow congregational government. This means that power is placed in the hands of all members instead of one person or a smaller group of people.
These autonomous churches are free to work together and organize together into conventions, but there is no institution which holds power over the local church.
Baptist churches are free to structure their worship in whatever way they see fit.
Along with freedom of each church comes the recognition of the priesthood of every believer. Baptist's have long affirmed that all ministry belongs to the laity because we are each priests of God's people.
Again, we see that Baptists are people who affirm giving every person the freedom and responsibility to control the most important part of their own lives. In this way, we should be people who affirm education-- allowing each person to become more fully human. We should be people who affirm the difference and importance of difference not only between Baptists but also between the various denominations of Christians.
Never has it been the place of the Baptist to be controlling or authoritarian. These are the kinds of political strangleholds which we must continue to resist.
As I said in the last post on soul freedom, Baptists are individualistic, but that is not the whole story. These individuals are always individuals in community. When choosing to follow Jesus, we also choose to be a part of a community filled with others who have also chosen this path.
Baptists have always been a part of the free church tradition. This means a few things. The local congregation is autonomous. This church is a "gathered church" of those who have joined freely and voluntarily. This depends heavily on the concept of soul freedom-- as each person is both free and responsible to make their own faith decision, it is a decision of each person to be baptized and join the community.
But as Shurden says, this choice of faith should not be equated "with mere intellectual assent to doctrinal ideas... Baptists have been interested in far more than a nod of the head to a certain theology. Baptists want a personal commitment to the Jesus way of living."
Baptists emphasize the local church, but they do not fail to see the importance of the universal church, which encompasses all believers, not only Baptists. For Baptists, these Christians are just as much Christians as we are.
As a "statement of the equality of all believers in determining the mind of Christ," Baptist churches follow congregational government. This means that power is placed in the hands of all members instead of one person or a smaller group of people.
These autonomous churches are free to work together and organize together into conventions, but there is no institution which holds power over the local church.
Baptist churches are free to structure their worship in whatever way they see fit.
Along with freedom of each church comes the recognition of the priesthood of every believer. Baptist's have long affirmed that all ministry belongs to the laity because we are each priests of God's people.
Again, we see that Baptists are people who affirm giving every person the freedom and responsibility to control the most important part of their own lives. In this way, we should be people who affirm education-- allowing each person to become more fully human. We should be people who affirm the difference and importance of difference not only between Baptists but also between the various denominations of Christians.
Never has it been the place of the Baptist to be controlling or authoritarian. These are the kinds of political strangleholds which we must continue to resist.
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Soul Freedom
"Soul Freedom is the historic Baptist affirmation of the inalienable right and responsibility of every person to deal with God without the imposition of creed, the interference of clergy, or the intervention of civil government."
Called by many names throughout Baptist history, soul freedom is the affirmation of the infinite value of the individual to God. As Shurden says, "Soul freedom affirms the sacredness of individual choice."
Although their traditional emphasis on the church also shows that individualism is not the whole picture, Baptists are highly individualistic and have worn this sometimes-accusation as a badge of honor. The value of the individual comes from the theological affirmation that every person is created in the image of God, making every person of infinite dignity and worth.
This dignity means that each person is competent to answer for themselves before God-- and not only competent, but responsible to do so. Baptists have long affirmed that every person must make significant choices for themselves and answer Jesus' question, "Who do you say that I am?"
Baptists affirm the individual over the institutional, believing that access to God is direct for each person. This does not mean, of course, that any human is self-sufficient, but rather that, as Shurden says, "Grace is always individually appropriated...we are saved one by one, person by person, individual by individual." For Baptists, religion and conversion are based on a personal experience of God.
For Baptists, faith is voluntary. We cannot make someone believe, and we definitely cannot make someone love God.
The individuality of faith also proclaims that there is no one conversion story. As Shurden describes, "If faith is personal and individualistic, it will always manifest itself in different shapes and forms and styles." Baptists do not affirm five things one must believe to come to God or a specific path that one must take to God, but only that each person must make their own decision about Jesus.
Soul freedom is the reason behind the Baptist insistence on believer's baptism. One cannot be born into the church, but each person may make a public declaration of their belonging in the community after choosing to follow Christ.
So what does this valuing of individuals mean for the university?
The individual is the business of Baptists as well as the business of higher education. Each affirms that every person has something to offer, a valuable piece of the picture of the image of God. And if each person is responsible for their own faith and understanding, then it is right to invest as much as we can in each individual in order to assist and prepare them in their decision making.
Baptists should be the first to empower their students and to take them seriously as people. Baptists should be the first to recognize each person's competence to make decisions about the most important things in life.
Baptists should be concerned with the educational investment which is becoming greater and greater for future students. Never again will students spend quite as much money and be shaped in their thinking and habits quite as much as they will in those four years. Thus, Baptists are an excellent choice to take seriously the task of shaping individuals to step up to the plate of human responsibility.
Yet, if Baptists continue down the slippery slope of creedalism, we will lose our distinctive value of the individual to the value of institutionalized ideas. We have already seen how recent changes in OBU and other SBC universities have diminished the capability of individuals to take responsibility for themselves. What decisions need to be made if others are telling me what actions I can and cannot take or what things I can or cannot believe?
It may be safer to control students, but as Baptists, we should take them seriously instead.
Called by many names throughout Baptist history, soul freedom is the affirmation of the infinite value of the individual to God. As Shurden says, "Soul freedom affirms the sacredness of individual choice."
Although their traditional emphasis on the church also shows that individualism is not the whole picture, Baptists are highly individualistic and have worn this sometimes-accusation as a badge of honor. The value of the individual comes from the theological affirmation that every person is created in the image of God, making every person of infinite dignity and worth.
This dignity means that each person is competent to answer for themselves before God-- and not only competent, but responsible to do so. Baptists have long affirmed that every person must make significant choices for themselves and answer Jesus' question, "Who do you say that I am?"
Baptists affirm the individual over the institutional, believing that access to God is direct for each person. This does not mean, of course, that any human is self-sufficient, but rather that, as Shurden says, "Grace is always individually appropriated...we are saved one by one, person by person, individual by individual." For Baptists, religion and conversion are based on a personal experience of God.
For Baptists, faith is voluntary. We cannot make someone believe, and we definitely cannot make someone love God.
The individuality of faith also proclaims that there is no one conversion story. As Shurden describes, "If faith is personal and individualistic, it will always manifest itself in different shapes and forms and styles." Baptists do not affirm five things one must believe to come to God or a specific path that one must take to God, but only that each person must make their own decision about Jesus.
Soul freedom is the reason behind the Baptist insistence on believer's baptism. One cannot be born into the church, but each person may make a public declaration of their belonging in the community after choosing to follow Christ.
So what does this valuing of individuals mean for the university?
The individual is the business of Baptists as well as the business of higher education. Each affirms that every person has something to offer, a valuable piece of the picture of the image of God. And if each person is responsible for their own faith and understanding, then it is right to invest as much as we can in each individual in order to assist and prepare them in their decision making.
Baptists should be the first to empower their students and to take them seriously as people. Baptists should be the first to recognize each person's competence to make decisions about the most important things in life.
Baptists should be concerned with the educational investment which is becoming greater and greater for future students. Never again will students spend quite as much money and be shaped in their thinking and habits quite as much as they will in those four years. Thus, Baptists are an excellent choice to take seriously the task of shaping individuals to step up to the plate of human responsibility.
Yet, if Baptists continue down the slippery slope of creedalism, we will lose our distinctive value of the individual to the value of institutionalized ideas. We have already seen how recent changes in OBU and other SBC universities have diminished the capability of individuals to take responsibility for themselves. What decisions need to be made if others are telling me what actions I can and cannot take or what things I can or cannot believe?
It may be safer to control students, but as Baptists, we should take them seriously instead.
Thursday, April 19, 2012
What Does it Mean to be Baptist?
This week we have looked at some of the other Baptist universities who have stayed with their conventions after the fundamentalist takeover. Some of these colleges are not much like OBU. Some of them are a little bit closer. And some of them may as well be OBU if a few things had gone differently.
But each gives us an interesting look at the same question. What does it mean to be a Baptist-- specifically with regards to higher ed?
For our friends at Shorter, they will be waiting until December to find out if their addition of a lifestyle statement to the requirements for continued employment there will ruin their accreditation visit from SACS. Because although it is their prerogative as a private institution to institute such a statement, it is a big no no in the world of higher ed accreditation to do anything which denies the value of tenure-- i.e. firing professors for refusing to sign even if they are tenured. It's estimated that one third of their faculty will leave before they sign.
Is that what it means to be a Baptist? Making sure that all of the people we associate with act a certain way, hold certain political views, and above all, not to take seriously the requirements of an institution for higher learning?
We have seen this week that that is certainly what it can mean to be a Baptist.
But something we here at Save OBU have said from the beginning is that the recently fundamentalist state conventions do not have the last word on what it means to be Baptist. And perhaps, in 1910, when our forerunners decided to build a co-ed, liberal arts university for their newly incorporated state instead of a seminary, it was because they knew that to be Baptist could mean a celebration of learning and truth seeking in all disciplines.
So this week, we say Baptists should be known for what they are for, not for what they are against.
I look forward to exploring each of the historic Baptist freedoms in turn and their implications on higher education. Perhaps we will see that the future is not so bleak after all.
There is another possibility for the future-- one for which Save OBU will continue to advocate before it is too late.
For those who are curious, I take number and outline of the four Baptist freedoms from Walter Shurden's book, The Baptist Identity. Shurden, Walter B. The Baptist Identity: Four Fragile Freedoms. Macon, Ga.: Smyth & Helwys Pub, 1993.
But each gives us an interesting look at the same question. What does it mean to be a Baptist-- specifically with regards to higher ed?
For our friends at Shorter, they will be waiting until December to find out if their addition of a lifestyle statement to the requirements for continued employment there will ruin their accreditation visit from SACS. Because although it is their prerogative as a private institution to institute such a statement, it is a big no no in the world of higher ed accreditation to do anything which denies the value of tenure-- i.e. firing professors for refusing to sign even if they are tenured. It's estimated that one third of their faculty will leave before they sign.
Is that what it means to be a Baptist? Making sure that all of the people we associate with act a certain way, hold certain political views, and above all, not to take seriously the requirements of an institution for higher learning?
We have seen this week that that is certainly what it can mean to be a Baptist.
But something we here at Save OBU have said from the beginning is that the recently fundamentalist state conventions do not have the last word on what it means to be Baptist. And perhaps, in 1910, when our forerunners decided to build a co-ed, liberal arts university for their newly incorporated state instead of a seminary, it was because they knew that to be Baptist could mean a celebration of learning and truth seeking in all disciplines.
So this week, we say Baptists should be known for what they are for, not for what they are against.
I look forward to exploring each of the historic Baptist freedoms in turn and their implications on higher education. Perhaps we will see that the future is not so bleak after all.
There is another possibility for the future-- one for which Save OBU will continue to advocate before it is too late.
For those who are curious, I take number and outline of the four Baptist freedoms from Walter Shurden's book, The Baptist Identity. Shurden, Walter B. The Baptist Identity: Four Fragile Freedoms. Macon, Ga.: Smyth & Helwys Pub, 1993.
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Women in Baptist Life
This has been a hard week for me.
I have been reminded as I have researched and written that the situation for women is a bleak one, both in the CCCU and at OBU.
And so sometimes I wonder, is there any hope for my people? Is it time to give up and join a mainline protestant church? Is it time to leave Baptist-land forever and go hang out with the people who seem to like me a lot better?
Let me share a bit more of my story.
Yesterday, I said that I was one of the lucky ones because I had found a community which had encouraged me and brought me back to life. Many may have assumed that the community to which I referred is the Disciples of Christ seminary which I now attend. And it is true that I have found such community there.
But I found it first at a Baptist church.
Immediately upon leaving OBU, I packed up my bags and moved my life to a church internship which I had landed for the summer. Granted, it was an internship in children's ministry-- which, if you know me at all, is hilarious. But in addition to playing with preschoolers and telling them that Jesus loves them, I was also there to continue to refine my calling to ministry. And there I served alongside women who are affirmed and ordained.
This particular church even has a well-regarded pastoral residency program which trains seminary graduates to be head pastors-- and specifically accepts both women and men.
I'm not saying that everyone needs to go to a church like that. Actually, as a Baptist I'm saying that's totally between you and God-- and however your church wants to run itself is completely up to that church. That's what freedom of conscience and priesthood of the believer is all about. Save OBU is not looking to crusade for women's right to be pastors.
But this story serves to illustrate what I am trying to say. The point is this: there is much diversity in Baptist life-- although you might not know it if you only look at the BGCO.
Our Baptist heritage is much more promising for women and for all who do not fit the skinny mold which characterizes the post-takeover SBC. In fact, it was not until the 2000 Baptist Faith and Message that a clause was specifically added qualifying the position of pastor to men only. Before the year 2000, the Baptist Faith and Message said zero things about gender differences. ZERO.
There is indeed hope for my people. These oppressive ideas which have become policies (albeit, often unspoken ones) are not faithful to our past, but relatively recent innovations.
There are certain things evangelicals bring to the table, specific ideals which I cannot give up, certain reasons I have not been able to jump ship and leave. Evangelicals take scripture more seriously than most. Evangelicals believe that the individual is of infinite value to God. As a Baptist university, OBU should highlight and embrace these parts of its identity-- as well as the distinctive, historic Baptist freedoms. At Save OBU we have tried to highlight over and over again the great heritage which is belongs to our Baptist alma mater.
But these are not the things which have characterized the SBC since the 1980's. Suddenly, to be a Baptist did not mean to stand for freedom, but to stand against women, to boycott disney, and to define more and more narrowly what it means to be a Christian.
And suddenly at OBU, it means to ask invasive questions when hiring professors. It means to fire those who deviate from the narrow road. It means to demand of mainline brothers and sisters an explanation for why they have not become just exactly like us. It means to hide away the powerful women and keep them quiet and out of the boy's club. It means that it doesn't matter how students are treated, just so long as OBU is becoming a place of doctrinal purity.
So is the new OBU Baptist? Or is it catering to BGCO politics? Is the new administration looking to make a great school greater? Or are they playing to the preferences of the big boys in the Baptist building?
For OBU to remain true to its heritage, it must break ties with the BGCO.
I have been reminded as I have researched and written that the situation for women is a bleak one, both in the CCCU and at OBU.
And so sometimes I wonder, is there any hope for my people? Is it time to give up and join a mainline protestant church? Is it time to leave Baptist-land forever and go hang out with the people who seem to like me a lot better?
Let me share a bit more of my story.
Yesterday, I said that I was one of the lucky ones because I had found a community which had encouraged me and brought me back to life. Many may have assumed that the community to which I referred is the Disciples of Christ seminary which I now attend. And it is true that I have found such community there.
But I found it first at a Baptist church.
Immediately upon leaving OBU, I packed up my bags and moved my life to a church internship which I had landed for the summer. Granted, it was an internship in children's ministry-- which, if you know me at all, is hilarious. But in addition to playing with preschoolers and telling them that Jesus loves them, I was also there to continue to refine my calling to ministry. And there I served alongside women who are affirmed and ordained.
This particular church even has a well-regarded pastoral residency program which trains seminary graduates to be head pastors-- and specifically accepts both women and men.
I'm not saying that everyone needs to go to a church like that. Actually, as a Baptist I'm saying that's totally between you and God-- and however your church wants to run itself is completely up to that church. That's what freedom of conscience and priesthood of the believer is all about. Save OBU is not looking to crusade for women's right to be pastors.
But this story serves to illustrate what I am trying to say. The point is this: there is much diversity in Baptist life-- although you might not know it if you only look at the BGCO.
Our Baptist heritage is much more promising for women and for all who do not fit the skinny mold which characterizes the post-takeover SBC. In fact, it was not until the 2000 Baptist Faith and Message that a clause was specifically added qualifying the position of pastor to men only. Before the year 2000, the Baptist Faith and Message said zero things about gender differences. ZERO.
There is indeed hope for my people. These oppressive ideas which have become policies (albeit, often unspoken ones) are not faithful to our past, but relatively recent innovations.
There are certain things evangelicals bring to the table, specific ideals which I cannot give up, certain reasons I have not been able to jump ship and leave. Evangelicals take scripture more seriously than most. Evangelicals believe that the individual is of infinite value to God. As a Baptist university, OBU should highlight and embrace these parts of its identity-- as well as the distinctive, historic Baptist freedoms. At Save OBU we have tried to highlight over and over again the great heritage which is belongs to our Baptist alma mater.
But these are not the things which have characterized the SBC since the 1980's. Suddenly, to be a Baptist did not mean to stand for freedom, but to stand against women, to boycott disney, and to define more and more narrowly what it means to be a Christian.
And suddenly at OBU, it means to ask invasive questions when hiring professors. It means to fire those who deviate from the narrow road. It means to demand of mainline brothers and sisters an explanation for why they have not become just exactly like us. It means to hide away the powerful women and keep them quiet and out of the boy's club. It means that it doesn't matter how students are treated, just so long as OBU is becoming a place of doctrinal purity.
So is the new OBU Baptist? Or is it catering to BGCO politics? Is the new administration looking to make a great school greater? Or are they playing to the preferences of the big boys in the Baptist building?
For OBU to remain true to its heritage, it must break ties with the BGCO.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
OBU's Potential
A lot of time is spent on this blog dogging the way things are. And that's true and good because you have to see that there's a problem before you might be willing to find a solution. I think we can all agree there is indeed a problem.
But is it a lost cause? Why are we fighting for OBU, besides the fact that a part of our hearts still probably calls it home?
Jacob mentioned an article on Saturday that I want to take a moment to again consider the import. The article he wrote on mentions a sort-of new scene in higher education: an evangelical renaissance.
Now that I am at a mainline protestant seminary, I am all the more aware of my evangelical tradition. Sometimes, it's easy to forget some of the positives. But I am proud of my Baptist self-identification and believe that it is as a Baptist I have things to bring to the theological discussion table.
Let us not forget what we have to offer. Evangelicals take the bible very seriously. Evangelicalism holds the individual to be of infinite value to God. Evangelicals honor deeply the spiritual aspects of faith.
I sense there is a movement of those who are coming of age in the evangelical churches and realizing that our tradition is deeper than the well from which we currently drink. There is a sense that perhaps we should follow our mainline brothers and sisters into concern for justice issues and leave our parents and their moral majority behind. But there is also a recognition that we cannot simply sell our birthright.
A change is coming. And if you look at what kind of students are coming out of OBU, you will see it.
The potential for our university is to foster this movement, to mold students who give it wings. We are already bringing forth those who say, "You know what, maybe being Baptist isn't about denying women a place in ministry or hating homosexuals. Maybe it is about something bigger."
It's not that the answers changed, the debate is over, and the Bible lost. It's that the questions are changing and our tradition is being reclaimed.
There is a movement stirring in the hearts of young evangelicals who believe that their voices have value in the academic and theological conversation. They do not wish to abandon their roots, but to determine what exactly their tradition means for them. Movements always begin within the academy.
The time is coming when evangelicals might again be taken seriously by the world.
As an "unapologetically Baptist" Liberal Arts University, OBU stands at the cusp of the birth of this movement. If we continue to take seriously the quality of education, academic freedom, and all of the good things on which we claim to stand, we can grow into our potential-- the potential to be a part of the voice of the new evangelicalism.
Maybe this is a little abstract-- after all, I do spend most of my time talking to graduate school professors. But, I hope you can see where I am coming from, and maybe even seeds of these thoughts in your own life-- especially if you, too, are a product of OBU.
There is the chance that real, Evangelical, academic, light could shine from Bison hill-- and perhaps that it already does.
But it seems that there are some who are so attached to the old ways that they do not understand or desire this light. It scares them. It means their tradition is changing. And change is never good. The SBC has decided on what side they stand. That is why we must stand and support our University. To lose that voice would be to lose a treasure for both our own tradition and the others with whom we would interact.
But is it a lost cause? Why are we fighting for OBU, besides the fact that a part of our hearts still probably calls it home?
Jacob mentioned an article on Saturday that I want to take a moment to again consider the import. The article he wrote on mentions a sort-of new scene in higher education: an evangelical renaissance.
Now that I am at a mainline protestant seminary, I am all the more aware of my evangelical tradition. Sometimes, it's easy to forget some of the positives. But I am proud of my Baptist self-identification and believe that it is as a Baptist I have things to bring to the theological discussion table.
Let us not forget what we have to offer. Evangelicals take the bible very seriously. Evangelicalism holds the individual to be of infinite value to God. Evangelicals honor deeply the spiritual aspects of faith.
I sense there is a movement of those who are coming of age in the evangelical churches and realizing that our tradition is deeper than the well from which we currently drink. There is a sense that perhaps we should follow our mainline brothers and sisters into concern for justice issues and leave our parents and their moral majority behind. But there is also a recognition that we cannot simply sell our birthright.
A change is coming. And if you look at what kind of students are coming out of OBU, you will see it.
The potential for our university is to foster this movement, to mold students who give it wings. We are already bringing forth those who say, "You know what, maybe being Baptist isn't about denying women a place in ministry or hating homosexuals. Maybe it is about something bigger."
It's not that the answers changed, the debate is over, and the Bible lost. It's that the questions are changing and our tradition is being reclaimed.
There is a movement stirring in the hearts of young evangelicals who believe that their voices have value in the academic and theological conversation. They do not wish to abandon their roots, but to determine what exactly their tradition means for them. Movements always begin within the academy.
The time is coming when evangelicals might again be taken seriously by the world.
As an "unapologetically Baptist" Liberal Arts University, OBU stands at the cusp of the birth of this movement. If we continue to take seriously the quality of education, academic freedom, and all of the good things on which we claim to stand, we can grow into our potential-- the potential to be a part of the voice of the new evangelicalism.
Maybe this is a little abstract-- after all, I do spend most of my time talking to graduate school professors. But, I hope you can see where I am coming from, and maybe even seeds of these thoughts in your own life-- especially if you, too, are a product of OBU.
There is the chance that real, Evangelical, academic, light could shine from Bison hill-- and perhaps that it already does.
But it seems that there are some who are so attached to the old ways that they do not understand or desire this light. It scares them. It means their tradition is changing. And change is never good. The SBC has decided on what side they stand. That is why we must stand and support our University. To lose that voice would be to lose a treasure for both our own tradition and the others with whom we would interact.
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