I am a Baptist. I've always been pretty proud of that. It's been who I am for a long time. While I recognize that not all of what Baptists do is great (we do have some flaws) I support and love most of what we do. I am not, however, one given to following the 'party' line, which sometimes creates some problems for me.
All that was just to say that I think Ed Stetzer and I are kindred spirits. I really love his blog post titled, "
Baptists need to get out more."
You can read it in full right here.Here's an excerpt:
Sometimes I feel that I live in two worlds.
First, there is the SBC world. It is big, powerful, and tribal. SBC world is so big that you can live your life in that world and never know there is a broader Christian community. In that world, almost every pastor would know who Junior Hill is, but I am guessing many of my non-SBC readers do not.
Second, there is the broader Christian world. And, there are some movements in that world that impact the SBC world. More on that in a moment.
This week is a mix for me and it prompted this blog post.
In just a few hours after posting this I will be speaking at the New Mexico SBC Evangelism Conference. To them, I will be the "progressive" guy. But, they bring me in to shake things up. In SBC life, I am the guy that they consider "safe enough" because I am in the family and really do believe the doctrine, but "dangerous enough" that people will come to watch me get myself in trouble.
The next day I am at the Innovation3 conference and many will think of me of the guy who is stuck in the past because (for example) I think "Internet Church" is like "United Baptist," two words that won't go well together.
And, of course, when I am at the Vineyard National Leadership Forum on Thursday and they will not know what do to with me, but they are always nice and I am glad they would think to invite me.
But, Baptists have their own world. One big SBC guy writes a book and soon every other big SBC pastor endorses it. And, that's not bad. But, if we don't get out sometimes we end up a little too inbred.
Read it is full right here
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