Why I Am a (Baptist)

Before today, I have never been asked to explain why I’m a Baptist. This question caught me off guard and my immediate thoughts went to the fact that I’ve always been a Baptist because it’s just how I grew up. But yet, I’ve lived long enough to have experienced different types of Baptists and varying viewpoints that “being Baptist” can mean nearly anything. I’ve also seen where different “types” of Baptists fight and judge amongst each other over what Baptist means and who is doing “Baptist” right.

I grew up under Jerry Falwell, Senior (founder of Liberty University) and broke the mold and received my undergrad from Bob Jones University. Both are distinctly Baptist institutions yet they both hold many differing Christian viewpoints. When I was at BJU, everything I grew up thinking that was true was questioned and challenged. Here was one Baptist group saying the other Baptist group was extreme, even heretical, leaving me very confused because I knew Dr. Falwell and knew how I was brought up, and it was not wrong or sinful. By my senior year of college, I was so tired of all the dogmatic religiosity warring against the God I kept reading about in the Bible because I couldn’t make them reconcile with each other. I no longer cared about which Baptist way was right or debating big, long theological words or being shamed for enjoying praise and worship. I just wanted to know who God was when religion was stripped away and discovered that God is simply too big to be confined by a man-made religious label. 

So being Baptist doesn’t guarantee salvation nor does it mean you always have the right way to go to heaven or that you’re always following God’s Word…it depends on the person or group who is claiming to be Baptist. I am a Believer in Christ first and then a Baptist second. The first is my belief, the second is the group in which I choose to carry out my beliefs. There are many things about the Baptist way that truly represent Christ and remind us of who He is and His desire for the body of Christ. There is comfort and familiarity in some of our “traditions” and there is cohesion and movement when Baptists come together for the Kingdom whether it’s in making disciples, sending missionaries, or standing in solidarity against culture.

Being Baptist means we believe that our God is the One True God who created the world, who sent His son via a virgin birth, to live, minister, and die for our sins out of a pure love for us. It means believing that God had a distinct plan to redeem His world and give us a future with Him. Being Baptist means we believe the Bible is inspired by God and that it is living and powerful as it changes lives and leads us into a relationship with God. Being Baptist means we practice baptism and the Lord’s Supper as acts of obedience and testimony of our desire to follow Christ as outlined in scripture, not as the means of salvation. 

Being Baptist means we share a common identity in Christ so we meet together in our Baptist churches for a like-minded community where we learn about God and where we grow and serve Him together. And the latter imparts a great responsibility to make sure that we are giving out the one true God and His Word, not a man-made version of God that we’ve watered down (or built up) with our preferences. It’s giving God over a religion and its traditions. And it’s making sure we remain true to the core doctrines and values of God’s Word while living out of the grace and love that Christ has given to us. So to me, saying I’m Baptist is nearly synonymous with saying I’m Christian. However, I don’t want to reach a point where a certain religion and its rules dictate and/or determine my faith in God. While my faith is founded in God alone, God often uses my Baptist church to help guide me in His ways through the instruction and fellowship of those who seek Him.