the blessing of controversy

I am sitting at the Richmond Airport awaiting my flight home from our IMB meeting reflecting on the blessing of controversy.

I know that this is a strange thing for a pastor to say- we shepherd types tend to like the green pastures and still waters. But my life this far has taught me that really good things often emerge out of troubled waters.

On his last birthday, we showed our son Taylor the video of his birth. He got up and left the room when we got to the part where his mom starts screaming.

I had forgotten that part.

I thought about how much a pain my children have been, starting with their births. But everytime I look at them my heart wells up with such joy and love and pride. They bring me such happiness. Such turmoil. They are struggling through adolescence, often clumsy and naive, but I see wonderful young adults emerging from that struggle.

My daughter was born on one of my worst days of ministry. I fired an immoral and deceitful staff member in the morning and held my newborn daughter in the afternoon. The pain of both those events have taught me more than most painless experiences I have ever had.

So, here's to the trials of many kinds. Here's to the joy perseverance brings!

I and many others have struggled of late with issues of baptism, private prayer language and membership. I certainly have not sought out these controversies, but I am grateful for what I am learning.

I had a chance to visit with Dennis Newkirk and some of the other elders at Henderson Hills the other day. I told them I believe something really good will come out of their struggle. I for one am grateful for the thoughtful discussion that has come from the issues they have raised (courageous on their part, by the way). It has caused many of us to think with more clarity about the issue of baptism. I know that this has been very difficult on Dennis, the elders and the entire Henderson Hills body. I am praying every day that God would lead this great church to find the mind of Christ in this situation. They are a part of our SBC family and we have a responsibility to hold them up in prayer, support them, and seek earnestly to understand their struggle.

Their position makes a very good point about the meaning of membership. They are attempting to address the issue of candidates for membership who get baptized for no other reason than an initiatory rite. That is not scriptural baptism they rightly point out.

They have correctly put their finger on the fallacy of empty tradition, void of scriptural substance. Although I disagree with their proposed solution, I have no argument with their point. People who commit their life to Christ should be correctly baptized the way scripture describes. They should do it only once and it should be their public profession of faith. It should not be simply a physical act to satisfy a man made rule (for church membership or IMB candidacy for that matter).

But should we give people who are not ready to take this step full membership? I would say certainly not, that indeed there is enough scriptural evidence that their immersion is an imperative to membership.

But what do we do with those people who have been sprinkled in another church as a sign of their profession of faith in a Bible believing pedobaptist body? The truth is there are many pastors who will say to this candidate, "just do it as a requirement for this church, even if it is not really baptism to you, what does it hurt? After all, it is only a symbol."

That baptism is a sham. It is non biblical and it should not happen. The elders at Henderson Hills are absolutely correct in making this point.

So do we turn them away and not make them full members? Could something else be worked out for them short of full membership while they are working through the true meaning of baptism? I know the argument some will make here- "This is easy, just turn them away, the answer is no, sorry, find another church."

But is that the VERY BEST answer?

I don't know, but I am glad that we are struggling for it. It is a very real issue that should be given a lot of thought. Could there be another way to help people identify with the church without being a full fledged member? Many Baptist churches have this in place anyway in the form of "watchcare membership."

I really believe that some very strong ideas will be born out of this labor.

This issue is not just a Henderson Hills one by the way. As denominational lines are frayed, more and more people with varying theological backgrounds will seek membership in our churches. Baptists must figure this out. We need a reformation in our definition of membership, it seems to me.

Some strong minds and passionate hearts need to struggle through this and give us prayerful solutions. I believe Dennis is attempting to do this. There are many of us who are saying, "it's hard to embrace your ideas so far, but keep struggling."

There will be blessings from this controversy.

Maybe you wonder why I write so much of controversial issues. Why not stick to the quiet water stuff? Remember that the name of the blog is "The Road We Travel" and it's objective is to "prepare the road and remove the obstacles". Obstacle clearing is messy. The road is not always smooth.

One only needs to follow the life of Jesus to see the truth in this.

Last Sunday I taught on John 2:1-12 where Jesus changed the water into wine. This Sunday we will learn about John 2:13-24 where Jesus cleared the temple.

That's the way it goes, it seems, when you follow Jesus. Sometimes He is the Lord of the wine, sometimes He is Lord of the whips. Sometimes He calms the waters. Sometimes He stirs them up.