Tiff over Jesus misses the point

Birmingham Post-Herald ^ | July 24, 2005 | James L. Evans

[Graybeard58]

Theological competition between Christian groups has been part of the faith landscape from the beginning. From Gentiles to apostolic authority, from Latin to Greek Bibles, Christians always have been able to find stuff to disagree about.

A recurring source of contention has been Jesus himself. The famous creedal battles of the fourth century pitched those who believed in Jesus' absolute humanity over against those who asserted his absolute deity. The compromise, that Jesus was both fully human and fully God, allowed both sides to claim victory but also left the matter mostly unresolved.

In fact, the conflict over Jesus continues right down to our present day, albeit in a somewhat less profound form.

Recently, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, a pullout group at odds with the Southern Baptist Convention, came under fire for allegedly removing Jesus from their constitution. The charge stems from a proposed change in the CBF vision and purpose statement.

The original statement defined the group's purpose as "helping churches promote the Gospel of Jesus Christ." That statement was revised at the group's annual meeting to read "help churches fulfill their God-given mission."

Leaders from the Southern Baptist Convention quickly seized on the change as an example of liberal leanings among Cooperative Baptists. SBC leaders have asserted all along that the CBF was composed of liberals. Al Mohler, president of Southern Seminary, charged the CBF was sliding down the slippery slope of theological relativism by removing Jesus from the center of the group's theological identity.

Fellowship leaders thought this was a bit of the pot calling the kettle black. One CBF pastor noted that in 2000, Southern Baptists removed Jesus from the center of their identity when they rewrote the Baptist Faith and Message statement. The 1963 version of the faith statement stated Jesus is the criterion by which all Scripture was to be interpreted. The document also stated Jesus was the full and final revelation of God.

The Faith and Message statement adopted in 2000 deleted the statement about Jesus as the criterion for all Scripture interpretation and declared the Bible was the full and final revelation of God.

Not about to let the fellowship upstarts have the last word on the matter, an SBC representative pointed out the change was necessary. Liberals were using Jesus to justify all sorts of heresies like women in ministry.

Not to be outdone, fellowship leaders pointed out the Southern Baptist constitution, drafted in 1845 to allow slave owners to be missionaries, does not mention Jesus at all. All of which may serve to prove what I heard a historian say one time about Baptists. They may fight, he said, but never about anything important.

Not that Jesus is unimportant. Establishing the church's identity firmly in the purpose and mission of Jesus is the key to everything. But if this debate really were about following Jesus' example, we would be hearing more about the poor, the imprisoned, the sick and the destitute.

According to Jesus, it is caring for these "little ones" that is the mark of true discipleship.

As for the current debate, why not get two or three preachers from each of the two Baptist groups and let them fight it out with playdough at 20 paces. That way everyone could see the schoolyard level of this debate, while at the same time protect innocent bystanders from being injured by flying rhetoric.

James L. Evans is pastor of Auburn First Baptist Church.

[HighlyOpinionated]

Your point leads to a false conclusion.

Or maybe your understanding of the question leads you to assume a false conclusion.

The Church which is doing the most for the poor is not the Church which is closed except on Sunday. It's the one with the open doors. It's the one with Servants who take vows of poverty so that they are not encumbered with worrying about finances and offer their entire lives to the poor.

Maybe you work and your spouse is free to offer time and talent to the poor. Maybe you provide offerings to small mission projects so that they'll have finances to afford to pay a preacher or a Priest. Perhaps you are rich and you give large amounts to ministry.

Now, about the total number who attend church of some sort here in my County. On any given Sunday, about 70% of the total population is in a worship service.

[jo kus]

Brother,

You're preaching to the choir. I'm Catholic...

Regards

[Conservative til I die]

So basically being a Christian is about making money? Wow, you sure don't get it.

[A.J.Armitage]

The famous creedal battles of the fourth century pitched those who believed in Jesus' absolute humanity over against those who asserted his absolute deity. The compromise, that Jesus was both fully human and fully God, allowed both sides to claim victory but also left the matter mostly unresolved.

This isn't shocking. But in light of it, this is:

James L. Evans is pastor of Auburn First Baptist Church.

He's a pastor. A pastor thinks orthodox Christology is merely a compromise. Has he ever read the Gospels? The Epistles? And he doesn't even get the heresies right: the Docetists and Ebionites were around in the late First Century; the Fourth Century guys were Arians, who were different.

[A.J.Armitage]

Before you get too smart for your own pants their, I would remind you that Lakewood Church is the largest Assembly of God in North America and Saddleback Church is the largest Southern Baptist Convention church in North America.

But that's just it: they're POPULAR, which is the most important thing in the world.

Hasn't American culture taught you anything?