What Brand of Church Is This?
How denominations came to be,
the American Baptists' place among them
by Dr. Ralph F. Wilson
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Bible Study 
on 1 & 2 Timothy
My daughter and I go shopping for graham crackers at the grocery
store. Simple graham crackers, nothing exotic, mind you. There's
a whole shelf of boxes to choose from.
"Which one is the graham crackers?" my daughter asks.
"They're all graham crackers, honey." She looks puzzled.
One box has a full-color photo of the resident crackers, complete
with a frothy glass of milk, a "serving suggestion."
On another, a happy little cartoon man dressed as a baker smiles
at me. Maybe he's eaten some of the crackers already, who knows?
One is made with "real honey" and is sealed in "three
packs for freshness." Another is baked with "100% vegetable
shortening." For "no artificial colors" I would
pick up a third box.
The final box is plain white with plain black letters--"Crackers, Graham," or something like that. It's cheap.
Annie says, "Daddy wouldn't it be easier if there were only
one kind?"
"I suppose so, honey, but I'm not sure you'd really like
that. What if one had more cinnamon sprinkled on top than you
like? What if one is soggy and one is crisp?"
Finally I buy one. We take it home, I break off a square, and
take a bite. Mum, crisp. I pour a glass of milk. AHD. Next time
at the store I'll look for that box. After all, I know I like
it. Brand loyalty, I guess they call it.
I suppose, though, all the brands taste nearly the same They're
all graham crackers, not Popsicles[tm].
Church Brands
To look at the signs in front of churches you'd think they were
different brands, too. So what brand of church are we?
That's not the important question. First you need to know what's in the box. We're Christians. We follow Jesus Christ. We
believe in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. That's who
we are. When you ask about the brand you're really asking about
packaging, about tiny differences. But with Christians, differences
aren't the important thing. Jesus, he's important.
Denominations are confusing. "Aren't you all Christians?" you ask.
Yes! Every church which believes that Jesus is the only Son of
God, that he died for our sins, that he rose from the dead, that
he is coming again--churches that believe these things are Christian
churches. Christians, pure and simple. Proudly Christians, too,
for we serve Jesus who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Who
loves us. Who forgives us. Who, when we invite him, comes into
our hearts and lives with us, and enriches and fulfills us. Are
we proud of him? You bet!
But that's where denominations got off the track. They started
getting proud of themselves. A generation or two ago, the Baptists
would say, "We're best." The Methodists would counter,
"No, you're not." And the Catholics would say, "We're
the real church." Like "My daddy can lick your daddy,"
they were at each other's throats.
A whole generation of people said, "Forget it. Get your act
together. We'll come back when you stop fighting each other."
I think you'll see we've stopped fighting. More and more new churches
are calling themselves "Community Church," or emphasizing
things which we have in common with the community, rather than
stressing denominational differences. I think we're moving in
the right direction.
"Why are there denominations?" you ask. Good question.
Let me ask you one: "Why is your last name different from
mine?" The answer? History. Your parents may have come to
this country from Holland or Spain or Africa or Germany, while
mine came from Scotland and Ireland. That's why some families
are big on pasta and others are into fried rice.
A Bit of History
I'd like to share with you a bit of history so you can understand
how our American Baptist "family" of churches came to
be.
Back in the early 1600s in England you didn't become a Christian.
Everyone was assumed to be a Christian just because they were
born into a "Christian country." As a result the Church
of England had leaders who didn't really believe in Jesus as their
Lord--they were in it just for power and money. People finally
said "enough." The "congregationalists" or
"puritans" determined, "We want churches made up
purely of those who believe." So they formed them. Instead
of being governed by the corrupt hierarchy of a state church,
each local congregation governed itself. Every so often people
from these "congregational" churches would get together
to encourage one another. Sometimes they would take on projects
together: to start a school to train ministers, or to send out
a missionary-that sort of thing.
Now a problem arose. Congregationalists baptized their babies
into church membership just like they had done in the Church of
England. But after a generation or so their children had positions of leadership in the congregational church, but
didn't really believe in or follow Jesus. Here's where the Baptists
come in.
Baptists went back to the Bible. They found it didn't really talk
about baptizing babies--you couldn't find that anywhere--but it
talked about baptism as a sign of a person's faith and allegiance
to Jesus. Come to think of it, babies aren't old enough to put
faith or allegiance in anyone.
So Baptists dedicated their babies to their Lord in a beautiful
and meaningful ceremony--something like Jesus being dedicated
in the Temple when he was a baby--but they waited to baptize people
until they were old enough to make decisions for themselves to
follow Christ. That meant that all the members of the church were
personally committed to Jesus Christ. No one did it for them,
they did it for themselves. Baptism was a sign of their personal
faith.
When Baptists came to America, though, they ran into trouble.
In Virginia, for example, everyone had to pay taxes to support
a state-sponsored church. Baptists, like "good Americans,"
protested. They were whipped, put in jail, their property confiscated.
No wonder when it came time for the Constitution that Baptists
called for an amendment to prevent the government from choosing
a particular church to support. Baptists have been some of the
strongest voices for freedom of conscience this country has had.
When a powerful spiritual awakening swept the American colonies
a few decades before independence, Baptists caught fire. They
went everywhere proclaiming the power and love of Jesus and new
churches sprang up all over. Ever since, Baptists have felt a
strong urgency to share the good news of Jesus with others. If
you were a beggar and you knew where they were giving out free
bread, it'd be a crime not to tell other beggars where to find
it. That's how we feel about Jesus.
Our history has also led us to have a social conscience. After
all, Baptists were persecuted and oppressed so we understand what
that feels like. Around the turn of the century, for example,
American Baptists took a leading role in speaking out for sensitive
child labor laws. During the civil rights movement American Baptists
demanded that the rights of all races be recognized--and guaranteed
by law. We have a social conscience, but no Right Reverend So-and-So
tells us what we have to believe about social issues.
American Baptists, because we've been persecuted for "being
different," tend to be accepting of Christians of other denominations.
We can disagree without being disagreeable. We can hold our beliefs
without putting down Christian brothers and sisters who see it
differently.
We not only have an active fellowship and common projects with
American Baptist congregations in the area, we cooperate with
other Christian groups, as well. We get together with representatives
from other church bodies to see how we can work together. After
all, we are brothers and sisters in Christ.
When we get to heaven, Baptists won't be there by themselves.
All who put their trust in Jesus will be one. In fact, we are
one right now!
I think you can see from all this that we take the Bible seriously.
It is God's inspired Word from which we can learn how to live and grow as God's children.
Well, that's a quick tour of our history and some of the influences
which have molded American Baptists. This'll help you figure out
what "brand" we are, if that's really important.
A Worldwide Outreach
Our vision reaches around the world. We have significant mission
outreaches to a dozen different countries. Missionaries and nationals
work in evangelism, starting new churches, literacy work, emergency
relief, health clinics and hospitals, and schools and colleges.
Through Baptist World Relief we can channel money quickly and
securely and to needy spots nearly anywhere on the globe where
disaster may strike.
We have work in this country, too--in the inner cities, on Indian
reservations, as well as outposts in Alaska and a whole group
of churches in Puerto Rico.
A Gospel of Mercy
Funny. A lot of people have a stereotype of old-time backwoods
Baptists that are pinch-faced, self righteous, and angry at everyone.
So they ask me, "Do you preach fire-and brimstone?"
No, we don't. Now, Jesus talked more about hell than anyone else
in the Bible. It's real. But he didn't try to scare people into
the kingdom. Rather he reached out to them with love and compassion.
We know wrong will be punished. But it blows my mind to realize
that the God who knows all about us, loves us in spite of our
sins, and sent Jesus to bear the punishment of our sins for us.
People already feel guilty for their sins. Our message is that
Jesus came to forgive us, to lift our guilt, to live in our hearts
and give us a fresh start. We have good news for you!
Now don't take so long trying to choose the right brand that you
don't get around to tasting what's inside the package. It's great!
Copyright © 1985-2009 Ralph F. Wilson. <pastor
joyfulheart.com> All rights reserved. A single copy of this article is free. Do not put this on a website. See legal, copyright, and reprint information.
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