few surprises here...

A Baptist pointing his finger at Presbyterians.
How many times has this happened in my lifetime?
Too many to count.

Before I go on I need to report:
I have a genealogical tree full of Baptists
in particular a number of Baptist preachers.
Though I don't agree with their theology or
find their style of worship meaningful...
I love my Baptist family.

I don't think it is radical news
that Baptists
(in particular Southern Baptists)
and Presbyterians
(in particular the PCUSA)
don't see eye to eye on a number of things.
I think that is why we have separate
denominations.

So I was a bit surprised
(yet, not really)
that in the latest copy of the
Presbyterian Layman
(a vocal critic of the PCUSA)
included a full-page article
written by R. Albert Mohler,
president of
The Southern Baptist
Theological Seminary.

His conclusions...
and in the end
condemnations of the church
I serve:

"You're liberal."
"Less than half of your members say they
have had a conversion experience."
"You have high respect for Jesus, but you
don't believe in Jesus the way I do."
"You are disheartened, aging, increasingly
irrelevant....and left wing."

Really?
Is this news?

In my world...
in my experience...
it is not.

I suppose a desire to gravitate
towards
and root faith in "grace"
will always seem a liberal
response for certain Christians.

I suppose understanding faith
as a life-long journey rather than
an isolated moment of conversion
will never seem credible
for certain Christians.

I suppose encountering the
power and grace of Jesus
in a variety
of ways will never be a
satisfactory expression of faith
for certain Christians.

Aging? Disheartened? Irrelevant?
I suppose these can be frightening
realities for certain Christians.

But for me...I hang on to the hope
Paul first offered to the Romans...
Nothing will be able to separate
us from the love of God
in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Not the aging process.
Not disheartened moments in time.
Not irrelevancy.

Nothing will be able to separate us
from the love of God
in Christ Jesus our Lord.

There are few surprises in the
Baptist President's
commentary on the church
I serve.

In the wake of his
condemnation
(and the Presbyterian Layman's as well)
I stand firm.

I don't live faith
to impress
certain Christians...
nor do I expect others
to experience God
exactly the same way
I have, do and will...
nor do I condemn them
when they haven't
don't and won't.

I live faith because
God has claimed me.
I live faith because
Jesus called me to follow.
I live faith because
I believe.

"When Christians allow God to create
God's own image in others, they allow
others their freedom." - Bonhoeffer