Why I'm Baptist

Why I’m Baptist

A few months ago, I made a decision to drop “Missionary Baptist” out of our church’s name on all advertisement material. For some of my members, it’s a big deal and for others it’s not. My reasoning was to create an open door when sharing our church to other people. When people think of the Baptist denomination they think of tradition, boring, and unprogressive. All of which I think is a matter of opinion and preference.

During my basketball season this year, one of my teammates asked for information regarding our church. I gave him a card which stated “First Goodwill Church”. He then proceeded to ask; “What kind of church is this?” I knew what he was asking but I asked; “What do you mean?” His response was “Is it a Baptist church?” I told him yes and based on his facial expression, I immediately went into defense mode pleading a defense case for our “Baptist Church”.

On another occasion, I was on the parking lot of our church campus when a lady came and asked what type of church is this? I told her; “We’re Baptist.” She says “Oh!” and walked away.

There’s been many other instances where in conversations, participating in or hearing, that paints a negative picture of the Baptist denomination. One of the words many people are using now when discussing church ministry is progressive. And when discussing a progressive ministry, they question rather or not the Baptist denomination is a progressive denomination. We have seen among our Baptist peers a compromising of the Word of God, which dictates our practice, in an effort to be a progressive ministry (Whatever that means). Do we measure the progress of a church, regardless of denomination, based on practice or kingdom building by winning souls to Christ and building fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ? Should we compromise our denomination affiliation in order to reach people? Are we trying to reach people for Christ or for the church to increase numbers?

Over my life time, I’ve had the opportunity to minister and be a member in many different denominations other than Baptist. My experiences have been bitter-sweet no matter what the denomination. I’ve seen a little church fighting, tradition, adultery, stealing, homosexuality/lesbianism, loud colored suits, diamonds on every finger, divorce, re-marriage, child abuse, child molestation, and just about whatever else you can think of in my experiences that was not isolated to the Baptist church.

The question I asked myself when writing this article is “Clint, why write about this? What is your purpose and mission?” I write this article as a declaration to say; “I’m proud to be Baptist!” There’s nothing wrong with the Baptist church. We have church just like everybody else and good church. We worship and praise God in spirit and in truth. The spirit dwells in the Baptist church. The word of God is preached with power and conviction in the Baptist church. We have good singers, musicians, choirs, praise teams, ministry programs, and outreach programs. I’m proud to be Baptist.

Secondly, I write to help others understand that we do have purpose and meaning. A few years ago, I was in my office speaking with a friend who came from Covenant Worship Center and decided that he wanted to change his membership to First Goodwill Missionary Baptist Church. As we were talking, I shared with him my 5 year preaching/teaching plan as well as our 10 year vision plan. His response: “I thought Baptist did what they wanted to do without prayerful planning in preaching and goal setting”. My defense antennas went up but then I thought this is the best time to show him a different side of our denomination to clear the negative cloud in his mind about our denomination. I told him these words; “From a preaching a stand-point, I study hard. The Holy Spirit speaks to me before I get to the pulpit not while I’m standing at the pulpit. Secondly, I spend time in prayer with God to follow His leading through the Holy Spirit in goal setting for the church. The Lord leads us and guides us along the way”. I don’t know if it helped him but it did feel good explaining our purpose.

During that conversation I proceeded to share the Baptist Lifestyle statement that explains in detail why we do what we do. I’m sharing it in this article as well with prayerful hopes that those reading will have a better understanding of our denomination.

Beliefs are not worth much unless they are translated into actions. Based on what the Bible teaches, we feel very strongly about the following seven practices:

Bible As Our Sole Authority
"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,..." 2 Timothy 3:16

Since God's Word is the only completely reliable and truthful authority, we accept the Bible as our manual for living. Our first question when faced with a decision is "What does the Bible say?" We practice daily Bible reading, Bible study, and Bible memorization. The Bible is the basis for all we believe.

Autonomy of Each Local Church
"And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy." Colossians 1:18

Christ is the recognized head of our church, not any person, group, or religious organization. While recognizing the value of associating and cooperating with other groups of Christians, we believe every local church should be self-governing and independent from any denominational control. In relating to our "daughter churches" that we sponsor, we encourage each congregation to determine it's own strategy, structure, and style.

Priesthood of Every Believer
"...and He has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father;..." Revelation 1:6a "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light;..." 1 Peter 2:9

The Bible teaches that every Christian is called to "full time" Christian service, regardless of his or her vocation. We practice the truth that every believer is a minister by encouraging every member to find a place of service and ministry. Every believer has direct access to God through prayer and Bible reading.

Tithing
"A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the LORD; it is holy to the LORD." Leviticus 27:30

At First Goodwill we practice tithing for the support of Christ's body, the church, as God commands. We recognize that giving 10% of our income is the Biblical standard of giving.

Immersion Baptism
"...having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead." Colossians 2:12

We practice baptism by immersion under water - the way Jesus was baptized, and the way the Bible commands.

Spirit-Led Living
(Jesus said), "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." John 15:5

We believe the only way possible to live the Christian life is by God's power within us. So we seek to practice a daily dependence on God's Spirit to enable us to do what is right. (Phil. 2:13; Eph. 5:18)

Telling Others About Christ
"Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have." 1 Peter 3:15

It is the responsibility of every Christian to share the Good News with those with whom God brings us into contact. We practice personal sharing about Christ and inviting friends to church.

If you’re in the Los Angeles area please come visit First Goodwill Missionary Baptist Church at 6900 South Compton Ave in Los Angeles, Ca 90001.