A Rose by any other name would smell as sweet… Romeo and Juliet – Shakespeare
I was walking across a bridge one day, and I saw a man standing on the edge, about to jump. I ran over and said: "Stop. Don't do it." "Why shouldn't I?" he asked. I asked “Are you religious?" He said, "Yes." I said, "Me too. Are you Christian or Buddhist?" "Christian" he replied. "Me too. Are you Catholic or Protestant?" I asked. He said "Protestant." "Me too. Are you Episcopalian or Baptist?" I asked. "Baptist" he stated. "Wow! Me too. Are you Baptist Church of God or Baptist Church of the Lord?" I asked. "Baptist Church of God” he replied. "Me too. Are you original Baptist Church of God, or are you Reformed Baptist Church of God?" I asked further. "Reformed Baptist Church of God” he responded. "Me too. Are you Reformed Baptist Church of God - Reformation of 1879, or Reformed Baptist Church of God - Reformation of 1915?" I asked. He proudly replied "Reformed Baptist Church of God - Reformation of 1915." I said "Die, heretic scum!!" and pushed him off the bridge.
So, what is in a name? Does it really matter that we continue to call ourselves “Southern Baptist”, or even “Baptist” for that matter? An article (Travis Loller – Associated Press, Published: 2/21/2012) discussed the proposal to change the name of the Southern Baptist Convention. It stated:
Some Southern Baptists worry that their denomination’s name still carries the stigma of a 19th century split with northern Baptists over slavery. Others who fought hard to build the brand and its conservative theology and politics don’t want to see it go...
So the idea to add the description of “Great Commission Baptists” to the name of the Southern Baptist Convention might be a compromise that excites almost none of the 16 million who make up the nation’s largest Protestant denomination…
The “Great Commission” description endorsed by the SBC’s executive committee on Tuesday would be strictly optional. It still must be voted on by delegates at the annual convention this summer. Southern Baptist churches are independent, and many of them don’t have “Southern” in their names anyway…
Supporters of the “Great Commission” name argue it would offer an official identity for churches trying to spread the Gospel to diverse groups of people outside the South and worldwide. The notion of changing the Southern Baptist name is not new: It was first proposed in 1903 and has been unsuccessfully brought up more than a dozen times since. The fact that membership and baptisms are declining gives it new urgency...
The name task force considered a few hundred suggestions, but narrowed it down to three. The other two in final contention were “Continental Baptist” and “Evangelical Baptist.”…
Malcolm Yarnell, a professor at Southwestern Baptist Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, and director of its Center for Theological Research, sees some benefit for ministries on the leading edge of winning souls. “ ... for those that are church planters, especially if they’re in frontier states, non-Southern states, they will see it as a great benefit because they can refer to themselves without having to refer to the cultural baggage,” he said. “Because you know to be a Southerner in the North carries baggage, and we all know that.”…
It remains to be seen if and how the alternative will be used. The names could be used together, like “Southern Baptist Convention — Great Commission Baptists,” or either could be used by itself.
In the New Testament, groups of believers were simply addressed by where they were located and where they met. In Colossians, Paul addresses his letter to “the saints and faithful brothers in Christ in Colassae.” (Colossians 1:2) In chapter 4 vs. 15, Paul sends his greetings to the brothers in Laodicea, and to Nympha and the “church in her house.” Priscilla and Aquilla were mentioned by Paul in I Cor. 16:19 as well as the “church that meets in their house.” In the 16th chapter of Romans, Paul greets Pricilla and Aquilla again, and also lists several other groups of believers in households. I guess before all of the divisions in the Body of Christ became so prevalent, a church in Jerusalem might have been known simply as “The Church in Jerusalem that meets in Bob and Sue's house at the corner of Main and First Street.” They would need a really long bus in order to put that name on the side.
I Corinthians 9
19 Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. 20 To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. 21 To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. 23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.
The name Southern Baptist does hold negative connotations for some people. As mentioned in the article, to some it brings up thoughts of division. A division of the races caused by slavery, or even the division of a country into North and South, with the cultural differences that includes. In the verse above, Paul talks about becoming “all things to all people” for the sake of the Gospel of Christ. The underlying principle is that it is easier to connect with people when they can relate to you. The drive behind changing the Southern Baptist Convention name is simply that if there is some component of that name which hinders our group of believers from reaching some groups for Christ, we should be willing to remove that hindrance in order to further the Kingdom.
1 Corinthians 3
4 For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere human beings? 5 What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. 6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. 7 So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. 9 For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building. …21 So then, no more boasting about human leaders! All things are yours, 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, 23 and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God.
It is true that a name immediately identifies a group of believers, and what that group believes in and holds a true. The group identified as the Southern Baptist Convention has a set of beliefs called the Baptist Faith and Doctrine. This document clearly lays out what we as Baptists believe and how we interpret Scripture. In the early church, divisions were discouraged. Paul chides the Corinthians for creating divisions among themselves based on following one church leader over another. Paul makes it clear that we are all co-workers, and it all is for one purpose.
Church history shows however that the Early Christian Church would split into separate branches over time based on differing opinions, infighting, and leaders. The Assyrian and Oriental Orthodox denominations branched off at the time of the Council of Ephesus, due to differing opinions on the translation of scripture. Political and theological differences resulted in the Great Schism of 1054 when the Eastern Orthodox Church branched off from what then became the Roman Catholic Church. In the 1500’s The Reformation ignited by Martin Luther resulted in the branching off of the Protestant Church from the Catholic Church. Various teachings and understandings of the Bible over time would cause the Protestants to divide even further along denominational lines into Lutheran, Episcopalian, Baptist, Methodist, Anglican, Pentecostals and many other such denominations.
It is of course necessary to name the different Bodies of Believers. It is mankind’s means of understanding our world…we examine, differentiate, and classify everything we come into contact with. As Believers, it simply points out the differences we have with other Believers – Worship on Saturday or Sunday? Dunk under water partly or all the way? Talk in tongues or not? For good of for bad, this is the system of classification we have developed over several centuries for the Church.
1 Corinthians 12
12 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 14 Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.. 24 …But God has put the body together, … 25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. And yet I will show you the most excellent way.
1 Corinthians 13
1 If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. …12 For now we see in a mirror [e]dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. 13 But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the [f]greatest of these is love.
It is important for the Church of Christ to always remember that we are one Body made up of Believers. And not just made up of Believers in our town, or state, or even the world; but made up of every Believer that has existed in the past or will exist in the future as well. As to changing the name of the Southern Baptist Convention, I have to agree with Paul. If a name hinders the group of Believers from reaching the lost, it should be changed or removed.
Proverbs 22
1 A good name is to be more desired than great wealth, Favor is better than silver and gold.
But, the term Baptist is a historical title for a group of Believers who have always held to the urgency of the Great Commission, and to the importance of the inerrancy of Scripture. These are two things that we should be very proud of, and continue to uphold and defend. Baptists over the years have ministered to the needy and brought the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the hurting and the lost. These good deeds and fulfillment of the Great Commission have resulted in the Baptist Denomination having a good name and reputation, and is not something to be discarded lightly but to be valued. Not valued above that of being a Christian first and foremost, but a designation that clearly defines who and what we are, and to what doctrines and beliefs we hold firm.
The Great Commission
Matthew 28:16-20
18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
