EDITORIAL:
Can you describe Texas Baptists?
___"This church would take on hell with a water pistol," a well-known pastor declared of his Texas Baptist congregation after returning from an out-of-state tenure.
___Most Baptists beyond our borders might dismiss the proud pastor's exclamation as "typically Texan." After all, it's boastful. It's bigger-than-life. And it's true.
___Almost, anyway. Most Texas Baptist churches wouldn't be naive enough to take on hell with a water pistol. Instead, they'd take up an offering to buy a nuclear-powered water cannon. And then they'd storm the very gates of you-know-where.
___You'll get a sense of the pastor's wonder beginning in this edition of the Standard, when you read our five-week retrospective on Texas Baptists in the 20th century. Our story is the tale of God's outlandish extravagance we call grace. If Texas Baptists have any ground for boasting, it is that the Lord has been outrageously good to us.
___ How would you describe Texas Baptists during this century? Each of us can think up a list to fill that bill. Here's mine:
___
Zealously evangelistic. Countless Texas Baptists have indeed taken on hell. Not with water pistols, but with gospel tracts, marked New Testaments and loaves of bread. Every week, they walk behind prison bars, into urban ghettos and across borders to lead people to faith in Christ. This zeal is fueled by Jesus' blood, shed for "whosoever will" turn to him in faith.
___ Steadfastly resilient. We have survived two world wars, the Great Depression, the '60s, denominational schism and even preachers in polyester leisure suits. Believing God has a purpose for us, Texas Baptists have bounced back from adversity.
___ Unabashedly biblical. Some Baptists have fought over the Bible. Most Texas Baptists, however, have gone about reading it and doing our best to let it be a lamp for our feet and a light for our path. We've flocked to Sunday School in numbers that would make angels' heads spin. We've led backyard Bible clubs under virtually every shade tree in the state. We've spent a fortune on daily study guides. Some among us have spent years helping children memorize God's word. And while a few folks stay perplexed over the Bible's mystery, most of us agonize that we don't do a better job following the words we clearly understand.
___ Boldly innovative. Texas Baptists have pioneered efforts in partnership missions, student and music ministry, evangelism, disaster relief, church finance, institutional support, theological education, counseling for ministers and more. We also have founded and fostered schools, ensuring the edge of innovation will cut into the future. The goal hasn't been to start something new but to find better ways of sharing the gospel and doing God's work in this world.
___ Aggressively congregational. Texas Baptists believe God created the church to be Jesus' body. Through local churches, the Lord still ministers on Earth. Texas Baptists are passionate about starting churches--so much so that we committed ourselves to start 1,400 of them in the last five years of the century. Many initiatives we have undertaken were designed to strengthen churches, to help them be Christ in their communities.
___ Instinctively compassionate. All across the Lone Star State, Baptists have established children's homes, hospitals, senior-care facilities, women's job corps and other means of ministering to people whose lives have been damaged by the storms of life. And speaking of storms, Texas Baptist Men provides unparalleled disaster relief. All these benevolence ministries are Texas Baptists' way of serving the people Jesus called "the least of these."
___ Increasingly plural. Of about 5,000 Texas Baptist congregations, about 1,000 are Hispanic. Increasing numbers are African-American and Asian-American. We worship in all the languages of Texas. Perhaps our ethnic plurality is a precursor to a new Pentecost.
___ Uncompromisingly Baptist. Despite trends to the contrary, Texas Baptists have stood up for bedrock Baptist beliefs--the priesthood of all believers, local-church autonomy and the separation of church and state. We're strongly conservative, standing upon the authority of Scripture, salvation by grace through faith in Christ, the mandate of the Great Commission. Texas Baptists have refused to be bullied into watering down their commitments. We hold fast to truth.
___Of course, my list won't mirror yours. Take a few moments to reflect on Texas Baptists in this century, and thank God for outrageous blessings.
___ --Marv Knox
E-mail the editor at marvknox@baptiststandard.com
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