May 8, 2000

EDITORIAL:
Trust God, and tell the people
___"Trust God, and tell the people" has been the watchword of dedicated Baptist journalists for decades. It explains why we do what we do, even when many fellow Baptists don't understand and wish we would go away.
___"Trust God, and tell the people" predates Baptists, of course. When we look to the Scriptures, we are grateful the writers followed this philosophy. They trusted God, of course, because they faithfully recorded the story of God's work among and relationship with God's people. "Tell the people" references truth-telling, and that also is part of the story of Scripture. This encompasses Truth-with-a-capital-"T" Truth. It's God's Truth, which culminates in the incarnation of Jesus Christ, "the Way, the Truth and the Life." But this also encompasses little-"T" truth as well. The Bible shows God's people as they are--limited human beings, redeemed by grace. Scripture offers a wonderful model of reporting, forthrightly describing waywardness and foibles of even the giants of faith. As the Holy Spirit inspired the Bible, the Spirit trusted the people, we who would receive it, to take the stories as they are, to learn from them. And aren't you glad? If we looked only to sanitized saints, who could relate to them? Who could learn from them?
___In addition to the model of the Bible, "trust God, and tell the people" finds its foundation in that most distinctive of Baptist doctrines, the priesthood of all believers. The condensed version of this principle goes something like this:
___ The priesthood of all believers is built upon the notion of soul competency, the idea that each person, every soul, is competent to stand before God and relate directly to God. Save for our High Priest, Jesus Christ, believers do not need a "priest" to intercede for them. We do not need an intermediary between God and us.
___(As stated before, the priesthood of all believers is not a Lone Ranger doctrine. Yes, believers are competent to approach God, to interpret Scripture, to follow the Spirit-inspired dictates of their consciences. However, believer-priests live and move and have our being in community--with God and with fellow believers. We are both responsible to God and accountable to the community of the church for our words and actions.)
___ A corollary to the priesthood of all believers is the autonomy of the local church. As a community of believer/priests, the church is responsible and accountable for its own actions. Similarly, the various other spheres of Baptist life--associations, conventions, alliances--operate autonomously.
___ Corporately, we respect the doctrines of competency, priesthood and autonomy by practicing congregational polity. This is the purest form of democracy. Every believer/priest is blessed with the opportunity to participate in church and denominational decision-making. Everyone is responsible for knowing and understanding the issues and accountable for helping to determine God's will for the body.
___ In a church or convention, as with any form of democracy, information-sharing and truth-telling are vital. If the people are going to deliberate together to achieve consensus or shape decisions by ballot, the integrity of the democratic system demands a broad, shared and free body of knowledge. Propaganda kills democracy. Information-control decimates trust, the sacred oil that lubricates the gears of democracy.
___ This is where "trust God, and tell the people" offers a mandate for Baptists. We trust God to lead us, and we entrust the people--each other--with the privilege/responsibility of working out our common future. This is more than political theory; it's part of the fabric of our common faith. If we believe God moves and directs in individual lives and also uses the impressions and understandings of those individuals to shape their faith communities, then we must trust God and tell the people.
___Adversaries of freedom understand the power of this principle. That's why, as soon as they assume power they take over the media. They realize if they can thwart the information that reaches the people, they can dissolve trust, control the people and shape the common will toward their own.
___So, we advocate for and even sacrifice for Baptists' right to know. If we trust God, we will, as the authors of Scripture before us, trust God's people with accurate and fair information so that, together, we will know the truth--and remain free.
___ Marv Knox
E-mail the editor at marvknox@baptiststandard.com


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