June 25, 2001

Vestal defines Baptist witness as
call to conversion and growth in Christ
___By Marv Knox
___Editor
___ATLANTA--The "Baptist witness" is defined by evangelism, discipleship and prayer, Daniel Vestal stressed during his coordinator’s report to the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship June 29.
___For many people, "Baptist" means being argumentative and quarrelsome, divisive or political, acknowledged Vestal, staff leader of the 10-year-old Fellowship.
___"In contrast to these notions, I want to address being Baptist from the perspective of Christian discipleship and congregational formation," he said. "As long as being Baptist is a matter of preserving institutions or protecting conventions, or even passing on the name ‘Baptist,’ it will become increasingly irrelevant in the 21st century.
___"Present and future generations must discern that the Baptist witness is … a call to personal conversion to Jesus Christ and then personal growth in Christ."
___ Vestal quoted the late New York City Baptist minister Walter Rauschenbusch: "We summon all to conscious repentance from sin, to conscious prayer for forgiveness. We ask a person: ‘Have you put your faith in Christ? Have you submitted your will to his will? Have you received the inward assurance that your sins are forgiven and that you are at peace with God? Have you made experience of God?’ If anyone desires to enter our churches, we ask for evidence of such experience, and we ask for nothing else."
___ "Each individual is free and responsible before God," Vestal insisted. "No one can coerce or force another to faith. No authority, ecclesiastical or secular, can guarantee faith. It must be voluntary or it is not authentic."
___ But faith is not lived out in isolation, he added. "The personal experience of grace then leads to the congregational experience of grace. … Then growing out of this personal and community experience of grace, Baptists have been passionate about communicating that grace to the world in word and deed."
___ In order to evangelize people around the world and help them grow in faith, Baptists have cooperated voluntarily in this common endeavor, Vestal said.
___ "The purpose of this connectedness, when consistent with a Baptist vision, is not to mandate conformity among individuals or churches, but to foster cooperation for mission," he explained.
___ Those understandings of Baptist heritage have "everything to do" with the Fellowship, Vestal said, "because our identity and our mission are tied to being Baptist."
___ "And being Baptist is not just being a dissenter, a politician or a stubborn obstructionist. It is being passionate about the free experience of the grace of God revealed in Jesus Christ," he declared to applause. "It is being committed to the church as a body of baptized believers and then finding ways for believers and churches to connect and cooperate for the eternal kingdom of God."
___ That "Baptist vision of the gospel and the church" captivates many Fellowship Baptists, Vestal added. "We believe CBF is a movement of God to renew this vision into the 21st century."
___ He offered five suggestions for accomplishing such renewal:
___ U "Look at the gospel more than to culture."
___ "Some doubt the relevancy of the church," he conceded. "Some even despair of its viability. But God’s mission in Christ is not new, and it is not uncertain. God’s concern for the poor is unchanging. God’s kingdom is among us. God’s call for us to live lives of holiness and compassion is constant. God’s unconditional love and grace is still good news.
___ "So, we don’t need to be afraid of the present. We don’t need to look to a romanticized past or an idealized future. But we must, we must love the gospel. If there is no romance, no glory in our faith, no joy, no wonder in our community, there will be no renewal."
___ U "Think congregationally more than denominationally."
___ "One reason I love CBF is because it represents a return to our roots as Baptists," he said. "The emphasis is on churches fulfilling their mission and then voluntarily coming together for fellowship and partnership."
___ While denominations and other church groups are important, "they are most effective when they serve churches, help churches, connect churches, resource churches," he added.
___ U "Focus on function more than form."
___ "CBF is comprised of thousands of individuals …,more than 1,800 churches, a national organization …, 18 state and regional organizations. … Within this, there are scores of partnering organizations, institutions and ministries. And all of this has been born in the last 10 years," Vestal said.
___ "It is extremely important for all of us to nurture relationships, build trust, communicate openly and continuously seek structural … forms that reflect that spirit. … But if we will focus on our care for each other and our shared commitments, God will lead us in finding the structures that will help us fulfill our common mission."
___ U "Seek unity more than unanimity."
___ "One mark of our maturity both as individuals and as a Fellowship is how enthusiastically we can work together across our differences," Vestal said. He cited such differences as social practices, worship, politics, public policy, ethical issues, gender, age, ethnicity, geography, passions, temperaments, tastes and personalities.
___ "To seek unity, let’s be honest about our differences, refuse to judge one another and then celebrate ties that bind us more than walls that separate us," he urged.
___ "We have a common humanity. Every person is created in the image of God, loved and treasured and cherished by divine love. We have a common fallenness and brokenness. We are all sinners in need of a Savior, and in this Fellowship we have a common experience of that Savior. We believe in Jesus the Christ, God incarnate, the Savior of the world. We have a common commitment to Scripture, divinely inspired and authoritative for faith and practice.
___ "We have a common love of freedom, for the individual, for the church, indeed for all people. We have a common passion for the kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven. As we celebrate these common ties, we will discover far more unity than we ever thought possible."
___ U "Pray more than we do anything else."
___ "Prayer is more than for emergencies," Vestal observed. "It is a way of life. Prayer is realizing our finitude and recognizing our dependence.
___ "Prayer is believing in divine love and providence and then being attentive to it. Prayer is listening to God and talking with God.
___ "So, my brothers and sisters, let us pray more than anything else."


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