November 18, 2002
Sloan: Look to heavenly kingdom for power
___By Mark Wingfield
___Managing Editor
___WACO--The notion that "this world is not our home" provides the biblical basis for essential Baptist doctrine, Robert Sloan told Texas Baptists Committed Nov. 12.
___"Our Baptist commitment to the separation of church and state first of all grows out of the belief that the church cannot hitch her wagon to an earthly power," said Sloan.
___The irony today, he noted, is
that classic Christian fundamentalism of the late 1800s and early 1900s emphasized denial of all worldly power. Today, however, Christian fundamentalism and liberalism alike "share the same assumption, that this world is somehow the place, the fulfillment of God."
___Sloan, president of Baylor University, delivered the keynote address at the annual Texas Baptists Committed breakfast during the Baptist General Convention of Texas annual session in Waco.
___He drew upon a text from Galatians 6:14 to emphasize the foundational teaching of the Apostle Paul that a greater kingdom than this world is coming, and that kingdom cannot be coerced by earthly rulers.
___In that passage, Paul says of the cross: "through which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world."
___Sloan, a New Testament scholar, explained the unusual construction of the passage in Pauline literature, drawing contrasts to other passages in which Paul frequently wrote about the death of Christ and the death of believers to self through Christ. This passage, however, is different because it refers to the death of Christ and of the individual but also the death of the world through Christ.
___While the construction is unusual, the theology is not, Sloan said. "Just as the judgment of God fell upon Christ--our sins took him there--so also the judgment of God has fallen on this current evil age."
___The biblical model Paul teaches, and that occurs throughout the New Testament, Sloan said, is that "this world is not our home."
___Texas Baptists, however, have "gotten so prosperous, so comfortable, so set in our ways that we are in danger" of forgetting this basic teaching of the faith, he added.
___In the midst of change that cannot be avoided, Texas Baptists must recover their biblical moorings and Baptist "attitude" as evidenced in this basic teaching, Sloan declared.
___He applied the principle to the Baptist doctrine of separation of church and state. "Baptists believe in separation of church and state not just because they were persecuted, ... not just because they wanted to be left alone. ... The separation of church and state is grounded in the notion that this world is not our home."
___Christians cannot attach worldly power to heavenly rule, Sloan insisted. No political agenda will bring in the kingdom of God, he emphasized.
___Texas Baptists should lead the way in calling Christians back to a realization that "this world is not our home," Sloan said. "If we don't do anything else as Baptists, we must retain the idea of the passing of this present age."
___The events of Sept. 11, 2001, should be seen as a wake-up call to this theological reality, Sloan added. "As evil as these attacks were, they were a reminder of the frailty of our nation and this evil age."
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