The Baptist Way

Here is a book written by a Baptist for Baptists, Southern Baptists in particular.

It is an “off the shelf” book, meaning I missed it when it first came out, but now have the pleasure of reading and recommending it. The Baptist Way, published in 2005 by B&H, comes to us from the pen of Southwest Baptist University’s Vice President for University Relations, R. Stanton Norman.

The Baptist Way provides “an introduction to the principles that distinguish Baptists from other Christians and offers ecclesiological distinctions of healthy Baptist churches.” This work is a sequel to Norman’s earlier work, More Than Just a Name: Preserving Our Baptist Identity which provided a historical background for understanding Baptist distinctives.

Chapters in this volume include “Regenerate church membership” and “Church discipline”, and I guarantee that in light of current SBC church practice these chapters are worth the price of the book alone. But even chapters on “Congregational Polity”, “Ordinances”, “Biblical Authority”, and “The Lordship of Jesus Christ” will cause us to examine whether we appreciate and live out the biblical mandate in these doctrines.

I think it is safe to say we all want healthy churches. But some are led to think such health comes through doctrinal minimalism, putting our Baptist identity far in the background. Norman counters this idea:

“We as Baptists believe that our distinctive theological identity contributes significantly to the health of our churches. Our Baptist distinctives are not the only traits that define church health, but we do believe they are essential components of a healthy church. This conviction was true for our Baptist ancestors, and the same conviction should characterize Baptists today. The distinctive doctrines of Baptists are actually the theological traits that define and shape our churches. I fully believe that, ideally, a healthy church is a Baptist church.”

And countering the misguided thought that emphasizing doctrine won’t grow a church, Norman says:

“Although the need to reach more people is commendable, we do not achieve meaningful growth by compromising our convictions. The abandonment of theological convictions will devastate the vitality and mission of our churches. The lack of emphasis on doctrine, which is supposed to improve the growth of a church, will in fact result in the ultimate demise of the church.”

Baptist Pastors, do you have Stan’s books on your shelves? If not, make it a priority to order them today. He brings the Bible, doctrine, pastoral insight, and Baptist church history together in making a compelling case that we (Baptists) need to get back to understanding who we are - and why we are who we are. To the extent that Baptists in the past got many things right ecclesiologically, we have to get serious about heeding their insight into Scripture. Standing on the shoulders of giants doesn’t mean we are slaves to past tradition. Often it just means we are humble enough to admit when we need to go back in order to go forward.  Norman gives great counsel in how to do so.