Are Baptists NAE Evangelical?

It would be pretty hard to find any church that could not sign on to the "Statement of Faith" at that site so the division can't be doctrinal -- it's politics!

 

GE

Yes! Originally 'Evangelical' indicated Calvinist-Reformed Protestant. Nowadays the word in my mind represents those hand-clapping noisy chaotic usually non-European mesmerised masses. So no longer for me that name, thanks. Luckily there is the better nomenclature to resort to, 'Christian'!

 

GE

In my experience and perception it's cultural and social more than anything else. It's not only what ones believes; it's not even how one believes; but it also is with whom one believes. In some Christian 'company' I am just not at ease; in another I could even differ greatly, yet feel at home and at one. Feeling of course is a doubtful standard of judgment - we have seen it already in Romans 14. Nevertheless, it will determine whether one would join or subscribe or not.

 

Also factor in the early participation of Southern fundamentalists such as John R. Rice and the Bob Joneses (Bob Jr. was once NAE vice president), and the inclusion and increasing prominence of Pentecostal groups such as the Assemblies of God.

Wayne Flyn, Alabama Baptists: Southern Baptists in the Heart of Dixie, p. 408:
"Furthermore, the NAE originated in the North and tended to be transdenominational. The regional isolation of Southern Baptists, their tight programmatic organization and focus on the denomination, and their Landmark ecclesiastical heritage of believing only Baptists preserved the true faith held them aloof or at least apart from fundamentalism. They were simply too busy doing their own thing (and in the process becoming the largest Protestant denomination in the nation and the largest missionary force in the world) to quibble about words."

Leonard Sweet, The Evangelical Tradition in America, pp. 283-284
"Several denominations refused to join the NAE because they thought the fundamentalist influence was too strong. The Southern Baptists, who would have initially dominated the NAE membership with their five million members, backed away after initial interest. (Southern Baptist eminences, such as Robert G. Lee and R. J. Bateman, played prominent roles in the St. Louis conference, but did not return in 1943) Their leaders blamed Northern fundamentalists for the millenarianism, independence, and separatism that was disturbing them with new intensity in the 1940s. Since then, they have avoided contact with the new evangelical coalition. "We are not evangelicals; that's a Yankee word," huffed Southern Baptist executive Foy Valentine in 1976. "We don't share their . . . fussy fundamentalism.""

Joel A. Carpenter, Revive Us Again: The Reawakening of American Fundamentalism, p. 159:
"last thing they needed was some entangling alliance with Yankee fundamentalists, holiness come-outers, immigrants, and tongues-speakers.
The Southern Baptists' response offers an important clue for understanding the NAE's limited success in representing the whole breadth of twentieth-century evangelicalism. Southern Baptists did not sense that the NAE offered them something they needed. . . . Southern Baptists, with their great numbers and well-established agencies, did not need either the NAE's services or its collective voice. Unlike smaller groups, such as the Free Methodists, Mennonite Brethren, and Assemblies of God, which had much to gain from the legitimacy and advocacy offered by the NAE, the Southern Baptists were a force to be reckoned with in and of themselves."

 

I have just today listened to one Franklin - Ezekiel Franklin or whatever - He bragged a lot about 600 million converts to the charismatic showbizz in just 100 years. And then he noised about pride pride pride! Huh, I can't stomach these hypocrites!

 

Funny some criticize the SBC for withdrawing from them. Other criticize them for when they were a part of them. You cannot please everyone.

I have no problems with not being a part of it. Let me ask a question here, will anyone come to Christ because the SBC is/isn't a part of the NAE?

Also, I would not consider Ethicsdaily.com as a very reliable source on the SBC or why it does/doesn't do something.

 

Maybe not to you, but to me this is the central question in any partnership for the SBC. Will joining this group lead to people coming to Christ? If the answer is yes, and there is agreement on the major tenants of orthodox doctrine, then it is a worthwhile partnership. If the answer is no, there is no need to go any further IMO.

I really have no clue, and to be honest, really do not care. Again, it does not impact people coming to Christ.

 

Paul was disappointed with the Corinthian church because of their divisions, think what he would say today about the state of affairs today. God knew what God's desire was for his people.

"Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. (1:10)[/I] Notice he didn't say organization.

They were aligning themselves with different "groups": of Paul, of Cephas, of Apolos.

Paul asks the ultimate rhetorical question: Is Christ divided? (1:13)

Rather than get into the fray Paul stays focused:
"For Christ sent me not to ..., but to preach the gospel" (1:17)
I wonder if he ever heard "if you wrestle with pigs your gonna get dirty'?

Oh that we would do the same! The world looks at these contentions ("politics" as Bob Ryan pointed out) and wants nothing to do with it.

The carnal mind wants to win, be the biggest and best, and be in THE group. Not so the mind of Christ:
And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. (13:2-3)

Phil 1:27 "Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel"

Notice he didn't say one organization. God help us.

 

What I meant by "doing the same" was not preaching the gospel, but rather avoiding things that get in the way like large national associations. The NAE may be trying to make unity but they can't.

I went to the NAE web site and found the following:

Mission Statement

The mission of the National Association of Evangelicals is to extend the kingdom of God through a fellowship of member denominations, churches, organizations, and individuals, demonstrating the unity of the body of Christ by standing for biblical truth, speaking with a representative voice, and serving the evangelical community through united action, cooperative ministry, and strategic planning.

And from their statement of faith:
"We believe in the spiritual unity of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ."

In my personal opinion, these human attempts at making tangible unity just don't work. I think we need to leave the big picture to God and go about the clear missions that are before us: witnessing to our families, work associates, neighbors, etc.

The spiritual unity of believers is not something WE make. We need to learn to live in the unity that already exists. So on a practical level it would not look like a whole lot which makes it so hard for people to accept since we too often want to build something that we can see.

Luke 17:20 "And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: 21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you."

This is not an easy thing to do, trust me. I grew up in a denomination this is in the NAE and am no longer a part of it. It would be much easier, more comfortable, and in many ways nicer to be a part of it. There is a price to pay for working outside these types of orgainizations but the upside for me has been that I have learned that my faith is stronger.

My faith has found a resting place,
Not in device or creed;
I trust the ever living One,
His wounds for me shall plead.


My heart is leaning on the Word,
The living Word of God,
Salvation by my Savior’s Name,
Salvation through His blood.

I need no other argument,
I need no other plea,
It is enough that Jesus died,
And that He died for me.