The more I read the more confused I get. I would greatly appreciate your comments on some of my thoughts below:

I have read just about everything there is to read on church authority and submitting to church leadership and cannot for the life of me reconcile this with “sola scriptura”. Frankly, I don’t see how we can have it both ways. Either the bible is our authority or the “church” is. Of course that begs the question, “which church?” How can a Christian be under the authority of local church leaders, when great men of God cannot seem to agree on very important (but not “essential” doctrines)? Look what’s going on with “baptism debate”.

If we love the Lord and His Word and our convictions are based on that very thing, don’t we all feel that we cannot submit to church authority when it differs from our own understanding and convictions? Oh sure, one can find a church where they can (in good conscience) submit to church leadership; they need only find one that agrees with them. With the smorgasbord out there, this is a relatively easy task, if one is willing to drive a little ways.

So, back to the question, how can we have it both ways in the day in which we live? Which church leaders must I submit to? The ones a block away from my house, the ones I drive an hour to reach each Sunday because they are of my denomination, the ones whose church I joined because their convictions line up with mine?

Perhaps I am a simpleton, but it seems to me that we have gone beyond defending the pure gospel and are now more interested in justifying and affirming our own convictions. We have lost confidence and faith in God’s Word to correct and rebuke and unite and now believe that unity will only occur if we defend and promote our own personal convictions. Luther’s attempt to reform “the church” has failed miserably and so have we.

“Unless you can convince me by scripture and not by local church leaders, theologians, and scholars, who have often contradicted each other; unless I am so convinced that I am wrong, I am bound to my believes by the text of the Bible. My conscience is held captive to the Word of God. To go against conscience is neither right nor safe. Therefore, I cannot and I will not recant. Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me. Amen”

The sad reality is that those “convictions” went beyond the Gospel. In fact, Luther’ s attitude regarding unity (when debating with Zwingli on the Lord’s Supper) was “We can have unity as long as you agree with me!” Is that our attitude? Is that your attitude? Where do we draw the line? Perhaps if we go back to preaching and teaching “Christ and Him Crucified” God will bless this generation and take care of purifying His church by His Spirit and His Word. He doesn’t need that much help from us, you know.

The only real unity that exists in the church today is the “mystical” one. I suppose that is the one that really matters. However, in the meantime, a lost world is looking at us (and via us, Christ), and laughing. Can we blame them. Why should they take Christ or Christianity seriously?

Can someone tell me which church needs “reforming”, the Baptist church down the street, the Church of England, the Lutheran Church, the Russian Orthodox Church, he church I attend….I will no longer pray for “reformation” –we have come to far for that and I would have no idea how and what to pray for. What we need, and what I will pray for is a God led, Spirit-driven “awakening” and “revival” of God’s people to get us back to the power and beauty of Christ and the Cross and the convicting power of the Word of God to bring sinners to repentance and redemption. Perhaps then, and only then, will lost sinners actually see the “unity” of the faith (even if they reject it) and believers will actually experience the peace, joy and power of God in their lives and among their brothers.

We are to defend the “Gospel” against error not our view of eschatology or covenantal theology. The sad reality is that we have failed miserably at that. The largest percentages of those who wear Christ’s name don’t even have a firm grasp of who He is and Why He came.

As I said, “perhaps I am just a simpleton”

Blessings – For His Sake

Thanks for the kind words about the blog. Regarding the Reformation and the RCC, if they believe that entrance to the kingdom comes by other means than by justification by faith alone in Christ alone, then I believe there is a disconnect in being a member of the kingdom of God and being a member of the RCC. This is especially true after Vatican II, who, under the influence of leading scholars like Karl Rahner, have promulgated the idea of “anonymous Christians” (which include even atheists). I am not trying to sound polemical here, but the point is not just the size or growth of a segment of Christendom but also their fidelity of Scripture. If you stumble over the entrance to the kingdom and the heart of the gospel, then whatever else said is subsequent to that reality. While I believe in the unity of the church and the prayer of Jesus that we be one, I also believe that such unity of ecumenical nature that marginalizes truth is a unity without a center–something that many Protestants and evangelicals simply cannot agree.

Um, these may not be the best examples. While it is true that the CoE is undergoing schism and has been losing members yearly in North America, not so the Catholic Church.

The worldwide Catholic Church grows at a rate of 17 million every years. 17 million is about the size of the entire SBC. The U.S. is actively becoming more and more Catholic every year and may likely become a Catholic majority country by the end of this century. BTW, the growth is not limited to the Latin (Roman) Church, the Melkite Catholic and Orthodox Churchs of the East are also growing in the US.

Numerous bloggers are blogging tributes and spreading the Catholic faith. Catholics are seeing a revitalization of the Church with increased evangelization. Combined with the presence of Catholic readio and television in most US communities, the trend is towards growth. (Personally, to me it appears Christ is healing the schisms of the Reformation and the Great Schism and re-unifying His Church. We are becoming one again.)

Love your blog. Its how I keep up on all things SBC. God bless…

Any prophetical BAMA , LSU predictions????

After reading your post, I reflected on what I see damaging to the SBC- uninformed ecclesiology. As you mentioned, this is reflected in church government, but I also see it reflected in what we define as “church.” Programs, conferences, pastor- celebrities, efficiency- all of this hovers around the target, but essentially misses the target. I find that the oft quoted statement by Benjamin Franklin is too prophetic in the case of the SBC: What is insanity? Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.