Whats a Baptist to do?

Its funny how things change so quickly. The previous post on this blog is me preaching a sermon out of 1st Peter. I had expected to go through both letters in the coming months as my fellow brother, Mr. Tarpley, went through the book of Ruth; flip flopping every Sunday. I was excited. Things changed.
I believe that God is sovereign over all things. Nothing happens by chance and that all things, including the bad, will be worked by God for the good of His people and for His own glory. I believe this.
A few weeks ago SGBC voted to close its doors for good as a result of a our pastor leaving us. My wife has already written on that subject and I will direct you to her Blog for that information. But, suffice it to say, my good friend left us and it was not a good kind of leaving. There was sin involved and my prayer for this man is that he repents and seeks reconciliation with the former members of SGBC. I, for one, hope this happens soon because I miss talking to my friend. I am still very grieved over him. But, I digress...

When SGBC dissolved Em and I knew our options were limited. We knew that, no matter where we went, we would have to put something aside for the sake of unity. The state of SD only had two Reformed Baptist Churches and the other one is in the Black Hills. Sure, there are Baptists Churches in Sioux Falls, but they are not Reformed. So we were faced with a choice: Do we either go to a place where we agree 99% of the time or go to a place where we know we will agree with at least one point of Doctrine but we will have to constantly run the filter the rest of the time.
When Emily and I first met I explained why I was OK attending a classically Reformed Church: I said that I would rather disagree on one point of secondary doctrine and agree on the essentials than sit in a place where I agree with one point but spend most of the service cringing because the exegesis was wrong or the preaching was sub par or what-have-you. Basically, I want to go where I know the preaching will be serious and I will receive pastoral care.
Once we came to this conclusion, the choice was obvious: Sioux Falls United Reformed Church.

Rev. Aalsburg and I met a few years ago when I first started attending SGBC when he was filling in for the pastor. Having attended a very conservative CRC church while at Dordt College, It was no surprise to me that Rev. Aalsburg was an excellent preacher with great exegetical skills. He and I got together every now and then and always had good discussions. We went round and round with the usual banter that Baptists and Peado-Baptists engage in, always walking knowing that we were brothers and, in the end, when we were no longer looking into the dark mirror, it wouldn't matter because after all: Baptism IS NOT essential Christian doctrine. Its important, sure. It's definitely worth going to the Word of God and debating it but it shouldn't keep reformed brethren from fellowship and even cross preaching in either church.
When Emily and I informed Rev. Aalsburg that SGBC was in dire straights and ultimately was closing, He took a completely different approach to us: He took a pastoral care role. Even though we were not attending SFURC, even though we were not under the authority of the elders of SFURC/ Hills URC -he started to care for us as if we were his sheep.When we attended for the first time Em said something very profound: She said "I feel as if I really met with God today." What a great mindset to have when it comes to Church: we are meeting with God.

Now, all that being said, I wanted to address the glaring question:
Question: "Hey, aren't you two baptists? Don't you, like, disagree with the whole baby baptism thing?"
Answer: yes, to both counts.
Question: "so, why are you attending with the end goal of becoming members?"
Good question.

Emily and I firmly believe that we should attend a church that is the closest to what we believe. What that means is this: We should attend a church that we agree with on core Christian doctrine. What is that? What are those essentials? Emily and I would agree with historic confessions of faith that came from the Reformation. We would agree most with the London Baptist Confession of 1689 but we find very few disagreements with the Heidelberg or the Westminster. But the core Christian doctrines, I believe, are summarized in My Confession of Faith and follow the Apostles Creed and the Nicene Creed. Guess what two points are not discussed in that confession: Baptism and Eschatology. I do not believe that those things are essential for salvation. They are important issues, yes, but Reformed Christians line up on either sides of both issues.

So, whats a Baptist to do when there are no Reformed Baptist churches in town? Attend a good confessional Reformed Church. We chose SFURC for two reasons: The first being that the CRC tends to be all over the conservative-liberal map. Some CRC churches are great and others stink. The URC has a good track record. Secondly, we knew Rev. Aalsburg and we knew would be cared for there.


A few years ago I wrote this piece for the Dordt Crossings on the subject of baptism. Let me be clear: I firmly believe that baptism is only for those who have publicly confessed faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. I firmly believe that that public confession must come before baptism. I believe that this is extremely clear in the New Testament and that the Reformed Hermeneutic naturally leads to this conclusion. I don't think I will ever change my mind on that but stranger things have happened. Now this prompts the question: "But how do you reconcile those things that you do disagree on?"
Answer: This may blow you away, this may make you angry, but...

We put those things aside for the sake of unity. That's right, you heard me. Emily and I have decided to put our conviction on Baptism aside. We will continue to examine the doctrine behind baptism with an open mind with the Pastor (well, we'll try at least) with the hope that we will, at the very least, come to a better understanding each others position. Now, how does that play out? Does this mean that when Em and I have children (Lord Willing) that we will have them Baptized as infants? Yes, it does. Don't have a coronary. Remember our motivations:
1. We have the conviction that we should JOIN the local church. Not casually attend, but join. That means submitting ourselves to the Pastor and the Elders of the church, that means allowing and relying on the Church to guide us, grow us, and (if necessary) discipline us.
2. The church that we become members of must conform to biblical patters of leadership, worship, and preaching. That means Biblical Church government (elders and deacons), biblical service (orderly and reverent), and biblical preaching (historical, exegetical).
3. Reformed is just another word for Biblical.

To fulfill these convictions in Sioux Falls, SD means that we must set aside secondary convictions. It requires that we recognize that no church on this earth is perfect and that there will always be something that we disagree over. (At SGBC, for example, I disagreed on matters of eschatology.) We believe that Christian maturity demands that secondary issues be put aside when necessary and that both parties must treat each other in Christian love. The fences that divide us should never be so tall that we cannot step over them when necessary for the sake of the Gospel and Christian sanctification.
When one refuses to bend on secondary issues one of two things usually happen. Either the individual or family will compromise on a more major point of doctrine (give up good preaching or sound theology for a secondary doctrine, like baptism, for example) or the individual or family will bounce from place to place, church to church-always finding some minor point of disagreement and using that as justification to leave. Sadly, the latter happens more frequently than the former. Families make mountain out of a mole hill and choose to die upon it. They leave a church and drag their kids with them. Its always sad when that happens. Its not good for them, it sets a horrible example for their kids and is detrimental to their faith, and it does the Church of Jesus Christ (as a universal whole) no good. And as an aside it gives the world one more example of how dis-unified the Church is. I fear that the former members and attenders of SGBC will struggle to avoid one or both of those ditches as I have struggled with them in the past.

So, in conclusion, let me say this: For the sake of unity, for the sake of your kids, for the sake of your own spiritual growth: don't let small things (perspective wise) become big things. Know what is and is not essential to the faith. Remember: the main things are the plain things and the plain things are the main things. There are hills to die on, yes. The nature and attributes of God, the deity and worth of Christ, Lordship salvation, sound preaching of the God's word - you can't compromise on those. There are requirements for choosing a Church, but don't let secondary issues keep you from joining good church.