Peace Out

The little big church down the street from me, Broadway Baptist, has been given the big "heev-ho." The big "wave goodbye." The big "syanara." The big "boot in the butt." Yes, they have been officially kicked out of the Southern Baptist Convention! *round of applause and cheers* This liberal bastion of over educated idiots were found to not be in "friendly fellowship" with the SBC. What did they do that wasn't friendly? They failed to add a check box to their membership card in order to weed out the gays.

For most churches, when you want to join, you fill out a card. A few questions such as:

Have you ever accepted Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior? Yes or No

Have you ever experienced baptism by immersion?

Are you moving your letter from a sister Baptist church?

Would you like a minister to contact you?

Well that my friends was just not good enough. The SBC wanted something like this added:

Are you gay? Yes or No

If yes, you're living a life of sin and need to change.

I would suggest a followup question would be in order:

How gay are you?

a) I like Dane Cook

b) I have a small dog that's less than five pounds

c) I watch baseball to look at the cute butts

d) I talk with a lisp even though I don't have a speech impediment

And since Broadway didn't feel this was appropriate, well the SBC considers them to be too gay friendly and too SBC unfriendly and decided to kick their ass out of the convention. If you aren't able to be kicked out of the SBC these days, well friend, I'm just not sure you're doing anything of worth. Jesus would be kicked out of the SBC.

I sat down to chat with the interim pastor after he got back from a little meeting in Nashville with the Executive Committee. He had flown there with the head of that bastion of Baptist enlightenment Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, to discuss with these kind folks what it means to be in friendly fellowship. He seemed in high spirits about the meeting and reflects a bit on it in his blog.

The whole gist of it came down to this, chastity is not a requirement of membership at Broadway Baptist. Or any church that I've come across. So whether you're getting it on with a partner of the same sex or the opposite, churches just don't ask these questions. It's not because churches don't care. But most have enough sense to know that it's a slippery slope with no end in sight. So Broadway welcomed everyone and entered into a relationship with them where the Holy Spirit, scripture, and the Holy Spirit would transform lives. I suppose they could have done an exorcism like this. But you know... those tend to make headlines.

I have only visited Broadway once and spoken with their pastor once. But I tell you. They're good people. I'm all for the SBC kicking out whomever they wish. And I'm all for Broadway welcoming whomever they want. But it doesn't mean the SBC is any better for it. It just shows how completely lost in the woods the SBC and their followers really are.