Celebrating the Work of the Baptist Association
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· 51 viewsThe Baptist Association is the smallest society of Baptist work, and does what the State and National Conventions cannot do — reach local communities with the Gospel.
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Text: “Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus, so that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 15:5-6, NIV)
Theme: The Baptist Association is the smallest society of Baptist work, and does what the State and National Conventions cannot do — reach local communities with the Gospel.
Let me say it right up front so there’s no confusion where I stand — The greatest mistake any Southern Baptist Church can make is to ignore or diminish or underfund or defund the work of its local association of Baptist congregations without really, Really, REALLY good cause.
From our beginning, Baptists have been a fiercely independent people. We believe in the absolute autonomy of each local Baptist congregation. We call our own pastors, build and own our facilities, establish our own budgets, and determine our own missions and benevolent giving. Want to begin a civil war? Let a Baptist entity attempt to tell a local Baptist congregation what to do! Sometimes ... sometimes ... even the will and work of the Holy Spirit in our churches needs prior approval at a Baptist business meeting! We like our independence, and zealously guard it. That said, Baptists have always been an associational people. We’ve always believed in a spirit of cooperation with other Baptists to accomplish what one church alone cannot accomplish by itself. Our own Baptist Faith and Message says of cooperation ...
Christ’s people should, as occasion requires, organize such associations and conventions as may best secure cooperation for the great objects of the Kingdom of God. Such organizations have no authority over one another or over the churches. They are voluntary and advisory bodies designed to elicit, combine, and direct the energies of our people in the most effective manner. Members of New Testament churches should cooperate with one another in carrying forward the missionary, educational, and benevolent ministries for the extension of Christ’s Kingdom. Christian unity in the New Testament sense is spiritual harmony and voluntary cooperation for common ends by various groups of Christ’s people. Cooperation is desirable between the various Christian denominations, when the end to be attained is itself justified, and when such cooperation involves no violation of conscience or compromise of loyalty to Christ and His Word as revealed in the New Testament. — BFM Article 14
The Baptist association is the oldest cooperative unit in Baptist life, tracing its existence back more than 300 years. Our early Baptist forefathers, in what were then British colonies, formed the Philadelphia Association in 1707 taking in all of New Jersey, and parts of Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland (and you thought our association was geographically large).
This first Baptist association in America was so prominent in its influence on Baptist work, and later Baptist associations that historians have come to refer to it as "the Philadelphia tradition" and the “mother association” of all Baptist associational work. William Cathcart, Baptist historian and author of The Baptist Encyclopedia, writes of this first Baptist association, “ ... the spirit of the old Philadelphia body [has been ] grafted upon every kindred institution all over the land.” When organized, the Philadelphia Association was to be composed of the "most capable in every congregation" and to “meet yearly to consult about such things as were wanting in the churches, and to set them in order." The early Baptist churches in America needed each other! They still do. Baptists are always at their best when they cooperate to accomplish ministry, and missions that most churches could not do on their own.
Over 300 years later the Gasconade Valley Baptist Association continues in the Philadelphia tradition.
We are about Christ and building His kingdom, not our own.
We are about helping pastors as they make disciples for Christ.
We are about helping churches with resources and extended ministry.
We are about cooperating together to advance the gospel.
We are at our best when we cooperate with each other!
I. 1st, COOPERATION IS ESSENTIAL TO WIN THE LOST TO CHRIST
I. 1st, COOPERATION IS ESSENTIAL TO WIN THE LOST TO CHRIST
1. this is clearly seen in Missouri Baptist history
a. no churches were more free, more remote or more autonomous then those on the early Missouri frontier in the 1830's
b. yet those early Missouri Baptists saw a need to come together to do what no single church could do
2. they came to Providence Church in Callaway, Co. on August 29, 1834 to, and I quote from their minutes, “To deliberate on the state of religion within the bounds of the churches to which they belong and to consult if any special measures are necessary and practicable to promote the preaching of the gospel in the bounds of the state.”
3. there were only 34 of them — 34 Baptist men and women — but their vision was as large as their numbers were small
a. by cooperating they intended nothing less then to preach the gospel throughout the state of Missouri
b. most of Missouri was, in their word, “Destitute of the Gospel”
1) in some areas of the state opponents of the Gospel held Bible burnings and mock religious services where Jesus was ridiculed
c. but because those early churches choose to cooperate, Missouri is no longer “destitute of the gospel”
d. unfortunately that doesn’t mean that all Missourians are Christian ... it doesn’t even mean that most Missourians are Christian ... in fact very few Missourians are Christian
ILLUS. Of the six million-plus residents of Missouri it is estimated that only one in ten Missourians are born again believers.
If that statistic is true, that means that 12,041 of the 13,379 residents of Osage County are lost without Christ.
If that statistic is true, that means that 13,237 of the 14,708 residents of Gasconade County are lost without Christ.
If that statistic is true, that means that 7,421 of the 8,284 residents of Maries County are lost without Christ.
It those statistics are true, that means that, within the geographical boundaries of our association, there are 32,700 lost men and women, teenagers, and boys and girls.
e. we need not travel far in our association to be on the mission field — merely walk out the front doors of your church!
4. one hundred and eighty-eight years after those 34 Baptist men and women met to deliberate on the state of religion within the bounds of the churches to which they belong you can find a Baptist church in almost every metropolis, city, town and berg in Missouri, and yet, in so many ways Missouri remains destitute of the Gospel!
5. we need more cooperation among our churches, not less because cooperation is essential to win the lost to Christ
... Cooperation Is Essential to Win the Lost to Christ
II. 2nd, COOPERATION IS ESSENTIAL TO UNDERGIRD THE MINISTRY OF THE LOCAL CHURCH
II. 2nd, COOPERATION IS ESSENTIAL TO UNDERGIRD THE MINISTRY OF THE LOCAL CHURCH
1. let me say it right up front so there's no confusion where I stand — The greatest mistake made by the Southern Baptist Convention was taking the local association out of the loop of the Cooperative Program when the giving plan was adopted in 1925
ILLUS. If you’re familiar with Facebook memes, “Convince me I’m wrong!”
a. that decision made the local Baptist Association the poor little sister to the state and national conventions
2. the result has been an increasing sense of irrelevancy for the existence of the Baptist Association
ILLUS. The results of a 2017 study on the perceived value of Baptist associations was not encouraging:
When asked to describe the most exciting aspect of their association, the most popular answer among Southern Baptist church leaders was, “Nothing.”
When asked to describe the most frustrating aspect of their local Baptist association, the two most popular answers among church leaders were, “The association is irrelevant” and “Lack of association strategy, vision, or purpose.”
A third of all Baptist church leaders do not see their local Baptist association as a strategic partner in helping their church to fulfill the Great Commission.
Forty percent of church leaders say their church would be unaffected if their local Baptist association ceased to exist.
3. I submit to you this afternoon that the Baptist Association is the most significant mission partner the local church can have
a. when we look at the history of the early New Testament Church we see four essential ministries of Christian congregations working together
1) 1st, the New Testament churches partnered together in church planting
a) Acts 13:1-3 tells us that the church at Antioch sent out missionaries to share the gospel and plant churches
b) other churches partnered with that work
2) 2nd, the New Testament churches partnered together in church health
a) when the church at Jerusalem heard that the Lord was at work in Antioch, they were concerned and sent Barnabas to teach
b) Barnabas found there was more discipleship work in Antioch then he could do alone, so he brought in Paul to help
c) later, we see the Apostle Paul regularly mentoring church leaders and young pastors
3) 3rd, the New Testament churches worked together in maintaining doctrinal purity
a) a significant percentage of Paul, Peter, James and John’s epistles deal with orthodoxy within the church
b) associations today are strategically positioned to address doctrinal issues in local churches through ordination councils and credentials committees
c) there are some doctrines that must absolutely be believed to call one’s self a Christian, and there are some doctrines that ought to be believed to call one’s self a Baptist, and the association must be the guardian of that orthodoxy
4) 4th, the New Testament church associated together by giving resources to expand the kingdom
a) we see the early New Testament churches sharing resources, sharing finances, sharing leadership
4. effective Southern Baptist associations still function in these ways
a. now, let me say that I thoroughly believe that our State Convention and our National Convention have their place in Baptist work and I’m thankful for them
1) on a larger scale they do what the local association cannot do
b. but ...
1) when your congregation is struggling to find qualified supply preachers or interim pastors, the association is the first place to look — most of our congregations do not have a Baptist college, Baptist seminary or denomination headquarters within driving range (I love Dr. John Yeats, our MBC Executive Director, but when my father-in-law died a couple weeks ago, and I thought I might need someone to preach for me in three days, it wasn’t Dr. Yeats that I turned to, but our director of missions)
2) Pastor, when you’re dealing with a difficult issue in your congregation, a convention worker is hours away or a week’s schedule away, but your DOM or a fellow associational pastor will be on your doorstep tonight if you need him
3) if you are feeling led to be involved in a ministry outside your local church, but don’t think God is calling you to Africa ... don’t call the International Mission Board; call our director of missions and he will plug you into a ministry or a short term mission project
... Cooperation Is Essential to Undergird the Ministry of the Local Church
III. 3rd, COOPERATION IS ESSENTIAL TO UNDER-GIRD FRATERNAL RELATIONSHIPS
III. 3rd, COOPERATION IS ESSENTIAL TO UNDER-GIRD FRATERNAL RELATIONSHIPS
1. in the text I read a few minutes ago, we hear Paul say, so that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
a. it is important that, from time to time, Baptists from across a larger geographical area come together for fellowship and food, business and worship
b. this is where we come to know each other more fully, to love each other more deeply, and encourage each other more completely
Associations have always been at the heart of the Baptist vision for cooperation. As long as we remain committed to associationalism we will remain faithful to out Baptist heritage and Paul’s mandate to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus.
Bibliography
The Baptist Association, Assisting Churches. Advancing the Gospel; Ray Gentry, Ed. Rainer Publishing, 2020
Frontiers, The Story of Missouri Baptists; J. Gordon Kingsley, Missouri Baptist Historical Commission, 1983