Please Don’t Ruin It for Me

I attended the first meeting of the New Baptist Covenant in Atlanta back in 2008. About fifteen-thousand of us Baptists (and I imagine a few non-Baptists) showed up for the event. As a regular assembly/ convention/ meeting attender, I have learned not to get my hopes up too much. Many of these mega-meetings set lofty agendas and promote admirable themes, but fail to deliver on their promises. So I curbed my enthusiasm and checked my unfettered optimism at the door.

I am glad to report that I was not disappointed. Well, I was disappointed that our Southern Baptist brothers and sisters chose not to accept the invitation. Then again, I expected it. You can’t make someone play ball if they don’t want to. But that does not mean the game gets canceled.

The meeting was advertised as having the purpose of uniting all Baptists in order to accomplish Kingdom of God work collectively. Uniting all Baptists was a tall order in and of itself. Working together will be, too! Baptists are notorious for dividing and excluding, so it was refreshing to find myself among thousands of people from many branches of the Baptist tradition that chose to unite instead. It’s true, we can accomplish more of the commission of Christ through partnership and cooperation than we can by isolation and competition.

There was a feeling of genuine unity in the worship services that weekend. As I sat among the most diverse collection of Baptists in my life, I truly believed that this initial meeting was the impetus for greater things to come for the tradition and its mission. Maintaining momentum would be critical. We are up against decades and decades of division and fighting – it’s what we know best. But the New Baptist Covenant is a good start. Old habits die hard, but old habits can die! And as we know well, when established religion becomes too established, it’s time for something new, albeit painful, to be born.

Unfortunately, there are always some “party-poopers,” naysayers that set out to distort and spin the story in a negative light. There always will be critics – and that’s not a bad thing. We need to critique our motives, intentions, purposes, etc. by keeping them in “the light.” But criticizing is not the same as creating misperceptions and lying – and that is what many did.

Following a moving and powerful worship service the first night, my friends and I lingered to continue the conversation, lifted and inspired by the hope and vision we had just encountered. Suddenly, there appeared a Fox News reporter who requested an interview. She began her question something like this: “A lot of people claim that the real motive behind this gathering is political. Are you a Republican or a Democrat?” I refused to feed the distorted story being spun. She asked others in our group, who responded likewise. She was clearly frustrated that she wasn’t getting a “story” for the 10 o’clock slot. Finally, one in our group spoke. She gave an answer, but she didn’t answer her question. Instead, she simply restated the true purpose of the meeting.

I don’t recall what she said exactly, but it was not far from what Dr. Bruce Prescott, Chair of the Steering Committee for the New Baptist Covenant Midwest Region, writes:

The New Baptist Covenant is a commitment by more than 20 million Baptists in North America to fulfill our “obligations as Christians to promote peace with justice, to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to shelter the homeless, to care for the sick and the marginalized, welcome the strangers among us, and promote religious liberty and respect for religious diversity.” It is also a reaffirmation of our “commitment to traditional Baptist values, including sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ and its implications for public and private morality” . . . While many of the issues we face have political connotations, we insist that partisanship has no place in our meetings . . . we represent neither the Democratic, nor Republican, nor Libertarian, nor any Independent political party.

The Midwest Region’s theme is Building Bridges. The meeting is August 7-8 in Norman, OK.  I’m still not sure what the legs of the New Baptist Covenant will look like in the near future, how well we will accomplish our mission, or even if the momentum will continue. I have learned, though, to be more hopeful. This time, I’m bringing my unfettered optimism with me!

But for those that want to make it a political event – please, don’t ruin it for me.