January 22, 2009

On the Journey

                            A Step Beyond Going and Telling

Growing up in South Carolina, my religious identity was shaped by all things Baptist. Only when I ventured beyond the borders of South Carolina did I discover that there were other Baptists who considered us to be rather peculiar. We were peculiar, I learned, because we liked to do things in an orderly way. We appreciated and encouraged an educated ministry by promoting higher education and expecting young ministers to get some book learning. From our earliest days in the low country, we embraced the missionary spirit of William Carey. Baptists in South Carolina never imagined that they could be anti-missions. We were possessed by an ecumenical spirit unafraid to worship and work along Methodists, Presbyterians, and other brands of the Christian faith. The Baptist principles of the lordship of Jesus Christ, the priesthood of all believers, and local church autonomy shaped our understanding of ourselves and our churches.

              Despite the peculiar nature of Baptists in South Carolina, there was a defining scripture that we shared with all Baptists of all stripes scattered throughout the South, the Southwest, and those exiled beyond. Our first memory verse might have been the beloved John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”[NRSV]  It might have been our first memory lesson, but our lives were grounded in another verse that exceeded even the significance of John 3:16. We committed Matthew 26:19-20 to memory: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Our preachers and teachers told us this was our Lord’s great commission, and he called us to fulfill it by going to the ends of the earth to share the good news.

              My immersion in the significance of the Great Commission began when I was a preschooler attending the Sunbeams, an organization established by the Women’s Missionary Union for children. The Baptist women of South Carolina and all the southern states were particularly passionate about the significance of the Great Commission for all Baptists, old and young, male and female. We started together in Sunbeams, but, when we started school, we enrolled in different organizations. The boys became Royal Ambassadors, and the girls became Girls in Action. The women, old and young, had their circles where they studied missions and prayed for missionaries. Not to be outdone by Baptist women, the men formed the Brotherhood. By age and by gender, we were taught to be mission-minded. For most Baptists, missionaries were our only saints.

              I affirm with my whole heart the shaping power of the Great Commission upon my life and spiritual identity. As a sixteen year old, I dreamed of being a medical missionary like Bill Wallace who served in China. As a pastor of four very different Baptist congregations, I encouraged mission endeavors of all kinds here at home and around the world. I believed in going where you could, doing what you could, and standing alongside other believers who were going and doing in the name of Jesus. Encoded in my Baptist DNA is a commitment to go into the world sharing the love of Jesus with all people.

              At this stage in my life, when I hope I see the world more clearly, I realize, that on our way to fulfilling the Great Commission, we may have overlooked a critical dimension of our orders. We have willingly gone into all the world. We have baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Yet, it appears to me that we have not prioritized “teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” We have been about Christian education. Through our Sunday Schools, we have taught the Bible faithfully. In recent years, we have even drawn lines in the sand over doctrinal issues. Yet, we must seriously consider in all that we have done—have we shown folks the Way to life and have we inspired obedience to the life transforming teachings of Jesus?

              If Jesus were walking our earth today, he would look at us and observe that we, too, almost 20 centuries later, are like sheep without a shepherd. So many people appear to have lost their way. More and more people say they are lost. They don’t know where to go nor to whom to turn for wisdom and guidance that saves them. So many people are stumbling about seeking the Way that leads to life. Many people are searching for the Truth that will set them free. For many of us who have heard the good news, we have not embraced lives of obedience to the teachings of Jesus. We expect to be saved only by the waters of our baptism.

              In this year of Jubilee that we have declared at Immanuel, we are inviting people to a new beginning in Christ. A new beginning will mean going in new directions, learning new truths, making new commitments, tending new relationships, and becoming new people. We may be like sheep without a shepherd, but Jesus is our Good Shepherd. Together let’s explore the path of obedience that leads to new life, new joy, and new hope!jamie