I Don’t Care What They Call Themselves, They Aren’t Baptists in Any Meaningful Sense of the Word

Go ahead and get mad at me if you want- whomsoever you may be- but when First ‘Baptist’ Church of Seattle paraded twenty-five same sex couples down their aisle and ‘married’ them that assembly gave up its right to be called or to call themselves Baptists.  Episcopalian?  Sure.  Presbyterian? Why not.  Anglican?  Of course.  But Baptist?  No.

And, again, go ahead and get just as mad at me as you want.  Defriend me on the facebook.  Denounce me on your blog.  Call me anything you wish from anti-semite to homophobic and everything in between (in spite of the fact that I am none of those things), but if you think for half a moment that First Seattle is justified in describing itself as a Baptist Church you know NOTHING of the Baptist faith, message, or tradition.  NOTHING.

Baptists worthy of the name live their lives and practice their faith according not to the whims and fancies of culture but according to the teaching of Scripture.  Scripture, for real Baptists, is the only guidestar.  If churches outside the Baptist tradition wish to marry same sex couples that’s between them and God.  But no Baptist, no real Baptist, no authentic Baptist who understands what the word means can or would in good conscience.

The ‘church’ in Seattle needs to rebrand itself with another denominational affiliation.  It isn’t a Baptist Church.