This is a reflection on why I have chosen to be a Baptist and what
this contributes to my spiritual life and ministry. It is through a series of
providences that I became a student in a Baptist seminary and ended up in the
Baptist church I am currently doing my field education in. This led me into
furtherer exploration about what a Baptist identity entails. Meanwhile, it is
also a time where I am experiencing the greatest amounts of breakthroughs in my
spiritual life and ministry.
In May 2013, my father suddenly passed away. I was disappointed to
realise that despite having been actively involved in the nondenominational[1]
church I was attending at that time, I went through most of the grieving
process alone. This made me realise that only God is dependable and installed
in me a strong desire to build a stronger foundation in the Scriptures. After
praying about studying in the seminary, multiple affirmations appeared, so I
enrolled to study part-time at Morling College, the closest seminary to my
home. As I did vast researches for the various assignments at Morling College,
I began to realise that the knowledge I was receiving from the church I was
attending was mostly digested material by others.
At one point, the pastors began using Scripture to promote the church
model they were using at that time and implied that people who were not
supportive of the model and church leadership were disobedient to God. In one
sermon, the story of Korah was used to demonstrate this point. Those promoted
to leadership roles were good managers but not necessarily spiritually mature.[2]
By 2015, many who faced bottlenecks when they tried to communicate to
leadership about the problems in the church had left the church. I received no face-to-face
mentoring and had no opportunities for leadership roles[3],
so I had difficulty integrating my learning at Morling into ministry.
Towards the end of 2015, I went on a trip to Israel and there were
an unusually high number of Baptist ministers in the tour group. I felt a
strong burden for Israel, saw supernatural signs there and wondered if God could
be calling me to cross-cultural missions. In 2016, church leadership thought
the church model was not working and started heavily promoting the apostolic
model. Instead of turning people’s hearts towards God, they focused on the
“wonders of the new model”.[4]
So I prayed for God to open a door for me to get more practical experience and found
a Baptist church for my field education. I received mentoring and bottlenecks began
unblocking. I started to grasp the concept of discipleship and began practicing
spiritual disciplines more consistently.
In July 2017, I chose the subject “Baptist Distinctives” to explore
whether there is a calling for me in the Baptist setting. Coincidentally the
church pastor from a different congregation of the same Baptist church
accidentally emailed me a church membership application form. Meanwhile, I began
finding myself in strong agreement with the Baptist principles of the freedom
of conscience, authority from the Scripture, the Lordship of Christ, priesthood
of all believers, democratic church governance, and an intentional formation of
community in the discipleship process. Furthermore, I am impressed by the
Baptist emphasis on missions because many churches have already lost this
focus.[5]
For more details on what a Baptist identity entails, please see:
[1] The church displays characteristics of the Pentecostal
denomination.
[2] Several enthusiastic new believers who made good managers were
promoted to pastoral leadership roles by existing leaders.
[3] Opportunities for me only existed in task orientated roles, eg.
Translation.
[4] The church model
was not the problem or solution. Despite sermons trying to fire people up about
revival and church planting, there was a lack of depth: action-packed does not
equal discipleship.
[5] The Baptist church I am attending now has more experience in mentoring
seminary students and supporting missions. It may potentially become the
“sending church” for me if I become a missionary.
No comments:
Post a Comment