Baptist Pastoral Ministry, Missions, and Church Leadership — Unit 9: Baptists and Public Life: Religious Liberty Advocacy, Ethics, and Society

Key Verse

"He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?" (Micah 6:8, NKJV)

Learning Objectives

When you finish this unit, you should be able to:

1. Explain from Scripture why a church must be salt and light in society, and name the two errors of withdrawal and of political takeover.

2. Define religious liberty as Baptists understand it, and say why Baptists defend it for people of every faith.

3. Describe the believer's duty to the state in Romans 13, 1 Peter 2 and Acts 5, and the limits set by obedience to God.

4. State how a pastor may speak to public questions without turning the pulpit into a party platform.

5. Summarize the main ethical concerns Baptists have taught (life, marriage and family, the poor, honesty, and racial equality) and answer common objections.

The Voice of This Course

This course is written from inside the Baptist tradition, for Baptist pastors. It is conservative in doctrine and practical in purpose. Where Baptists or historians disagree, we state the views fairly and then give the answer most conservative Baptists would give. The history of religious liberty is told in Course 1, Unit 5, and its doctrine in Course 2, Unit 6. This unit asks a pastoral question: how does a Baptist pastor lead a church to live faithfully in a society it does not control?

Salt and Light

Jesus said to His followers, "You are the salt of the earth" and "You are the light of the world" (Matthew 5:13-14). He added that people should see our good works and glorify our Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16). A church that hides from the world has lost both its saltiness and its light.

God's people have always lived in cities ruled by others. Through Jeremiah the Lord told the exiles in Babylon to seek the peace of the city and to pray for it (Jeremiah 29:7). Paul wrote that we should do good to all, especially to the household of faith (Galatians 6:10).

Two errors threaten the church here.

The error of withdrawal. Some believers say that the world is lost and the church should say nothing about public life. But the Lord calls His people to do justly and to love mercy (Micah 6:8), and to defend the rights of the poor and needy (Proverbs 31:8-9).

The error of takeover. Others forget that the church is not the state and that the gospel advances by preaching, not by force. Jesus told Pilate that His kingdom was not of this world, or His servants would fight (John 18:36). Paul wrote that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God (2 Corinthians 10:4). A church that ties itself to one party or ruler soon serves that party and loses its prophetic voice.

Why Baptists Defend Religious Liberty

The first Baptists suffered from state-enforced religion. Course 1 tells how Thomas Helwys in 1612 appealed to the English king for liberty of conscience for all people, how Roger Williams founded Providence as a place where conscience was free, and how Isaac Backus and John Leland worked for freedom in New England and Virginia. Course 2 shows how regenerate membership and the priesthood of all believers lead to the same conclusion. Here are the reasons in brief.

First, saving faith cannot be forced. Faith is a gift of God that comes by hearing the word of Christ (Romans 10:17). A person compelled by the law to profess a religion has not believed.

Second, Christ alone is Lord of the conscience. Paul asks, "Who are you to judge another's servant? To his own master he stands or falls" (Romans 14:4). The believer answers to God, and no ruler stands between.

Third, Jesus gave the state and God each their own sphere. "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's" (Matthew 22:21). The state has a real task, which is to keep order and punish evil. It has not been given authority over the soul.

Fourth, the Great Commission uses persuasion and not coercion. Paul wrote that we persuade men (2 Corinthians 5:11).

What Religious Liberty Means

Baptists mean by religious liberty the freedom to believe, to worship, to teach, to publish, to gather and to change one's religion, according to conscience and without penalty from the state. Two features set the Baptist view apart.

First, Baptists ask for this freedom for everyone, not for themselves alone. This is a hard test. It is easy to ask liberty when we are the minority and easy to forget it when we are the majority. The Golden Rule applies (Matthew 7:12).

Second, Baptists have taught the separation of church and state. The church does not govern the state, and the state does not govern the church. The state should not choose a church's pastors, write its doctrine or collect its offerings by force. The church should not use the state to enforce its beliefs. Baptists in the United States wrote to President Jefferson in 1801 when they feared for their liberty, and he answered in 1802, speaking of a wall of separation between church and state. The phrase has been understood in many ways.

Baptists do not all agree on how far separation should go in practice. Some strict separationists refuse any government funds for church-related schools or relief work. Others accept public money for services such as feeding the poor, provided the church keeps its freedom to teach. Both defend the principle.

Obeying the State, and the Limits of Obedience

Paul writes, "Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities" (Romans 13:1), and teaches that rulers are God's servants for good, who bear the sword to restrain evil (Romans 13:1-7). Peter says the same (1 Peter 2:13-17), and Paul asks that prayers be made for kings and all in authority (1 Timothy 2:1-2). The believer's ordinary duty is to obey the law, pay taxes, respect officials and pray for them.

Yet the same Bible sets a limit. When the council ordered Peter and John to stop speaking in the name of Jesus, they answered that they could not help speaking about what they had seen and heard (Acts 4:19-20). Later the apostles said, "We ought to obey God rather than men" (Acts 5:29). Daniel prayed to God despite the king's decree (Daniel 6), and his three friends refused to worship the golden image (Daniel 3).

How do we hold both truths together? The conservative Baptist answer is this. The believer obeys the state in all things that do not require him to sin. When the state commands what God forbids, or forbids what God commands, he obeys God. Even then he acts as Daniel and the apostles did: openly, respectfully, without violence, and ready to accept the penalty. He does not take up arms against the government because he disagrees with it. Baptists differ about some hard cases, such as military service and the limits of civil disobedience, and believers should be patient with one another where Scripture does not speak plainly.

The Pastor and Politics

A pastor often asks how far he may speak on public questions. Scripture gives both a pattern and a warning.

The pattern is the prophet who speaks to the powerful. Nathan told King David, "You are the man!" (2 Samuel 12:7). John the Baptist told Herod that it was not lawful for him to have his brother's wife (Mark 6:17-18). The pastor who preaches the whole counsel of God will sometimes touch on the justice of the courts, the care of the poor, honest government and the sanctity of life, because Scripture speaks to these things.

The warning is that the pulpit belongs to the Word of God and not to a political party. A pastor should not tell the church how to vote for a particular candidate. Members have the liberty of conscience that Baptists defend, and they may judge differently about parties and programs while loving the same Lord. A pastor who makes his preference a test of fellowship divides the church over matters Scripture does not settle.

Some hold that the church should speak only of spiritual things. Others hold that it must speak boldly on every public question. The conservative Baptist answer sits between them: speak what Scripture says, plainly and gently, on the matters Scripture addresses; be slow to speak where wise Christians differ; never use the church's name or property for a party.

A practical note: many countries limit what ministers may do in party politics. Before any public action, the pastor should learn the law and take counsel from the association or a trusted lawyer.

The Ethics Baptists Teach

The Baptist Faith and Message 2000 has articles on the Christian and the social order, on religious liberty and on the family. A pastor should know such statements, but he must teach from the Bible. We give five main concerns.

The sanctity of life. Scripture teaches that God forms each person. David praised God who formed him in his mother's womb (Psalm 139:13-16). Conservative Baptists have therefore defended the life of the unborn, the weak and the aged. A church that speaks for the unborn must also help the mother in need, the sick and the elderly.

Marriage and the family. God instituted marriage at creation, when a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two become one flesh (Genesis 2:24). Jesus affirmed this (Matthew 19:4-6). Hebrews 13:4 says that marriage is honorable among all. Marriage is God's gift, the lifelong covenant of husband and wife, and the home is the first place where children learn faith. Paul compares the love of husband and wife to Christ's love for the church (Ephesians 5:22-33). A pastor serves society well when he teaches the joys and duties of marriage, prepares couples before the wedding, strengthens couples in trouble, and shows compassion to those who suffer from divorce or widowhood.

The poor and the needy. James says that pure and undefiled religion before God is to visit orphans and widows in their trouble (James 1:27). Proverbs 31:8-9 tells us to open our mouths for the voiceless and to plead the cause of the poor. The church feeds, clothes and teaches, and sometimes speaks for the poor before the authorities.

Honesty and justice. Scripture condemns bribery, false weights and corrupt courts. Churches should be examples of honest accounts and fair dealing. Many Baptists also teach abstinence from alcohol and warn against gambling, citing Proverbs 20:1 and Ephesians 5:18, though not all Baptists agree on how to apply the principle.

Racial equality. God made every nation of men from one blood (Acts 17:26). In Christ the walls between peoples are broken down (Galatians 3:28; Ephesians 2:14). James 2:1-9 forbids showing partiality. Baptists must face their own history here. Course 1 tells how the Southern Baptist Convention was formed in 1845 amid the slavery dispute. In 1995 the Southern Baptist Convention confessed that its past defense of slavery was sin. The pastor today should teach plainly that every person is made in God's image (Genesis 1:27) and welcome all peoples into the church.

Serving Society

Baptists have not only spoken; they have served. In many lands Baptist churches have started schools, clinics, literacy classes and relief work. Such service does not replace the gospel, but it shows the gospel (Matthew 25:35). The church that serves its neighbors earns a hearing among them.

Objections and Answers

Objection 1: "Jesus said His kingdom is not of this world, so Christians should stay out of public life." The verse is true, but it says that the kingdom does not advance by the sword, not that believers have nothing to do with society. The same Lord called us salt and light, and we are sent into the world (John 17:15-18).

Objection 2: "A Christian people should have Christian laws that favor the true religion. Religious liberty lets error spread." Many sincere Christians have held this, including the state churches that persecuted early Baptists. The Baptist answer is that the church has a better weapon than the law, which is truth spoken in love. Forced faith is not faith. A state with power to choose the true religion will not always choose rightly, and the church that asks for that power today may be persecuted by it tomorrow. Christians may seek laws that protect life, justice and public morals for all, but not laws that compel worship or belief.

Objection 3: "Social concern is the social gospel. It distracts the church from saving souls." Early in the twentieth century some preached a social message in place of the gospel, and conservatives resisted that error. The gospel comes first: the greatest need of every person is forgiveness through Christ. But Scripture does not set evangelism and mercy against each other. Titus 3:8 asks believers to maintain good works, and James 2:15-16 shows that words without help for the hungry are empty.

Pastoral Application

Pastor Andrés (a fictional example) serves a church of about ninety in a small city. Two things happen in the same month. A local official asks him to announce from the pulpit that the church supports a candidate in an upcoming election, and tells him that the church's permit to meet may be reviewed in the coming year. In the same month, he hears that a family of another faith in his street has been threatened by neighbors who want them to leave.

Andrés prays and meets with his deacons and a lawyer from the association to learn what the law says about his church's status and about what a minister may say. He thanks the official politely, says that he prays for him, and explains that the church does not endorse candidates. In his preaching he teaches Romans 13 and Acts 5:29 and tells members to vote according to their conscience under God. He then visits the threatened family with a deacon, and asks the neighbors to leave them in peace, reminding them that conscience belongs to God. He cannot say what became of the permit review. He knows only that he spoke the truth, honored the law and defended his neighbor's liberty.

Summary

The church is salt and light, and must avoid both withdrawal and takeover. Baptists defend religious liberty because faith cannot be forced, Christ alone is Lord of the conscience, the state and God have separate spheres, and the gospel advances by persuasion. They ask liberty for all, including those who differ from them. The believer obeys the state, prays for it and pays his taxes, but obeys God when the state commands sin, and does so openly, respectfully and without violence. The pastor speaks what Scripture says on public matters, but does not turn the pulpit into a party platform. Baptists have taught the sanctity of life, the honor of marriage and the family, mercy for the poor, honesty and justice, and the equality of all peoples in God's image.

Further Reading

• Thomas Helwys, A Short Declaration of the Mystery of Iniquity (1612).

• Roger Williams, The Bloudy Tenent of Persecution (1644).

• Isaac Backus and John Leland, selected writings on religious liberty.

• E. Y. Mullins, The Axioms of Religion (1908).

• Baptist Faith and Message 2000, the articles on the Christian and the social order, religious liberty and the family.

• Course 1, Unit 5 (Baptists in America), Course 1, Unit 8 (twentieth-century controversies), and Course 2, Unit 6 (religious liberty and separation of church and state).

• Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Lectures to My Students.

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