I am a Southern Baptist and hold to the Baptist Faith and Message 2000. It’s our church’s statement of faith, and we don’t adhere to it with our fingers crossed. We believe it, teach according to it, and live by it. We preach, teach Sunday School, lead Bible Studies, and read books in accordance with the BFM 2000. Our hiring practices also align with the BFM 2000.
I expect other Southern Baptist entities to do the same. And I don’t think that’s unfair. If you are Southern Baptist, then be Southern Baptist.
This is where the ordeal at Ouachita Baptist University is informative. They cooperate with the Arkansas Baptist State Convention, so it’s not exactly an SBC entity. But their behavior is what we expect from Southern Baptist entities.
The Non-Change Change
The school’s statement of faith did not change. However, the faculty’s affirmations changed significantly. These are binding commitments to uphold policy statements and affirm the school’s relationship with the Arkansas Baptist State Convention. This move is similar to other Christian colleges in the country that formalized expectations for faculty and staff.
Here is how Ouachita Baptist explains it on its own website.
Faculty and staff are asked to affirm a statement of historic Christian belief, agree to uphold and not undermine the university’s statements on sexuality and on race and Christian community, and affirm Ouachita’s relationship with the Arkansas Baptist State Convention. Only faculty in the Pruet School of Christian Studies, along with the president and vice president for academic affairs, are expected to be members of an Arkansas Baptist church.
You can read more of that statement here.
In recent years, there have been historically Christian colleges that shifted away from the Christian teaching on human sexuality. And a big part of the issue has started with the faculty. A great illustration is Calvin University, part of the Christian Reformed Church.
Faculty hired by Calvin University must sign a document saying their beliefs align with a set of historical Christian creeds and confessions, such as the Nicene Creed and the Heidelberg Catechism. The faculty handbook says they must “teach, speak, and write in harmony with the confessions.”
But many professors at the 146-year-old school no longer hold that sex outside of heterosexual marriage is sinful. And they want to be supportive of LGBTQ students on campus.
That university has rules of conduct against premarital sex and same sex marriage due to it’s historically being aligned with the CRC. It also holds to the historic creeds and confessions such as the Nicene Creed and the Heidelberg Catechism.
Much like Ouachita Baptist University, Calvin University had the belief statement; they had the faculty statement, but it didn’t have enough teeth to enforce it. It seems to me that the President of Ouachita Baptist University, along with the Trustees, looked around and saw the need for stronger enforcement. And they put it in.
Concluding Thoughts
This is an example of strong Christian leadership. They saw the danger ahead and prepared for it.
I would like to hold Ouachita Baptist up as an example to follow in these perverse days. Churches around the country, ours included, strengthened our Constitution and By-laws due to this same moral atmosphere.
Take note. See strength and courage in leadership and do it yourself. As long as the Southern Baptist Convention exists, we should do this in every one of our institutions.
That is what we, as Southern Baptists, expect from our entities and those that cooperate with us.
Image Attribution: Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
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