Editor’s note: This year marks the centennial anniversaries of the Cooperative Program’s creation, the adoption of the Baptist Faith & Message, and the SBC’s ownership of Southwestern Seminary. To celebrate these 100 years of Southern Baptist cooperation, Southwestern has compiled eleven essays from key Southern Baptist leaders and seminary faculty for an original series on the ETC blog. The entire series, which will publish over the course of eleven weeks, will be available here.
Since the time of ancient Christianity, churches have utilized summary statements of belief to help clarify doctrine and facilitate the fulfillment of the Great Commission. Some of these statements possibly can be found in the biblical text itself (e.g. the Christ Hymn of Phil 2). For a believing people, it is not just reasonable but also beneficial to have standard statements that clarify and form faith in the church. Early on, these statements were quite general and focused on the major doctrines challenged at the time such as the Trinity and person of Christ. However, we also have creeds on other doctrines, such as salvation, the church, and the return of Christ. Understanding the beliefs of the faithful throughout the centuries on key matters is not just a habit for the historian; it is formative for us all.
The classic statements of faith beyond the Bible, such as the Apostles’ Creed, The Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed, form the foundation of orthodox belief. They serve as guides and guardrails for believers as they read and interpret the biblical text. From the Reformation onward, numerous confessions were composed—often delineating orthodox thought as well as distinctive beliefs of newly formed “denominations.” Baptists were participants in this endeavor as well, producing several confessions of faith in the seventeenth century including, The First London Confession, The Standard Confession, The Second London Confession, and An Orthodox Creed.
Southern Baptists have received this tradition and participate in it with their own confession: the Baptist Faith and Message, first adopted by the Southern Baptist Convention in 1925 with later editions approved in 1963 and 2000. Like many other confessions, this document highlights both common orthodox beliefs as well as those that Southern Baptists would consider essential. Southern Baptists confessions emerged during a time of anti-confessionalism in Baptist thought, with many advocating for “no creed but the Bible.” While this sentiment is passionate and well-intended, Southern Baptists do confess their beliefs in this document for purposes of unity and inclusion, especially as they endeavor to cooperate in Great Commission advance. Consequently, it is not surprising that this confession includes a statement on the extent and limits of our cooperation.
The remainder of this essay will examine that statement and recognize how Southern Baptists engage in important cooperative work while upholding the biblical belief in the autonomy of the local church. Here is Article XIV Cooperation in its entirety:
Christ’s people should, as occasion requires, organize such associations and conventions as may best secure cooperation for the great objects of the Kingdom of God. Such organizations have no authority over one another or over the churches. They are voluntary and advisory bodies designed to elicit, combine, and direct the energies of our people in the most effective manner. Members of New Testament churches should cooperate with one another in carrying forward the missionary, educational, and benevolent ministries for the extension of Christ’s Kingdom. Christian unity in the New Testament sense is spiritual harmony and voluntary cooperation for common ends by various groups of Christ’s people. Cooperation is desirable between the various Christian denominations when the end to be attained is itself justified, and when such cooperation involves no violation of conscience or compromise of loyalty to Christ and His Word as revealed in the New Testament.
This article has largely remained unchanged since the first Baptist Faith and Message in 1925 and highlights some core principles of Baptists regarding cooperation beyond the local congregation. Article VI emphasized both the local church and the larger Body of Christ. This article helps establish the important, biblical connection between those two groups.
First, we notice the occasional nature of the article. The confession emphasizes the primacy of the local church in Southern Baptist thought, while also recognizing the significance of the connection with other churches for the Kingdom. As important as that biblical-theological connection is, this article focuses on the political distinction between the local congregation, where church authority rests, and other bodies with which a local church may wish to cooperate. In other words, Baptists have not established a denominational hierarchy. There is no pope, archbishop, presbytery, or synod that determines what a local church can do. Baptists are congregational and operate in the free church tradition. This is evident throughout the confession in phrases such as, “as occasion arises,” “such organizations have no authority,” or that these other bodies are “voluntary and advisory.” However Southern Baptists choose to cooperate, it is based on the will and desire of the individual churches that join.
This article also affirms the necessary engagement with others in the Body of Christ. While the local church holds a primary position throughout the Baptist Faith and Message, there is also a desire to collaborate and work for Kingdom purposes. The central focus of Southern Baptists is our missional impulse. We gather together to increase Kingdom advance and, from that foundation, we have established institutions that assist the local churches to achieve those goals. The cooperation of New Testament churches in establishing conventions and associations has always been driven by a realization that we do more together than we can do individually. The aim of our cooperation is the Kingdom of God and the engagement of the Great Commission. The means to achieve this aim are seen through “missionary, educational, and benevolent ministries.” Southern Baptists confess here the need to cooperate, and from this belief and collaboration we have created some of the most effective Christian ministries in these areas. We have two highly effective missions boards that send thousands of missionaries worldwide and plant thousands of local churches at home. We have six of the finest theological seminaries in the world, and we provide support to our churches through the work of Guidestone and LifeWay. If the confession states that this cooperation should “elicit, combine, and direct the energies of our people in the most effective manner,” then I believe we have much to celebrate as we unite together to accomplish even greater things for the Kingdom.
This cooperative work that Southern Baptists have sought, however, is not merely pragmatic. Though the cooperative efforts that arise from the principles of the article are highly effective, we must note that there is a theological center to our cooperation. Christian unity is at the heart of Southern Baptist cooperation. The unity that Jesus prays for in John 17 is exemplified throughout the New Testament as the Church grows from Judea, Samaria and to the uttermost. Southern Baptists are best in their cooperation when they remember the Christ-centered core of their unity in cooperation. We work together for Great Commission ends because we are together in Christ. We can cooperate for common ends because we have a common source in the Gospel. Cooperation is a theological essential to the Christian life.
With this theological impulse, Southern Baptists recognize their part of the larger Body of Christ and understand they are not the only Christians engaging in Kingdom advance. When and where they can, Southern Baptists have confessed their willingness to work with other groups outside of their convention of churches. This desire for greater cooperation should be pursued and engaged when the purposes of cooperation are justified and do not violate the conscience of Southern Baptists beliefs about Christ and the Bible. When Southern Baptist churches disagree with others, they do not cooperate, but when opportunities arise for collaboration, they should strive to cooperate.
The aim and impulse of cooperation is the Kingdom of God, the work of the Great Commission, and the adherence to the Great Commandment. Southern Baptists have sought to engage with one another and others in this way since our founding. This biblical and theological desire has been instrumental in our history. Nevertheless, we have always faced the risk of losing this capacity. Challenges to cooperation have been constant. The inclusion of Article XIV of the Baptist Faith and Message serves as a reminder of our need for cooperation and the necessity to confront these challenges. Drawing from the Bible and our confessional heritage, Southern Baptists have chosen to engage beyond the boundaries of the local church and voluntarily cooperate with others for the Kingdom of God and Gospel advance.
