Following Jesus

I read this in an online journal this week about what it means to be a Christ follower. The article touches on the The Controversy that occurred in the Southern Baptist Convention in recent decades. The commentary seems to offer critic for both sides of the argument for forgetting what being a Christian is all about. I thought it was interesting.

I think being Baptist means being Christian. In turn, I think being Christian means following Jesus Christ. I think following Jesus Christ means investing our lives in the Kingdom of God. I think investing our lives in the Kingdom of God means incarnating a concrete obedience to the teachings of Jesus and a concrete imitation of his moral practice. A key aspect of his Kingdom teachings and practice is love of neighbor, including love of stranger, “sinner,” and enemy. To the extent that Baptists forgot how to love each other, and in other ways directly disobeyed the teachings of Christ in our denominational wars, we fought the Baptist battles at the cost of forfeiting our very identity as Christians. In this sense, no one won. We all lost. Christ’s cause lost.
Doctrinal clarity is part of following Jesus. Freedom is part of following Jesus. But following Jesus is the main thing. The only conceivable healthy future for Baptists will be found in following Jesus.

Excerpted from "Being Baptist Means Following Jesus"
By David Gushee
March 2008 issue of The Baptist Studies Bulletin