The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and Homosexuality

I have some discomfort about the future of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship is the formerly moderate/progressive contingent in the Southern Baptist Convention. The CBF was established about 20 years ago. The leaders who formed the CBF are now retiring and so the next generation of leaders is beginning to emerge. The new leaders tend to be quite progressive on social issues. My discomfort rests specifically with regards to the hot button issue of how the church is to address the issue of same-sex relationships. I think how the issue is addressed reveals how durable this fellowship will be. There are a number of issues raised at the denominational level. I realize that a concern people have is to find ways to be welcoming and caring for people who feel alienated from the church. However, it concerns me that there is little reflection given to maintaining an ethic that is shaped by scripture. I attended a session described as an open discussion about the issue. There were by far more people in this session than any of the others I attended. In addition to the room being packed the constituency was significantly younger than the other sessions. In the discussion there was very little attention given to the Bible. I realize that Biblical ethics can sometimes become an exercise in proof texting, and I realize that the “families” of the Bible tend to exhibit an ethic no one wants to imitate….but I do feel there is need for reflection on the implications of revelation for our ethics when it comes to human sexuality. For example there was no attention given to defining chastity at all. It seems to me that if one is to take an approach that the Biblical injunctions against homosexuality were really directed towards pederasty (this was asserted in the session this was about the extent of the references made to scripture)…or were simply cultural conventions of the day (this too was asserted)…such interpretive decisions do not obviate the need for some reflection on what constitutes chastity. Instead what is offered is vague language about embracing the wide ranging “journeys” that people are on in the Christian life. This vague approach concerns me because I think there is a need to address in a more substantive way a distinct sexual ethic especially since a permissive attitude to sexuality tends not to take very seriously the dynamics of power that are present to abuse the other.

Education

Anyone who has spent time with students has heard the common lament, “I’m just ready to be done with school.” There are a number of reasons students feel this way. They want to enter the work force and receive some compensation that enables them to act on desires that they otherwise are constrained from doing…at least independent of the largesse of another. Students are ready to be done with school because they do not see what their time in the classroom accomplishes. They can feel like the time they have spent studying is simply a form of babysitting. It is not usually the case that you point to an hour in class and say now…I know this. The fruit of learning is something that appears over time. There occasionally might be some skill taught at one setting. I think of learning a language. At one sitting you might learn the Cyrillic Alphabet. But it takes time to learn grammar and vocabulary. It takes time, repetition, many of the same kinds of activity that we might in another context call work. The fruit of this labor may bring monetary compensation, but it may not. If we judge the value of work only by the monetary compensation or even primarily we realize there are many things that require attention…that don’t pay. Learning does provide an opportunity one of many to mature as an individual. This maturation enables one to enjoy the fullness of life…and face the difficulties of life by drawing on the resources of the wider experiences of human life.

Evolution

Evolution is often identified as troubling because of the common ancestry of humans with all other life. Such an account of Human origin is felt to be an assault which potentially undermines the uniqueness of humanity. I appreciate some elements raised by this concern. The more substantive theological challenge to Christian theology lies in the idea of natural selection. This theory interesting enough is embraced by those who reject evolution. What are the implications of this judgment? I think this face should dampen at least be acknowledged at least caution criticism of evolution.

Journey

The recognition that new experiences force us at times to revisit previous judgments is a natural development of…age. I think this is a reason for the development of the fashionable use of the term journey to describe the Christian life. This is not an entirely new development. In fact John Bunyan wrote the famous of devotional classics using the setting of a journey the Pilgrim’s Progress. Bunyan’s work continues to be instructive and illuminating to my Christian experience. And yet the way in which the term “journey” is employed raises for me some misgivings. My reservations come from the way this term seems to be used as a trump card to avoid or simply to dismiss dissenting judgments within the life of the Christian community. One need not consider a differing opinion if one simply relegates it to the circumstances of another’s journey.