Seriously? God meant that "fruitful and multiply" stuff literally? The Southern Baptists seem to think so. And, while Rome's prohibition against birth control is widely disregarded, there's no mistaking her position.
I don't think the leaders at two prominent Southern Baptist seminaries necessarily speak on behalf of the entire convention, but it's nevertheless noteworthy. Next to Roman Catholics, the Southern Baptists are the second-largest Christian denomination in the U.S. And while neither might nor majority vote makes right, it ought to give other Christians who take the Bible seriously pause to reconsider where their love affair with contraception comes from (and, in the same vein, the thinking of children as a burden, rather than a blessing).
And if the Southern Baptists "get it" that fewer babies means fewer baptisms and thus fewer conversions, when will the mission advocates in the Missouri Synod catch on? Why does Ablaze! count "critical events" where a person shares his faith to another person (who apparently has to have the chance to respond), but not Holy Baptism, wherein a person receives God's gift of faith? Can there be a more "critical event" in a person's life?
No one will accuse the Southern Baptists of not being "missional." And they understand that a person's chief mission field is his family. That's a pretty astute understanding of vocation. Make babies; make them Christians. Missouri, sign here.
1 comment:
I agree completely. In the LCMS we tend to feel bad that we have grown by birth. Then we run off to make disciples of outsiders and deny our own children. Not cool!
May we never forget the power of Baptism throughout our lives.
Post a Comment