MAINSTREAM MESSENGER

Vol. 3, No. 4     Sept. 2000    Editor:  Bruce Prescott

Accountable to Whom?

One of the most controversial changes in the Baptist Faith & Message (BF&M) has to do with accountability.  The preamble to the 2000 BF&M identifies the Baptist Faith and Message as an “instrument of doctrinal accountability.”

This is creedalism.  It is without precedent among Southern Baptists.  It begs the question, “Accountable to whom?”

The new preamble answers, “accountable to each other.”  What does that mean?

All systems of accountability presume a chain of command -- some hierarchy of authority.

Who within the church has the authority to hold Baptists accountable?  Sunday school teachers?  Deacons?  Pastors?  Denominational executives?  Seminary professors?

The new preamble answers, “accountable to each other under the Word of God.”  What does that mean?

It means that Baptists are now accountable to each other’s interpretations of the Word of God.  But, what happens when there are honest differences about how the Bible should be interpreted?  Do we appoint a committee to condense the Bible to a creed and then hold each other accountable to that?  Do we call a business meeting and cast votes to decide what the Bible means?

That, in effect, is what Southern Baptists have done.  By vote of the Southern Baptist Convention the 2000 BF&M is now the officially approved, final authority for Baptist life.  It is our “instrument of doctrinal accountability.”  Those who fail to measure up to it already have no place in Baptist life.

Before the adoption of the 2000 BF&M Southern Baptists repudiated all creeds and hierarchies.  We owned no creed but the Bible.  We used to believe that every believer had the responsibility to interpret the Bible under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  We used to believe that the Holy Spirit worked to convict people of sin.  We used to believe that each individual was directly and personally accountable to God through Christ alone.  The preamble of the 2000 BFM decisively rejects these bedrock Baptist doctrines.

Very soon every Baptist, every local church, every association, and every state convention will have to make a choice as to whether they can conscientiously approve the 2000 BF&M.

To whom will you be accountable?

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