When a church considers furnishing The Alabama Baptist to its active resident families, that church is facing a theological decision. Does the church believe in what Baptists call “soul competency in matters of religion” or not? That is the crucial issue.
Soul competency is at the heart of Baptist identity. The insistence of Baptists on personal salvation is based on the doctrine of soul competency, the ability of each individual to respond to Jesus Christ for himself or herself. No one can respond for another person. Salvation is a personal, individual relationship with God.
Soul competency finds expression in the Baptist practice of believer’s baptism. Only the person who is able to make a confession of Jesus Christ as Lord can enter the baptismal waters. That is why Baptists rebel against the practice of infant baptism. Baptists argue that infants are not competent to make professions of faith.
Soul competency also finds expression in the final judgment, when each person will stand before God to give an account of his or her relationship to God through faith in Jesus Christ. Again Baptists understand the Bible to teach that no one can stand before the judgment of God for another because each soul is competent in matters of religion.
That same doctrine governs how Baptists live together and do business together. That is called “polity.” Historically Baptists have practiced congregational polity, and that form of governance is based on the doctrine of soul competency. Each member is considered a competent soul and able to participate in the governing process.
Baptists rejected “classism,” where some are considered superior to the rest for one reason or another. This kind of elitism finds expression in attitudes that communicate a lack of confidence in fellow Christians or the group as a whole. Such attitudes can be seen in practices where some believe they deserve access to information but others do not. It can be heard in whispers about “we have to keep that from the church. The members would not understand.”
Such views trample on the doctrine of soul competency.
Baptists reject structures that place power in the hands of a few. Soul competency demands that all have equal access to information so all can participate equally. Otherwise the group is left to the manipulation of the few who have access to information — because information is power.
The state Baptist paper stands as a testimony to the Baptist commitment to soul competency in matters of religion. In Alabama, the state paper is charged with reporting the news of the denomination. The Alabama Baptist reports news from the churches, from the associations, from the state convention, from the national body and from the world of religion.
Most of the time, the news is inspiring and encouraging. Sometimes it is not. Situations sometimes arise that call for decisions about strategy or direction. Priorities have to be determined. Leaders have to be chosen.
Baptist commitment to soul competency means all members of the group have the opportunity to participate in these decisions. That means all should have access to the necessary information that allows them to participate equally. In Baptist life, that means everyone should have access to the state Baptist paper.
The state Baptist paper has been charged with providing a common base of trusted information, a necessity for any voluntary group to work together. That is why the state paper must tell the good stories along with the not-so-good. The paper must report the truth as best it can be determined.
State Baptist papers have always been in partnership with their respective state Baptist conventions. Yet there has always been an arm’s length between the convention and the papers in the older state Baptist conventions such as Alabama. In the second and third decades of the 1900s, when state conventions began purchasing their state Baptist papers, the publications were placed under the direction of separate boards of directors. They were not made departments of state conventions.
This structural decision was not accidental. It was a deliberate step because Baptists of the last century understood state Baptist papers played an unusual role in Baptist life. The papers existed as a testimony to Baptists’ commitment to soul competency. Baptist state papers were to “tell the truth and trust the people.” It was important to the concept of soul competency that all Baptists know they were being told the truth, as best it could be determined, and not reading bureaucratic propaganda.
It was not that Baptists of yesterday distrusted their leaders, although there was a fear of centralized authority. Baptists wanted another voice reporting the news and information in a balanced and unbiased way. And they wanted to make sure that no one was above the accountability of public information, not even their leaders.
Soul competency never made for bureaucratic efficiency. Baptists understood that but they recognized that a little inefficiency was a small price to pay for living out their doctrinal commitment to soul competency.
Today state Baptist papers still report the news of the denomination. They also provide practical help for living the Christian life. They consider moral and ethical issues from a biblical standpoint. They teach the Baptist way of living and working together.
State Baptist papers teach Baptist doctrine and theology. They provide help for church leaders. They share what God is doing through Baptists at home and around the world.
And the state Baptist papers still symbolize Baptist commitment to soul competency. They exist to “tell the truth and trust the people.” That is why a church faces a theological question when it considers furnishing The Alabama Baptist to its active resident families.
When a church believes in soul competency, it will make the paper available to its members. When a convention believes in this cardinal principle, it will safeguard its state Baptist paper so members can be empowered to live out this doctrinal commitment.
The state Baptist paper is not a testimony to an effective communications program, though it provides the best option available to Baptists today. The state Baptist paper is a testimony to Baptists’ belief in the doctrine of soul competency.
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