Liberal, conservative, progressive?

I do not identify with any of the popular labels, liberal, conservative and progressive. All are in wide use during this American political election year, but I am not primarily concerned with the use of the terms in the political realm. I am far more concerned about the use of the words in Christian vocabulary. Once again, I do not identify with any of these popular terms.

I have always been a Baptist. I cherish the tradition. When I was a grade school child, I had already learned about “the inclusive policies of the Northern Baptist Convention.” I learned that no two Baptist churches were alike. In our tradition the right to read and interpret the Bible belonged to individual believers. We Baptists were proud that we were non-creedal Christians, who were encouraged to read, study and interpret the Bible for ourselves. We had seminary trained pastors, but they had theological powers to do nothing more than persuade.

Heresy was not a reason to exclude. Heresy was no more than a differing opinion that made for better discussion.

I have a degree in Bible and Greek from a highly rated college. I have my graduate degree from one of the more prestigious American seminaries. Neither of the schools were Baptist. I look back and realize that I argued my way through both schools. I never once considered becoming something other than a Baptist.

There are other words that do not serve Christians well in their conversation about their faith in Jesus from Nazareth. At one time I was somewhat comfortable calling myself a fundamentalist. I reasoned that I believed those things that were fundamental to being a Christian. I quickly learned that there was little agreement among devout Christians about the fundamentals of Christian faith. My fundamentals did not match the fundamentals of a lot of other Christians. I put fundamental away along with liberal, conservative and progressive.

My next verbal casualty was the word evangelical. I really liked that word. It was given new energy and meaning during the Protestant reformation. The word is associated in the New Testament with a vigorous sharing of the Christ message. Make no mistake, Paul was an evangelical in practice. The term was associated, not with a belief system but with a behavior pattern. I was happy to be identified as an evangelical.

Then came the last half of the twentieth century and Billy Graham. Graham, a theologically untrained preacher, called himself an evangelical. He was an eloquent preacher. He was honest and ethical. He surrounded himself with very capable people. Graham and those around him redefined Christianity in America. In the process they effectively changed the meaning of the word evangelical. It is now a household word for all Americans and an important label among Christian believers. The meaning of the word was drastically changed from a behavior to a list of very specific theological beliefs. There is no shortage of writings now about what is to be included in evangelical beliefs.

I tenaciously held on to the term evangelical. I kept defining the word in its Biblical and Reformation meanings. I became an unheard voice. Evangelical has its new meaning and the word usage will not soon disappear. I no longer describe myself as an evangelical.

In describing what kind of a Christian I am, I have found myself in a dilemma. I am not a conservative. I am not a liberal. I am not a progressive. I am not a fundamentalist. I am not an evangelical. In good conscience I cannot recite the historic creeds or confessions of faith of major church bodies and denominations. I am addicted to my early Baptist training that ideally, every Christian should be his own theologian in the context of a worshipping, discussing congregation.

I am not alone in my ponderings about the words to use in describing personal Christian faith. In preparation of this column, I went to my friendly internet. There is no shortage of people, all people of integrity, who are facing the dilemma of which I write. What do we do when language fails us? What should we do when the words we use prevent communication rather than facilitate conversation? This is a good example of the reality that words do not have meaning. They only have uses, and those uses must be examined in the context in which they are used.

I have written newspaper columns for almost 30 years. My goal has been to create conversations in the public square that cover a broad spectrum of subjects, about God, religion, Bible, ethical behavior, and the practice of Christianity in particular. I have mentioned five words that are a part of our common usage. None of them now serve clear communication.

We need to do better in our conversations about very important subjects.

The Rev. Howard Bess is a retired American Baptist minister, who lives in Palmer. His email address is hdbss@mtaonline.net. This column is the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman or its parent company, Wick Communications.