I have often said that “being Baptist is messy”. One could understand this statement about Baptist-ness in more than one way. Baptists are messy because we are an interdependent group of churches who value autonomy over hierarchy. (There is no One greater Baptist Church, just many churches). We are messy in our congregational polity, giving each member a voice and vote. But maybe we are our messiest in our historic toleration of varied opinions and outlooks that exist within a congregation, or denomination, of people. As such Baptists have been organized, in whatever fashion that organization takes, to appreciate the “big tent” of “differents” (different opinions, viewpoints, experiences and people) that we tend to be.
A characteristic that allows this to be part of both our heritage and our present is the appreciation for dissent. What is dissent? Dissent is an opinion, philosophy or sentiment of non-agreement or opposition to a prevailing idea or policy enforced under the authority of a government, political party or other entity (i.e. congregation) or individual. (source: Wikipedia.org)
For example, when the United States Supreme court delivers a split opinion in which a majority of the justices rule one way, while a minority see the issue another – the minority are invited to write and share the “dissenting” opinion. In this way, if the ruling is 5-4 or 6-3, those in the minority are still afforded the opportunity to articulate another viewpoint, even if that viewpoint will not be followed.
In Baptist life this reality of dissent often exists within congregational meetings and votes. I will not forget one of my first congregational meetings as a pastor when two respected laymen voiced opposite opinions on some matter that was before the church. Each man was listened to respectfully by the congregation, then a vote was taken resulting in one man’s opinion carrying the majority. After the meeting the two men met and shook hands, as the man whose minority opinion had been rejected said, “I may not agree with you, but I will support the will of the congregation”. That is about as civil an example of dissent as you can hope for as a pastor!
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