Independence

Americans love independence.
• Our forefathers paid an awful price for us to have it
• As young people we revel in it
• As we age we look forward to the day when we can retire and rest in it

We struggle with the fact that other do not have it, sometimes concerned for them, but mostly miffed that we can't go to their countries and enjoy our same independence.

And I pastor an Independent Baptist Church.

Truth be told I have yet to meet a Baptist of any sort who would not defend the independence of their church.
• An American Baptist pastor defended his independence to me
• A General Association of Regular Baptists pastor preached it publically
• The Southern Baptist pastors adamantly proclaim the independence of their churches
• Missionary Baptists will fight for their right to be called independent
• Conservative Baptists believe their churches are independent congregations
As I presume the other what, twenty seven or so Baptist denominations do as well.

And of course among those who are independent Baptist churches, there is all sorts of rankling over which are the most independent of the independents.

I would hate to be anything less than independent; free to worship the Lord according to the dictates of conscience and not the whims of men.

But I see a whole lot of problems with being independent.
In many cases we are so independent we have no accountability. We do and say as we please and the only thing there is to stop us is; whether anyone will come to hear us preach and give their tithes and offerings when they do.

And we call them backslidden, rebellious or worse when they do not.

• Because we are independent we cannot be held accountable for our actions
• Because we are independent we often become self serving, do what is best for our own church (lest I say what is best for our own selves) at the expense of what is best for the cause of Christ or even what is best for the people we claim to be ministers to.

Because we are independent, we are completely unethical. Even when we are men of integrity we cannot be men of ethics because there is no one who is allowed to call us into account.

We are independent, but we are not loners. So we assemble together with other independents who appear to be compatible with us. But our union is more like a pack of stray dogs than a heard of the Lord's sheep. We submit to the most alpha among us, believing that he can make us as alpha as he is.

And when he falls:
And he does fall - those alphas are falling like flies. Believing the claims of everyone around them that they are incapable of failing, they fail.

And when he falls; we destroy him, hoping to be the next one to take his place as the leader of the pack, or at least be best friends with the guy who does get to be the leader of the pack.

I am all for independence.
But there is something to be said for organized unity. There is merit for purposeful, genuine concord with the strings to call one into question and bring one into accountability.

To my readers:

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For more than 3800 Daily Visits with God visit Pastor Marvin McKenzie’s blogger page. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

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