The Ohio Independent Baptist, August 1968

It is popular not to ''positionalize" one's self in this da}' and age . The ke)' v..·ords toda)' are ''togetherness'' - ''co,npromise" - ''conform'' ... a sort of ''peace at any price'' idea! l-Va}·. Ma}' their nu,nber increase! We appreciate receiving this ''State- 111ent of Position." These folk are to be respected for taking this stand - ''positiona/izing'' themselves in this T/1is staten1ent, by rriajorit}' vote. on t/1e part of the m e,nbers of Ca/– var)' Baptist Church, Bellefontaine. Ohio, Rev. John Wood , pastor, was adopted and placed in the July 2nd issue of their local newspaper. We run the staterr1ent here as it appeared in the ne1rvspaper. In vie\\ of recent trends in the religious v.orld. and in view of recent happenings in our country, both social and political. the membership of the Calvary Baptist Church of Bellefon– taine wi bes to positionalize itself pub– licl1 on matters of public interest. Since liberal forces in both the re– ligious and political areas have tolen the thunder from the more conserv– ative group , many people think that these people speak for all of us. It is our desire, therefore, to let the public know that the National Coun– cil of Churches, for example, does not represent the feelings or think– ing of our Church in the areas of certain political, ocial, and religious • action. 1. We do not believe in a soft position towards communism. We be– lie,,e communism should be resisted wherever and whenever, it raises its ugl)' head. Our Church is not a haven tor draft dodgers or draft card burners. If our sons are called to serve their country, we hall p~ay for their afety and for the ultimate victory of our militar)' forces. Above all, we hall pray the}' serve their country with hon r and dignity, and not end up as d rter in me foreign land. 2. e reject the of.ficial policy ,at n ent made on ebruary 21, l 9 8 b)' the leader ·hip f the a– t1onal uncil of hufche entitled, 'Jmpeiati e f Peac 0 and Re pon- 1 i~iti of ovler," a taten1cnt which ncour g p lmcy of appeasement t con1n1uni m, trad v.1itl1 }led a11d her adn1i ion to th Ll n 0 I O 10 tion . n 1 J 1e I rgy- '-"'-'uncil o n t trul} 1 j }1t ' I i]- - AP I testant clergymen responded. Of more than thirty thousand clergymen who completed the poll, an amazing 71.4% were oppo ed to the admission of Red China to the United Nations or U. S. recognition of Peking· and 93.7 % were opposed to satisfying Communist China's condition for joining the United Nations by expell– ing the Republic of China from the U. N. The General Board of the Na– tional Council of Churches does not reflect the views of their con tituency, and they do not reflect the view of our Church. 3. The racial question is perhap the most controver ial and mi un– derstood problem facing the Christian church today. We deplore the lums and ghettos which some of our citizens are forced to live in. We denounce as ' 'unchri tian" any attitude of in– feriority which one might hold to– wards a member of another race. Our go pel i univer al in cope and include all men. ' 'For God o loved tl1e world, that He gave Hi only be– gotten on, that whosoever believeth in Him hould not peri h, but have everla ting life.' ' John 3: 16. That ' 'world' ' includes the black man, the white man. the red man, and the yel– low n1an. Our hurch currently gives in exce of 15,000 a year through it n1i 1onar,' progran1 to preach the go pel f hrt t fron1 Africa to th Orient from an da t outh Ar11erica. e b J1ev , h wever, that the bl, ck n1an greatc t n cd i pirilual. 1"hi happen to b ~ the \Vhi 1 111an '"' gr at~ t need t ! \ e b Ii \' ur gr:>, t\; t area f failuv s ,,,hite hri tia11 i i11 11 glc ting t t k the 1 f 1ri t t our bl" k neigl1b r . \\'l1il ~Ve; pe11t I illion f n1i i nar , d II rs t fric , il d t th nt rpri l government. We commend the Ford Motor Company and other indu trial giant like them, who are endeavoring to recruit train. and employ negroe from our lum . Thi kind of pro– gram not only ave tax dollars, but gives the Negro a sen e of accompli h– ment and of "belonging.' ' Like an)l other citizen, he prefer the dignity of earning hi own living in tead of being upported by the tate. We denounce racial prejudice as an un– tenable po ition for any Chri tian to hold. 4. We believe the primary purpo of the Church in the world i piritual, not political - or even ocia1. We do not believe God' mini ter are called to picket, parade, or conduct them- elve in any manner contrary to the e tabli hed law of our land. The greate t Christian who ever lived, the Apo tle Paul told a younger preacher named Timothy to, ' Preach the Word· be in tant in ason, ut of e on; reprove, rebuk , e h rt with all long uffering and d ctrin .' ' II Timothy 4:2 The hi t ry f the hri tian church and f m d rn mi - ion h pr v n that the plain. f r e- ful pr aching f the ' pel f Je us hri ·t doe n1 r t orrect · 1al and political ill~ than an\ 1 th1ng n can nan1c. In the da , f th ear.I} chttrch. ht t rian, t 11 u ' . fift)' per c nt ot th~ p pt1lati n f the R )Ill, n l..;111p1re ,ver\! ,ll\'Cs. lt 1' in1po, 1bl tt) 1 rnagin ,1 ,, or 'e tlCl, l \.: nd1 ci n th" r1 ld\'Cf)' Rt1t th e" rl)' pr ~a her, anc.l ~,,ar1gel1,t, J1d 11 t p1~le1 th~ Ro111an ~ort1,11 , th\; h~ld OL p~ r ·ld ti ,, 11 the br fl I l, ~nt1c t Eph stls r 1\ r1ti h. rl h ~}' p1 ~a 11\;J 'th tin– s , rchabl ri h f l1r1 l, p i11ti11g ottl t r11en tht:ir sin a11d cl1eir li~n - tior1 fr )Ill 11 I, .1 I n f ' • f r tl1 111, 11 ,, tl1 uld • 111 • n \ r tu:ri 1n J tl ,, t l1r t1gl1 i111pl itl1 i11 , ,, inning 11111ltitt1d 1 1c11 t l1ri t tl1 br k th (Continu d on P g 1 ) UGU , 1968 7