Baptists carved out their niche in the American religous world the old fashioned way: they competed with other Christian groups. Especially during the 1800s, Baptists squared off (at one time or another) against Roman Catholics, Methodists, the Church of Christ, and other branches of Christianity. In each case, both sides laid claim to being the true expression of Christianity.

The battles left a legacy in church constitutions, Sunday School literature, church manuals, and a lingering oral tradition that taught subsequent generations to carry on the fight. People who normally were kind and accepting of one another turned cold-blooded at the thought of losing someone to another branch of Christianity. My maternal grandmother  was known for her generosity of spirit, but she also prayed often that I would not "marry outside my faith." Understand--she did not have other world religions in mind. She feared I might fall for a Methodist!

Of course, this kind of attitude denied a central tenant of the Christian faith: the essential unity of the Body of Christ. We forgot or ignored a key teaching. Christ, the head of the church, wants and needs all the parts of his body to accept one another and work together in harmony.

Try to imagine the universal church as a human body. Now, imagine that body walking down a busy street in a major city anywhere in the world. What might an observer see? If the body functioned as Christ dreamed, the watcher would see a body moving smoothly and with evident purpose. On the other hand, if the body parts interacted in accordance with the principle of competition, what would the observer see? The poor head might be looking straight ahead even as the right foot refused to move and the left foot took a step to the rear. The left hand would be trying to tighten a tie, while the right hand strove to pull it off. Lurching, stumbling, fighting with itself, the body in question would invoke pity or fear. Chances are good the tormented body might hurt itself in any number of interesting and highly painful ways.

My prayer is that we learn "Baptist" is an adjective describing a particular flavor of Christianity. When we do so, we might find the humility to work and worship alongside other Christians and to accept them as full-fledged brothers and and sisters in Christ. If we do so, we might yet make a positive difference in a badly divided world.