Oreos, Chips Ahoy, Chocolatey Graham Squares, and Nutter Butters! Would someone shout “Amen!” to v
ariety? Aren’t you glad there’s more than one kind of cookie to choose from? Don’t you get tired of eating the same cookie all the time? I know I sure do! I’m not opposed to an Oreo now and then, and those chocolatey graham squares are tasty, but don’t soak up milk very well. I have to really be in the mood for a Nutter Butter because I’m just not that into peanut butter cookies. But in the cookie world, the giant that stands as King of Cookies and eclipses all others (in my humble opinion) is the mighty Chocolate Chip Cookie! Oh, my goodness! There is nothing like a plate filled with chocolate chip cookies beside a tall, cold glass of milk after supper! They are my absolute favorite!
Now, anyone who knows me will vouch that I am an old, died in the wool, staunch, chocolate chip cookie lover! Of that, there is no doubt. And until chocolate chip cookies start looking and tasting like boiled cabbage or brussel sprouts, I’ll keep eating them.
But I have seen some developments among chocolate chip cookies over the past couple of decades that have caused not a small stir among the cookie world. I have even seen with my own eyes and tasted with my own mouth that not all chocolate chip cookies are created equal! That’s right! There are the classic chocolate chip cookies, which are my favorite cause they soak up milk really well, then there are the chewy chocolate chip cookies, and the extra chocolatey, double chipped chocolate chip cookies, and the white chocolate chip cookies, and chocolate chip cookies with nuts (whoever thought of that is a traitor to the cause!), and then there is…I have a hard time even saying this one, but, ok, here goes, oatmeal chocolate chip cookies! Now that borders on getting right outside the cookie camp altogether!
All this rhetoric might seem a little superfluous, and maybe even downright silly, but I figured it was a good satirical way for me to explain my observation of independent Baptist churches as I preach along this deputation trail. Bear with me as I try to make the analogy.
Of all the Baptist churches out there, I am partial to the conservative, independent Baptists. That’s not to say that Southern Baptists, Northern Baptists, General Assembly Baptists, American Baptists, Freewill Baptist, Primitive Baptists, and ABCDEFG Baptists aren’t Baptists, because I truly believe that many of them or maybe even all of them are adhering to the truths of the Word of God and ministering the way they believe God would have them to. Maybe they are not, but that is between them and God. But nothing satisfies my palate like a conservative, independent Baptist church, so I’m only qualified to comment on these familiar fellowships of believers.
I love the fact that independent Baptists are just that – independent. It gives wide parameters to work the ministry and allows a pastor the freedom to develop the church that God has called him to around the framework of his own personality and philosophy of ministry, which really is one and the same. A philosophy of ministry might say one thing on paper but will always be worked out according to the pastor’s personality and character.
The fact that God calls a specific man to any church ought to create enough incentive for other pastors to let him “do his own thing” within that church. Even if it hairlips Hogan’s goat, it’s none of my business, unless it’s the church God called me to pastor. Now, granted, I’m not talking of going off into heresy or stepping outside of the “chocolate chip” world. But, I’ve seen enough within the independent Baptist ranks to make me appreciate each one. They are all different! Every single one of them. As different as trees, or snowflakes or fingerprints. No two churches are exactly the same! Even if they are birthed from the same body, they are not the same. There are going to be differences because people are different!
So far, I’ve been in churches that enjoy the sound of their orchestras while singing the grand old hymns with symphonic splendor, and I’ve been in churches that use only acoustic guitars while old “Joe” stands behind the pulpit and leads the
“sangin” in true bluegrass byte! I’ve listened while choirs sung to the cadence of their pianos or organs or Clavinovas or even to soundtracks. I’ve fellow shipped with pastors who decided to have 2 p.m. “evening” services rather than 6 p.m., and I’ve been in churches that have mid-week service on Thursday instead of Wednesday. I’ve preached for pastors who wouldn’t dare have screens up on the wall, as well as for those who swore by them and couldn’t imagine services without them. I’ve been in churches whose pastors are old school and still bring their written outlines to the pulpit and at the same time I’ve had the privilege to sit down and chew the fat with those pastors who bring their I-Pads to the pulpit instead of even their traditionally bound Bibles. Some pastors will preach against
Facebook while others use it as a daily source of encouragement and edification. Some preachers go “calling” while others “visit” and still others go “soul-winning.” I think you get the picture, but I’ll end this list by sharing the fact that I’ve even preached with an over-the-ear microphone one day and the next day with no microphone at all! And alas, I am still an independent, conservative, extreme, right-winged Baptist!
One of the things I’ve learned by being around independent Baptist pastors the past 28 years, and being one myself for the last 20, is that most of us spend our entire ministries trying to figure ministry out. What’s right? What’s wrong? Where is that perfect balance? And just about the time we think we have it down, culture throws us a curve ball which forces us to adjust if we are going to continue reaching an ever changing society.
I’ve determined to focus on just trying to please God in my ministry. I know that if I busy myself trying to please God there will be two areas I will avoid; trying to please the brethren and judging them.
I love chocolate chip cookies too much to stop eating them just because there are so many different kinds, and I found out that those people who enjoy all the other types of chocolate chip cookies felt the same way. We’re all gonna sit back with our cold, tall glass of milk and enjoy our own plate of chocolate chip cookies!







