Baylor University Takes a Disappointing Step Backward

Chris Seay: When the Ones You Love Get it Wrong

Baylor University is the oldest university in the state of Texas.  Founded in 1845 under a charter during the last year of existence of the Republic of Texas.  It's Texan, and Baptist roots are deep.  It remains one of the largest, and most influential Baptist universities in the world, certainly in the state of Texas.  Its approach to educating students in an environment that includes the core values of Christianity.  

But Baylor's approach to the Christian influence that is part of its core identity is almost the exact opposite of Liberty University, the other large Baptist university in the United States. Liberty uses rules to dictate the behavior that it believes reflects Christian values, forcing students to comply to a uniform set of behaviors that university leaders have determined are necessary signs of being "Christian."  

According to the author of the linked article, Chris Seay, pastor of Ecclesia, which I would describe as a very progressive, conscience-driven church highly successful at attracting millennials to its membership, and also a Baylor alum, Baylor is one of the few Christian universities that takes a completely different approach.  

"It's one of the few Christian universities that doesn't lead with fear or rigidity," he says.  "It's not like most Bible colleges, where everything is a rule, and every rule is a dare.  When something is off limits, young people will run straight at it," he added.  

"At Baylor, faith isn't enforced through shame," he says.  "It's lived out in a culture of trust, curiosity and grace.  And what I've always loved is that Baylor never seemed afraid of science," he said.  

Baylor's approach to being a Christian university, and its prolific influence among the Baptist General Convention of Texas, the state branch of the Southern Baptist Convention, is visible in the fact that the Texas branch of the denomination is far more progressive, and far more focused on the core principles and values of the Christian gospel than the rule-bound, legalistic fundamentalists who control most of the rest of the denomination.  

Baylor saved its independence and autonomy when fundamentalists were taking over trustee boards of the Southern Baptist seminaries and universities during their "Conservative Resurgence," in the 80's and 90's by appealing to its original charter, which predates the existence of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, and the Southern Baptist Convention.  Making sure its trustees were mostly alumni, who reflected that part of the Baptist community that believes in soul freedom, separation of church and state, and salvation by grace, rather than by following a set of rules, Baylor preserved both its integrity in adhering to the core values of the Christian gospel, and its intellectual and academic freedom.  

A Disappointment Caused by Political Influence?

The disappointing step that Baylor recently made was in rescinding a grant from the Eula Mae and John Baugh Foundation for the purpose of funding research into "how religious communities--often unknowingly--have contributed to mental health struggles among LGBTQ+ individuals and how churches can play a role in healing, rather than harming."  The grant was for research to be conducted by the Diana Garland School of Social Work at the university.  

As the author of the linked article states, this is not some progressive campaign.  "It was pastoral.  It was humble.  It was meant to help."  

It was also completely consistent with the values of the Christian gospel, and the kind of thing a Christian university ought to be doing, educating the church's members in what the practice of Christianity, inclusive of Matthew 7:1-5 as a core principle (judge not, unless you want to be judged by the same standard,) and Romans 3:23, (for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.)  

I certainly get the fact that the poisonous political atmosphere that exists in this country can have an impact on student choices regarding the university they attend, and that Baylor is still the leading choice among faith-based universities in Texas, and indeed, nationally as well.  It would be very easy for its critics to misconstrue the university's purpose in receiving this grant, and claim that the school was "pro-LGBTQ" rather than seeing the humanitarian ministry issue that this involves.  

In the limited way most religious conservatives have in considering the Christian faith, the idea that churches ministering to sinners constitutes an endorsement of the sin is faulty. The Apostle Paul acknowledges the reality of slavery as part of the culture of the day, a mark of oppression, but he doesn't endorse the practice.  He simply realizes that people who are slaves, and those who are slave owners, are caught in the culture, and he instructs them to practice the same core principle of Christian faith, to love your neighbor as you love yourself, treating each other accordingly.  

But this is disappointing, and it does represent a setback.  Ironically, the majority of Southern Baptists in Texas are affiliated with the group that has kept its distance from the fundamentalist, conservative, legalistic denomination, and has charted a path of independence in adhering to historic, traditional Baptist values including the kind of freedom of conscience and separation of church and state that their Baptist forebearers convinced Jefferson and Madison to include in the first amendment.  

The Eula Mae and John Baugh Foundation Supports Core Christian Values Consistent With Traditional Baptist Practice

Longtime members of Second Baptist Church in Houston, moving their membership to Tallowood Baptist when the former became a more conservative megachurch, John Baugh was the primary owner of Sysco Foods.  Their foundation has been a major contributor to those Baptist universities that still teach and follow traditional, historic Baptist practices that are consistent with the Christian gospel. 

Among their stated values are: 

• Caring for the most vulnerable in society.
• Intentional inclusivity.
• Seeking the truth in religious texts in an academically rigorous way.
• Guarding church-state separation by protecting freedom of religion, for religion, from religion.
• Freedom of individual congregations or faith groups to govern themselves.  

This foundation has, up to this point, given millions to Baylor, and to other colleges and universities which reflect the academic study of the Bible, and interpret the gospel in the context of its history and tradition.  That tends to eliminate a lot of the walls within Christianity and bring people together in a way that is intended to be uplifting, encouraging, forgiving and graceful.  

Too bad they couldn't get together with Baylor on this particular issue, it would be an ideal partnership.