Sunday School - Pros and Cons

Just finished reading this...

I'd like to know your thoughts on whether or not Sunday School makes a positive contribution to the local church, and what role (or lack of a role) you see SS playing in churches 25-50 years from now.

Should all people be baptized into a local church?

I read Wade Burleson's blog. Sometimes I am in absolute disagreement with him. Sometimes I am not. Recently he drew attention to a post here where Malcolm Yarnell (of SWBTS) gives 7 doctrines concerning baptism that he believes have defined Baptists historically. Number four says:

Baptists do not baptize apart from the local church, because baptism involves local church membership.

Wade notes:

Dr. Yarnell called this doctrine, and the other six Baptist Identity doctrines he posits, 'bedrock convictions,' and he wrote that "cooperation must end where our bedrock convictions are compromised." Dr. Yarnell and Mr. Lumpkin (the owner of the blog), both believe that cooperation should end with anybody who disagrees with them on these so called 'bedrock convictions.'

David Rogers, IMB missionary and son of the late Adrian Rogers, responded to Dr. Yarnell's post by asking:

If I am unable to unequivocably embrace your 4th, 5th and 7th major points
(although agreeing with you on the others, and some sub-points of these), does
that mean that I am not truly a Baptist?

Wade asked some questions that were interesting concerning this 4th point:

Into which local church was the Ethiopian eunuch baptized?

Into which local church were the 3,000 at Pentecost baptized - having come to Jerusalem from all over the known world?And, if you are unable to identify the local churches, is it possible that our early Baptist fathers were correct that baptism does not admit anyone into the local church? One such early Baptist wrote:

"Baptism does not make a person a member of a church, or admit him into a visible church; persons must first be baptized, and then added to the church, as the three thousand converts were; a church has nothing to do with the baptism of any, but to be satisfied they are baptized before they are admitted into communion with it." - John Gill

Now, I'm not nearly so concerned about whether or not Malcolm is right in including this 4th doctrine as a characteristic of historic Baptist identity (though if someone out there with some knowledge on the subject would like to weigh in, feel free to do so.) My question is more pastoral: how connected should baptism and church membership be?

Some practical questions:

1. Should I ever baptize someone who is not going to immediately become a member of my church?

2. Should I ever baptize someone who is moving away, trusting that he will join a church in his new home (or should that person postpone baptism until he moves and finds a new church)?

3. Should a person be baptized immediately after hearing the gospel and believing, or is it okay for there to be days, weeks, months, or even years between conversion and baptism?

4. Can a person be qualified for baptism but not qualified for church membership?

What does the Bible teach on all this?

Obviously I have some opinions on these matters, but also questions remaining. I'd love to hear from anyone who has some solid input.

Something For Us Bibliomaniacs To Remember

"Many preachers are utterly ignorant as to how the bulk of the people are living; they are at home among books, but quite at sea among men . . . Read men as well as books, and love men rather than opinions, or you will be inanimate preachers" (Charles Spurgeon, Lectures to My Students, p. 318).

ht: Doug Wilson

Which Message and Why?

Hey guys, T4G was great.  I was wondering if you could say which message most impacted your life and ministry and why.  For me, I would have to say Piper's.  I have already listened to it again and it just drives me to go and preach the gospel.  I have been quite convicted on how easy it is to live like the world.  I want to impress the world with the gospel.

Do you have it?

I think Justin Childers does.