Leaven

In their own pride, the church at Corinth became vulnerable to corrupting influences - Paul wrote in 1st Corinthians chapter 5:
6 Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?
7 Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.
8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

Jesus does indeed set us from from the corrupting influences of this world, and He has given us His Word so that we can not only identify streams of thought or points of view that run contrary to God's principles, but so that we can stand strong against them. 2nd Corinthians 10 tells us to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ - when we encounter false premises and contradictions to Scripture, we can replace our errant thinking with the accuracy of God's truth.

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Jesus spoke multiple times in His earthly ministry about leaven, which is a baking term; He used it to illustrate the operation of the Kingdom of God, and to pinpoint the presence of corrupting elements that would negatively impact His followers. In Luke 13, He uses this short parable:
20 And again He said, "To what shall I liken the kingdom of God?
21 It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened."

In Luke 12, He declares:
1 In the meantime, when an innumerable multitude of people had gathered together, so that they trampled one another, He began to say to His disciples first of all, "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. 

Dictionary.com defines leaven in the following ways:

1. a substance, as yeast or baking powder, that causes fermentation and expansion of dough or batter.
2. fermented dough reserved for producing fermentation in a new batch of dough.
3. an element that produces an altering or transforming influence.

We have to make sure that God's Word is so present, so pervasive in our consciousness that we live according to its principles. And, we have to resist the ungodly leaven that corrupts.  That can affect us individually, if we accept unbiblical thinking and the Church, as we allow ideas that do not conform to Scripture to creep in.

Frank Newport of the Gallup organization has released a piece that includes data that analyzes ideas present within the nation's largest Protestant denomination, the Southern Baptist Convention.  The SBC has garnered its share of attention recently, and not necessarily in positive ways - part of that is due to the lack of understanding of mainstream media about religious matters; but the decline in membership and the display of division at the recent annual meeting have certainly not provided fodder for a positive portrayal.  Now, I want to affirm my affinity for Southern Baptists - I recognize the large number of Christians in our area who attend Southern Baptist churches; I grew up in the Southern Baptist church, and have a great respect for the SBC and would venture to say that we possess similar beliefs.

However, all churches, not just Southern Baptist, have to deal with leaven that can come in and have a negative effect.  But, Newport offers this analysis which shows how worldly ideas have taken root in a large, Christ-centered denomination.  It's a lesson to all of us. 

He writes:

The denomination's 2000 "Faith and Message" document states that "marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime" and that "in the spirit of Christ, Christians should oppose racism, every form of greed, selfishness, and vice, and all forms of sexual immorality, including adultery, homosexuality, and pornography." In a number of more recent statements, the Southern Baptists, meeting at their annual conventions, have reaffirmed their opposition to gay and lesbian relations.

Now, with the uniting force of Scripture and the Southern Baptists' own statement of adherence to it, you would think that there would be very little, if any, diversion.  Not true.  Newport states:

Half of Southern Baptists in Gallup's 2013-2021 sample say same-sex relations between consenting adults should be legal, below the 71% for non-Southern Baptists, but certainly not reflecting universal disapprobation. Over one-third of Southern Baptists favor legal marriage between same-sex couples, much lower than non-Southern Baptists -- but again, an indication of significant diversity of opinion on the issue.

Regarding the abortion issue, which was dealt with at the last SBC annual meeting, with two resolutions on the subject, there is also not uniformity, believe it or not.  The piece says:

Two-thirds of Southern Baptists identify themselves as pro-life, well above the national average of 47% for the 2013-2021 period, and also higher than for Protestants as a group and higher than the 52% of Catholics who identify as pro-life. The majority of Southern Baptists agree that abortion should be legal in at least a few circumstances, with only a third saying it should be totally illegal. And 24% of Southern Baptists in Gallup's sample say that abortion is morally acceptable, compared with 44% of non-Southern Baptists.

Now, keep in mind, these are presumably self-identified Southern Baptists, perhaps church members or people who grew up in the denomination; so, this may not be totally accurate - at least, it gives some information to consider.

Regarding political viewpoints, Newport writes:

Southern Baptists skew more conservative than non-Southern Baptists, as would be expected (58% vs. 36%, respectively), but over four in 10 Southern Baptists describe themselves as moderate (27%) or liberal (14%).

Again, I have a great affinity for Southern Baptist people and churches and Southern Baptist life is a significant part of my spiritual heritage.  This survey data, related by the highly-respected Gallup organization is evidence to me a what could be described as a "leftward drift" in a slice of Christianity.

But, there are those that claim there is no leftward drift, and the media narrative has thrown its support in with that point of view, saying that Baptists rejected the "hard right" in its convention. This data seems to support the contention that there is a drift, at least on those two issues.  And, there are those that believe that the Convention did not sufficiently deal with the issue of critical race theory at the latest annual meeting.

First and foremost, we have to make sure that there is no drift in our own individual lives.  Because teaching that doesn't line up with Scripture is everywhere.  At Faith Radio, we have made a concerted effort to present to you quality, proven Bible teachers, so that we can become a trusted source of Biblical truth.  Pray for us, that the material presented here each day is accurate and credible, and pray for wisdom and discernment in the programming decisions that we make.

And, in order to prevent drift, we have to recognize several things: 1) the enemy is out to steal, kill, and destroy - he works in the shadows and will attempt to corrupt our thinking 2) the fleshly desire to compromise has to be dealt with through spiritual tools, and 3) we have to put on the full armor of God every day and stay grounded in truth.  At NRB, Os Guinness spoke of Marxist ideas making a "long march" through our institutions. Those who are called to church and ministry leadership have to make sure the entities over which they have been given responsibilities are staying true to Scripture, being aware of cultural threats and trends and being prepared to defend the Church, the body of Christ.