Pentecost 8
5 July 2026
Vineville Baptist Church
Macon, Georgia
W. Gregory Pope
THE BAPTIST GIFT TO AMERICA
Galatians 5:1, 13-26
This weekend as we celebrate the royal wedding of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce – wait, I mean – as we celebrate the 250th anniversary of our nation’s independence, I thought it would be fitting to remind ourselves of the significant role Baptists played in the founding of the United States and the continuing need to protect the freedoms we secured.
You may or may not be aware that we have Baptists to thank for carving religious freedom into our nation’s founding documents which makes our gathering here today possible. The words we read from Galatians were their guiding inspiration: For freedom Christ has set us free.
Religious freedom was not always a bedrock principle for Columbus and the Europeans who immigrated to this land. Natives were coerced by sword or enslavement into obedience to the European Church and to a form of Christianity that did not resemble Jesus.
There were others who came to this land to escape the Roman Catholic Church and the State Church of England, wanting the freedom to worship or not worship as led by their conscience. Some of those Christians who tried to escape state-sponsored religion while living in Europe were Baptists.
Baptists (or Anabaptists, as we were first called) were forged under the banner of freedom. Did you know that the first appeal for religious liberty in the English language came from Baptists? In addition to the practice of believer’s baptism instead of infant baptism, this small minority group of Baptists stood tall and suffered long demanding religious freedom for all people. Upon coming to America historic Baptists argued that every person in the newly-formed nation should be free to believe or not to believe as their conscience dictates. They opposed the power of the state to meddle in religious affairs, neither restricting nor favoring one religion over another. Our Baptist ancestors knew full well the brunt of persecution which comes when religious liberty is denied. Baptists in Europe and in the early years of this country, were persecuted, whipped, beaten, imprisoned, some even killed, for their commitment to religious freedom.
In the 15th, 16th, 17th, and most of the 18th century, religious freedom was not guaranteed in this country. Various experiments throughout the early American colonies were tried and tested. The fight for religious freedom was messy, often misunderstood, with occurrences of violent persecution if you did not fit in with the majority. John Smyth and Thomas Helwys were two trailblazers of Baptist tradition in the 17th century. The reason Baptists fought for the separation of church and state is because of the strong belief that, in the words of Helwys, “one’s religion to God is betwixt God and themselves.” Helwys paid for his stance. Thrown into prison in 1612, he died there in 1616.
The priesthood of the believer is a Baptist principle that says each individual in the church has the freedom to believe and act as their conscience dictates, led by the Spirit of Jesus. In order for it to be a reality in the church, Baptists knew it had to be a reality in the nation.
In the early centuries of Europeans settling in America there were strong opinions for and against religious liberty all along a spectrum. Notable Baptists Anne Hutchinson and Roger Williams were kicked out of the Massachusetts Bay Colony as they fought for religious liberty. They moved to Providence, Rhode Island where they established a colony of religious freedom and the First Baptist Church of America. Between 1766 and 1778 over 40 Baptist ministers were imprisoned for preaching religious liberty and the separation of church and state.
When the Constitution appeared as if it wasn’t going to be ratified, James Madison learned that Baptists in Virginia were opposed because they didn’t feel like religious freedom was sufficiently secured. Madison went to John Leland, an influential Baptist pastor and a strict church-state separationist. In his call for absolute religious freedom, Baptist John Leland boldly wrote in 1791: Let every man speak freely without fear, maintain the principles that he believes, worship according to his own faith, either one God, three gods, no God, or twenty gods; and let government protect him in doing so.
Madison promised that if the Baptists would support the Constitution, then he would push for a Bill of Rights, providing for separation of church and state. As a result of their influence, Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson soon became supporters of the cause of religious freedom.
The Baptists helped win a slim majority and Madison wrote the First Amendment, which declares that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” Though the meaning of this amendment is still debated, it has typically meant two things: (1) One, the government has no business in matters of religion and must not use state law to enforce religious beliefs or practices in this country. (2) And secondly, the government will not interfere with the religious beliefs and practices of its citizens as long as they do not harm or discriminate against others. And Baptists are largely responsible for that amendment. For freedom Christ has set us free, they cheered.
In the 1963 version of The Baptist Faith and Message, which is a non-binding expression of general Baptist beliefs, underscores our strong tradition of the separation of church and state. It states the matter clearly in these words: God alone is Lord of the conscience . . . Church and state should be separate. The state owes to every church protection and full freedom in the pursuit of its spiritual ends. In providing for such freedom no ecclesiastical group or denomination should be favored by the state more than others . . . The church should not resort to the civil power to carry on its work.
Over the past couple of decades there are (I guess you could call them “new” Baptists) who have broken away from the historic Baptist position of church-state separation. The paragraph on religious liberty from the 1963 Baptist Faith and Message was removed from the 2000 version. There are Baptists who have recently called the separation of church and state a misnomer or the figment of some infidel’s imagination.
One of the main reasons I believe this change has taken place is because Baptists are now a majority, especially in the South, but they feel that power slipping away. 250 years ago when Baptists were a minority we cried “freedom for all.” Oppressed and persecuted people cry out for freedom. When you are small and powerless as Baptists were in the early days of this country, freedom for all sounds good. But when we are the large and powerful majority, we begin to want to use that power to coerce and shape laws in our favor.
The words of the great Baptist preacher George Truett call us back to the wisdom of our
roots. On May 16, 1920 Truett stood on the steps of the Capitol in Washington D. C. and said that the supreme contribution that America has made thus far to civilization is the contribution of religious liberty, the separation of church and state. He said, It is the natural and fundamental right of every human being to worship God or not according to the dictates of his or her conscience. As long as he does not infringe upon the rights of others . . . Religion must be forever voluntary and uncoerced, and it is not the prerogative of any power, church or civil, to compel (others) to conform to any religious creed or form of worship . . . God wants free worshipers and no other kind.
When the cornerstone for a National Memorial to Religious Liberty was laid in 1876, the late Chief Justice of the U. S. Supreme Court, Charles Evans Hughes said: “This contribution is the glory of the Baptists’ heritage. To this militant leadership all sects and faiths are debtors.” Many historians have called religious liberty the greatest contribution of Baptists to the world.
Throughout America’s history, threats have been and continue to be made to religious liberty primarily by Christians who want their version of faith to be the nation’s version of faith. But our Constitution and Bill of Rights prohibit such favoritism. And historic Baptists have been at the forefront demanding that the state remain involved in civil affairs and let the church be left to its affairs led for 90 years now by the Baptist Joint Committee of Public Affairs in Washington DC.
Historic Baptists continue to demand that every individual have the freedom to worship as they choose or not worship if they so choose. Freedom OF religion also includes freedom FROM religion. One’s right not to believe is as sacred as one’s right to believe. As the late Baptist historian Glenn Hinson would often remind us, Baptists must never “assume that there is no danger” to religious liberty or that “the danger is too slight to bother. Religious liberty,” he said, “is a fragile child. If not carefully nurtured and guarded it may die. Only continuous attention to its health and well-being will assure its survival.”
Baptists have argued for religious freedom based on their understanding of God and scripture. We have felt that God made each person free to believe in God or not to believe. God does not coerce us into conversion or prayer or church attendance. Jesus never did anything to force people into belief. Obedience without freedom is slavery. And Christ said he has come to set us free. So freedom is more that just a constitutional right. It is a right given by God. God is the source of our liberty. Liberty involves the freedom to respond voluntarily to God’s Spirit. In fact, Christian faith is meaningless if it is not entered into voluntarily.
In one of Schulz’s comic strips, Sally and Linus are going out the front door to school. And Sally says, “I would make a good evangelist. You know that kid who sits behind me in school? I convinced him that my religion is better than his religion.”
“How’d you do that?” Linus asks.
“I hit him with my lunchbox.”
This is the way some Christians have tried to spread their faith – if not with the physical force of a lunchbox then with the legal force of law. They join themselves with the power of government and repress or condemn any religious viewpoint but their own, and force their religion onto others. But as one preacher reminds us, “Christ sent us out as lambs among wolves, not as wolves among lambs.”
As God’s people we are commanded to love and to allow the freedom that love implies. That is the biblical basis on which Baptists have set their love for freedom.
It is true that many of our founders believed in God. Some were practicing Christians, though not what we would call orthodox or evangelical. But with help from Baptists they gained the
insight that though they were Christians, they would not create a land where the Christian religion would be forced onto others. The founders created a nation where people could freely worship as they pleased without fear of persecution by the state. And history proves that in the coercive hands of the state the teachings of Jesus are most often ignored and religion is abused to further political purposes.
One of the things I love best about this country and about my Baptist heritage is that I am free to worship God as I choose, and others are free to follow their conscience. One of the best ways we can love our country and honor our Baptist heritage is to make sure that all people have religious freedom. As long as everybody in the country is free to worship and believe as they so choose, then you and I have the same freedom. But the day someone cannot worship and believe as they choose, then one day it may be decided that you and I cannot worship and believe as we so choose. To enjoy freedom for ourselves means that we have to defend freedom for others. We are all called to be responsible Christian persons, to make sure that this land of the free is the land of the free for every citizen, especially in the area of religion.
The Roman Emperor Constantine of the fourth century established Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire in an effort to unite the empire. And little by little, it led him to suppress other religions, and eventually, to suppress different forms of Christianity. Historic Baptists learned the lesson of Constantine and how he through forcing religion onto others caused more harm than good to Christianity. All people must be free to accept or reject religion.
In all honesty it must be said that frustration and confusion surrounding church-state issues runs deep. Misinformation abounds. History gets rewritten. And sincere people of faith disagree. Being Baptist can get sticky on issues related to prayer in schools, the Ten Commandments on classroom walls, and churches taking government funds. Being Baptist and honoring the freedom we have demands that we defend that freedom for all people no matter what their religion.
We are so grateful for our country, even with all of its imperfections. Our calling as American citizens and people of faith is to defend its aspirational principles of liberty and justice for all, in particular, the freedom of religion. And we work to make our country better. As Christians we can do so by heeding the words of Paul in today’s scripture lesson where he writes:
Do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence or self-interest. But through love become slaves to one another. For the whole law is summed up in a single command, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
One should always love one’s country. You don’t always have to agree with your country’s policies and behavior. But you can always love your country by working to make it better. And we are free to do just that. Free to put away the works of the flesh that harm our relationships with others and in our freedom allow the Holy Spirit to produce within us the fruit of “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”