Founders and Football

by Bob Setzer, Jr. 
With Super Bowl XLV almost upon us, much is being made of the matchup between two storied franchises: The Green Bay Packers who dominated pro football in the 1960s and the Pittsburgh Steelers who reigned supreme in the 1970s.

As a kid, I watched mesmerized as Vince Lombardi paced up and down the sidelines in that gray fedora and overcoat, always conjuring up a way to win. A decade later, the Pittsburgh Steerlers were at their manliest and meanest just as the steel industry was tanking. It gave the locals--and the nation--something to cheer about during a trying economic downturn. Now having returned to their former greatness, these two larger-than-life sports franchises are poised to battle it out on the gridiron.


Meanwhile, at the top of Poplar, this Sunday is Founders’ Day, a sort of Super Bowl of the Spirit. On this day, we celebrate the vision and values of the nine stalwart souls who planted the first Baptist church in the new frontier town of Macon, Georgia in 1826. We also preach and sing and pray in hopes the living God will continue to bless our life and witness. Apart from the divine breath, animating who we are and what we do, we can never rise to our vocation as a beachhead of the coming kingdom of God.

So to draw on the football fascination of the moment, what sort of faith “franchise” are we? What are the recurring themes of our history, the defining characteristics of our fellowship, the guiding principles of our movement? Among these, I would suggest . . .

• A Jesse Mercer-like commitment to loving God with the mind, as well as the heart
• A deeply felt yearning to live one’s faith in the world rather than just talk about it at church
• Worship and music that are warm and reverent, evoking both joy and awe in response to the nearness and “otherness” of God
• A church with a progressive spirit that landed on the right side of the missions debate in the 19th century, the struggle for integration and women’s rights in the 20th century, and the _____________(fill in the blank!) controversy in the 21st century
• A church where Christ is the dynamic, living center of who we are and what we do, rather than a controlling ideology or creed

There are certainly other characteristics that define the First Baptist “brand” or “franchise.” What other elements of our worship, life, and might you add to the list?

I like to believe that in the Kingdom of God, we are a stellar franchise our Lord can count on year after year, decade after decade, even century after century to keep on making a difference for Jesus’ sake. After all, we’re not in this game to win the Vince Lombardi trophy. We’re after far bigger stakes than that.