Young Baptist pastors like myself can be zealous about the importance of Baptist identity and the importance of teaching Baptist distinctives. Many of us were raised in Baptist churches but could not articulate why in a Biblical and theological way until college and seminary. It is not uncommon to hear some lament that many members of Baptist churches are not yet Baptist by conviction but are so because of mere experience. They were “just raised Baptist.”
Without minimizing the importance of teaching Baptist distinctives, there is much that is praiseworthy about the “raised Baptist” answer.
Imagine a person who can’t tell you who John Broadus is or has a hard time with the language of the Baptist Faith & Message (or other confessions). If you were to ask them, “Why are you a Baptist?” they may very well say something like this, “Baptists raised me, taught the gospel to me, Baptized me, and have just always been my church family.”
That’s a pretty rich answer.
I’ll keep valuing Baptist identity and teaching Baptist distinctives. I want the members of my church to confess our statement of faith with conviction. But for now, if the only reason you can articulate for being a Baptist is that you were raised by godly Baptist parents and belonged to a faithful Baptist church, then praise be to God.
Nathaniel R. Martin 