Ten years ago this month the first print edition of The Pathway rolled off the presses for a few thousand paid subscribers. They were mostly pastors and leaders within the conservative movement known as Project 1000 that saved the Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC) from theological liberalism and created The Pathway. God has blessed The Pathway ministry because of the prayers of Missouri Southern Baptists and its faithfulness to His Word. The Pathway’s founding verse, Jeremiah 6:16 (“Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.”), reflects the prophetic voice the newspaper has become.
Jeremiah knew the Israelites (like America) had lost their sense of direction. They were bewildered, desperately needing a landmark.
Jeremiah 6:16 gave them one: “Ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is.” The ancient paths, the good way is the biblical path, the way marked out by Scripture. God said in Jeremiah 6:19 that the problem with the people of Jerusalem was that “they have not listened to My words and have rejected My law.” They had come to a fork in the road and chose a path contrary to God’s Word. Psalm 119 compares Scripture to a pathway eight times, including the last verse when the psalmist confesses he has strayed and the only reason he knows he has gone down the wrong path is that he has not forgotten God’s commands.
But Jeremiah was not just speaking of the Bible as “the ancient paths” and “the good way.” He also was referring to sound theology in the history of the church. Our Christian forefathers have walked down the ancient path of God’s Word before us. They can show us the way as we trace their path. From Moses, to the apostles, Augustine, Martin Luther, John Calvin, Charles Spurgeon, the Puritans, James Broadus and the theologians of our age like Francis Schaeffer, W.A. Criswell, Carl F.H. Henry and Paige Patterson, each submitted themselves to the authority of Scripture and testified to the sovereignty of God’s grace in salvation. Their testimonies are a lighted path for us today.
There is also a third way to view Jeremiah’s advice. “The ancient paths… the good way” is the way of Jesus Christ ( John 14:6). It is through a personal relationship with Jesus – and Jesus only – that God will forgive our sins and so we may stand righteous before Him who is holy. Jesus is the only way to God, the only way to salvation and the only way to eternal life. America seems to have lost its way, much like the Israelites of Jeremiah’s day. Too many Americans have grown callous, evidenced by the more than 40 million babies aborted in the past four decades. We have too often misplaced our belief that government has the answers instead of the God who created and ordained government for our good and His glory. Our government is becoming increasingly secular, hostile to the gospel and to the freedom of conscious. Southern Baptists have always championed freedom of conscious and that commitment to such freedom may soon be put to the test.
While The Pathway has sought to alert and challenge the Church, it is by no means our only mission. The Pathway has – and will always – exhort and encourage Missouri Southern Baptists to live out their faith and share their faith. We are a Cooperative Program ministry and we believe, by churches working together, we can take the gospel worldwide.
For about 30,000 of you, this may be the first time you have seen The Pathway. Our new open circulation policy, in which you receive The Pathway at no charge, is a reality because of your faithful gifts through the Cooperative Program. It is a tangible example of what can happen when Southern Baptists work together.
We are humbled to tell the old, old story of what Jesus is doing through Missouri Baptists.
Newspaper circulation, in general, is down throughout the nation. While the Internet and social media are partly to blame, much is due to the media’s biased liberalism that too often rejects the inerrancy of Scripture and, like much of government, mocks the Church for doing so. As a result, Truth does not exist, or if it does, it is manmade or may not even matter. The Pathway rejects this nonsense. We believe in absolute Truth because Jesus said He is the way, the Truth and the life. We exist to tell Missouri Southern Baptists the truth.
As The Pathway begins its second decade of service, its staff covets your prayers. May we remain a bold, prophetic voice against cultural darkness while exuding the light and love of Christ. Our prayer is to be a blessing to you and your family – to the glory of God. Sola Scriptura, sola fide, sola gratia, solus Christus, soli Deo glorida