Pastor Frank tells a story of being forward deployed with the Marines during Desert Storm. During this time, he was with a group pushed close to the front lines. Amenities weren't exactly luxurious; you made due with what you had. Clergy weren't exempt from this harsh reality which led to an interesting situation when a Marine wanted to get baptized. Being in the middle of the desert, there weren't exactly large pools or lakes where a Baptist preacher could conduct the traditional "baptism by emersion". Pastor Frank took a canteen and baptized the young man. He filed a report with his contacts at the Southern Baptist Convention who would, no doubt, have opinions about baptizing an individual without completely submerging them. Some time later he got a letter back from his contact which simply stated "We'll take him." Apparently the mode of baptism wasn't as important as the spiritual decision made that day.
Sadly, not everyone can overlook their religious traditions and orthodoxy. In an article posted by CBS News, it was reported that a Catholic priest was pushed to resign after mixing up some of the words for several thousand baptisms over the course of 20 years. During the baptism ceremony, he would say "we baptize you in the name of the father, and of the son, and of the holy spirit." Unfortunately, "we baptize" should have been "I baptize". Because of this, the church ruled that those several thousand baptisms were invalidated. What exactly that means on a spiritual level opens a lot of interesting discussion points.
It may sound ridiculous, but this sort of strict observance of ritual over substance is fairly common. Baptists will sometimes refuse to acknowledge the baptism of another individual if they were not entirely submerged or if they were baptized in a church of a different denomination. Some Christians believe there is one day, and one day only, that the church can worship. Some Christians have a host of traditional and cultural observances that must be included in their budgets/calendars or the entire congregation will erupt in revolt. What's missing from each of these examples is one important question: what's the point of all this?
"If you had known what this means, I desire mercy and not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the innocent." Matthew 12:7 CSB
We see Jesus criticize the religious elite time after time due to this kind of behavior. The forms and practices became more important than the God they sought to honor. It's easy for any of us to fall into that trap. As followers of a living Christ, we have to watch ourselves carefully and be constantly holding our hearts, minds, and actions accountable for the things we say and do. Are we observing the mercy, grace, and love of Christ or are we becoming too obsessed with the forms and customs of the man-made church?
We want to be a church that is "different"... but we have to be careful not to make "different" the sole goal. What matters is Christ... and that's it. If we are showing people Christ, teaching people Christ, and helping each other connect with Christ, then we're in good shape. As individuals, let's all do our part to help make Christ the sole reflection of everything we call religion. If we can do that, let's see if we don't start falling in love with our faiths once again.
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