I must be stupid. Or at least I am obviously out of sync with the rest of the world.
I am thinking about tearing out a part of my Bible and replacing it with the text most Church People and in particular Pastors believe today.
My Bible used to read: MATTHEW 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
Then I heard a well recognized famous "Preacher" on Moody radio say this, "Not just anyone can Baptize. It must be in a Church Community Setting administered by an Ordained man of God to be a valid Biblical Baptism". REALLY??
So, From now on I will change this verse to meet the required protocol of "Leadership".
MAT 28:19 (RCV*) Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, then bring them into a church building and have the pastor or priest (check his/her credentials first) baptize them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
That is the essence of what this man was saying. This is part of the reason I don't listen Moody radio much. Sometimes it is just so darn wacky. Be careful little ears what you hear. Some is pure heresy. Even if they are on Moody.
I didn't know the Revised Church Version* of the Bible when I was a younger more on fire believer. I read Matt 28:19 decided it was true, went found people, made disciples and (Horrors) baptized some. I guess some of them never really got saved. I'll have to break the bad news to the ones that are in Ministry today. They'll have to quit their church. Can't have unsaved people who weren't baptized properly preaching now can we? One's in Sugar Grove. So the drive won't be too far. His congregation will be disappointed.
I didn't know I was committing some venal sin.
I repent. Or maybe not.
This is part of the reason that the Church is in sooooo much trouble in America. I am convinced that the great commission is greatly inhibited by the belief on the part of "Professionals" in the Church who think only salvations and baptisms that occur in the Church are valid. We as ministers have convinced people by our traditions that evangelism is reduced to inviting people to Church. We have created a class of spectator Christians who sit on the sidelines and let the pros play. Did you know people used to actually PLAY baseball for fun? Honest. I know some who did. My dad. Now we just watch pros play on TV or in Stadiums. Church is now a spectator sport. Maybe we should turn it upside down. No professional is allowed to baptize. Only "Lay" people would be allowed to baptize (I hate the term "Lay", More spectator Church categorization). Ditto for communion. I think it says Whenever you come together. Does whenever mean whenever or does it mean when you have an ordained pro doing this or that etc......
I'll miss the old version of Matt:19:28. It was easier to remember.
2 comments:
Well, you were the one who just yesterday quoted a statistic on how many people go to church.
Maybe there are a lot of spiritual people out there doing their religion outside of that institution.
You quoted a statistic on tithing. Maybe there are people out there devoting time to things and not money.
The church IS an institution, or rather a number of them. And to ensure the that institution's brand of teaching is what is taught, they do expect credentials from their teachers. And the sacraments have been made waypoints along a route, so the baptism has to be documented as a proof of the prerequisite for the next step.
It's all about branding and quality assurance and making sure the recruits fit into this instituion's branding. So that in future teaching and policy making and money spending, an assumption can be made that all members beleive in about the same way.
You can't have it both ways. If you want to work within the institution by counting church attendance and collection plate giving as evidence of sincerity of membership, you gotta submit to the rest of the structure too.
The Pharisees usurped authority in a similar way.
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