Visiting Churches
I visited a church this past weekend, a Baptist church, and… I must say, it was a classic Baptist church.
My visit brought to mind a video I came across a while back, enjoy:
At any rate, the service was good; the verses used were some of my favorites. Worship was typical Baptist style choir music, very regimented. I met a real nice fellow and his wonderful wife. He is an Air Force guy and I respect his service to his country. There is a verse though that makes sure we all know that within the body of Christ there are “different strokes for different folks.” The verses are from I Corinthians 12:12-31 (NIV):
The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? But eagerly desire the greater gifts.
In case you do not understand what is being said there, here is another view of it in a “paraphrased” Bible, The Message Bible:
You can easily enough see how this kind of thing works by looking no further than your own body. Your body has many parts—limbs, organs, cells—but no matter how many parts you can name, you’re still one body. It’s exactly the same with Christ. By means of his one Spirit, we all said good-bye to our partial and piecemeal lives. We each used to independently call our own shots, but then we entered into a large and integrated life in which he has the final say in everything. (This is what we proclaimed in word and action when we were baptized.) Each of us is now a part of his resurrection body, refreshed and sustained at one fountain—his Spirit—where we all come to drink. The old labels we once used to identify ourselves—labels like Jew or Greek, slave or free—are no longer useful. We need something larger, more comprehensive.
14–18 I want you to think about how all this makes you more significant, not less. A body isn’t just a single part blown up into something huge. It’s all the different-but-similar parts arranged and functioning together. If Foot said, “I’m not elegant like Hand, embellished with rings; I guess I don’t belong to this body,” would that make it so? If Ear said, “I’m not beautiful like Eye, limpid and expressive; I don’t deserve a place on the head,” would you want to remove it from the body? If the body was all eye, how could it hear? If all ear, how could it smell? As it is, we see that God has carefully placed each part of the body right where he wanted it.
19–24 But I also want you to think about how this keeps your significance from getting blown up into self-importance. For no matter how significant you are, it is only because of what you are a part of. An enormous eye or a gigantic hand wouldn’t be a body, but a monster. What we have is one body with many parts, each its proper size and in its proper place. No part is important on its own. Can you imagine Eye telling Hand, “Get lost; I don’t need you”? Or, Head telling Foot, “You’re fired; your job has been phased out”? As a matter of fact, in practice it works the other way—the “lower” the part, the more basic, and therefore necessary. You can live without an eye, for instance, but not without a stomach. When it’s a part of your own body you are concerned with, it makes no difference whether the part is visible or clothed, higher or lower. You give it dignity and honor just as it is, without comparisons. If anything, you have more concern for the lower parts than the higher. If you had to choose, wouldn’t you prefer good digestion to full-bodied hair?
25–26 The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as a church: every part dependent on every other part, the parts we mention and the parts we don’t, the parts we see and the parts we don’t. If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, and in the healing. If one part flourishes, every other part enters into the exuberance.
27–31 You are Christ’s body—that’s who you are! You must never forget this. Only as you accept your part of that body does your “part” mean anything. You’re familiar with some of the parts that God has formed in his church, which is his “body”:
apostles
prophets
teachers
miracle workers
healers
helpers
organizers
those who pray in tongues.
But it’s obvious by now, isn’t it, that Christ’s church is a complete Body and not a gigantic, unidimensional Part? It’s not all Apostle, not all Prophet, not all Miracle Worker, not all Healer, not all Prayer in Tongues, not all Interpreter of Tongues. And yet some of you keep competing for so-called “important” parts.
But now I want to lay out a far better way for you.
We are not “one dimensional!” All are different and we try to find those who have values like us. That’s all. I don’t like feeling I am at an AMWAY regional meeting when I go to church, I like to feel comfortable before my Lord, and be with others that feel the same.
I do have to say though… I have never seen a Baptism like that one before… and I have been in a lot of different denominations visiting and have gone to a lot of churches over the past 24-years. It was almost comical to the point of me trying to hold down my giggling. Usually the people being baptized are in a robe, which this gentleman was, but also, the baptizer is also in a robe or a light uniform of some sort in order to keep his clothes dry while he is performing the Baptism. The person doing the ceremony then can take off the wet uniform and put his clothes back on.
Now, sometimes, like at our church, we have a son decide on the spot that he wants to be baptized, so the father will hop in – fully dressed – to baptize his son. But this was too much like a caricature of legalism. The person that performed the Baptism was in a three piece suit. Yes, a full suit… jacket still buttoned. Now, I wondered if maybe this Baptism was rushed and this kid just wanted to be baptized NOW! But, in that case, the person doing the baptizing could likewise put on a robe the kid had on so the nice suit wouldn’t get wet and the person wouldn’t be walking around the church dripping wet.
But wait! I started thinking that maybe, just maybe this guy came to church in a suit, the church has full suits hanging there for the person performing the Baptism to take off his nice suit to put on a nice suit to baptize in, then the person can take off the nice wet suit to put on his nice dry suit. I was laughing so hard at home about this. That’s a bit much for me. Too much in fact… but well worth a giggle, for sure.
I do think though this has caused me to rethink my next masters degree at a Baptist seminary. Biola is sounding better already.
