Today I picked up a book for $10. The title is something like "Religions in 30 seconds" and the basic premise is the book is full of explanations that will take you 30 seconds to read. So all these religions are described in the book. Here are a few things that surprised me:
1. There wasn't just a page for Christianity. There are like...20. Because they divided it all up. I guess I thought that was kinda weird, but I suppose we have brought that on ourselves by dividing ourselves into a gazillion denominations...
2. The page about Baptist Christians said we only allow adults to be baptized. What?
3.They did kinda get the whole "believer's baptism" explanation right. Almost. There were definitely a few discrepancies.
Now, ordinarily, I wouldn't have bought the book. But it made me think... if they didn't get Baptist Christians right, I really don't trust the book to have any other religion descriptions right either. I just bought it to use it for a children's sermon sometime. :)
How many people around you have you spoken to about your faith? Would they say they have a good understanding of the Baptist faith, because they're your friends and you have clearly shared with them about your faith and why you chose to attend a Baptist church? For that matter, do you have a good understanding of the Baptist Faith and Message, our doctrinal statement of what we believe as a denomination? Perhaps it isn't really that important to you. I know it wasn't to me until I started taking classes like Baptist History! I am more and more thankful for our organizational committees and our foundational statement of faith as I grow older each year. There is definitely not a perfect church ANYWHERE. And there won't be until Jesus returns! We don't have to strive to be perfect either- the best things we can do as a church is to first love Go, then love each other and our community!
God bless you as you go about your business this week. I am praying for our church family this week, and for those around us. God open our eyes and help us to minister to those in our paths. Help us to open our mouths and share the gospel in love. We love you, Lord, and are so very thankful for Jesus!
tracy
