Listened to the latest Mars Hill podcast on the way into work today.
The (guest) speaker made a great point about the significance of baptism. He said that in the early church, people identified with Christ. It made a lasting impact on them. They saw who he was, what he did and what the kingdom he was leading us to.
So when the early church (Jews) said, “well we don’t want you to eat this or do this or wear that” the early converts were OK with it. Even when they said, “yeah there’s this little ‘operation’ the men will need to do to show that they’re committed to the cause.” Many of the converts said, “well OK we can do that too.”
And they did these things because they saw the impact of what living in the Kingdom of God was all about – right then and right there. They saw a new economy, a new community, a new way of living and they said “we’ve seen how powerful this life Christ called us to really is and we want to be a part of it – even though it will likely mean death for us.”
For many, being identified as a follower of Christ in Rome meant death. And folks still signed up for the cause because they saw a better way, a third way of living.
And so when someone stood up and said, “I want to be baptized and identified with Christ.” The entire community knew what he was saying. He was saying I want to be a part of bringing the Kingdom of God to earth. I want to take part in the redemption of the world. I want to live in community with my fellow man — even if that means death.
Powerful image.
Reminds me of several I met in Nigeria who said their families left them, their friends left them and their life was threatened because they converted to Christianity. Yet they did it joyously and willingly because they wanted to take part in the Kingdom of God.
