Stephen
Terry, Director
The
Second Missionary Journey
Commentary
for the September 1, 2018 Sabbath School Lesson
“The
jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He
then brought them out and asked, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’”
“They replied, ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus, and
you will be saved—you and your household.’ Then they spoke the word of the Lord
to him and to all the others in his house. At that hour of the night the jailer
took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household
were baptized. The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before
them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his
whole household.” Acts 16:29-34, NIV
When I was a teenager, I participated in a weekly young
people’s meeting each Wednesday night, sponsored by a local Nazarene Church. As
many as thirty boys and girls in their teens would attend. Although the adult
leaders intended to teach us biblical doctrines, few were paying much
attention. In fact, some of us, me included, were downright disrespectful, even
acting out when we were called upon to read Bible texts. So why did we go? The
good ladies of the church made sure that the table in the dining room of the
spacious home where we met was piled high with cookies, cakes, pies, ice cream
and home-made candies. That was the only thing that kept most of us from simply
walking out the door and getting into trouble hanging out on the streets. For
those who want to reach young people, I suspect this is still an effective
draw, especially for those from lower-income households, where such treats are
rare, as many of us were.
One Wednesday evening, the man leading out decided to
have an altar call as part of the closing prayer. While we had our heads bowed
and eyes closed, he asked for anyone who wanted to give their heart to Jesus to
raise their hand. This went on and on, seemingly forever. While my thoughts
were initially occupied with the pile of treats on the table that we could see
in the next room all during the meeting, I began to wonder why the speaker was
going on for so long. Had everyone raised their hand except me? Was I the one
keeping us all from the treats? I figured I had better raise my hand so we
could gorge ourselves. I didn’t want to let down the rest. As soon as I did,
the man quickly said, “Amen!” and the prayer was over.
At first, I thought this confirmed my suspicions, and I
had been the one holding everything up. But as the flood of teenagers headed
for that table, I was intercepted by the leader and ushered into the den, alone.
I protested that I wanted some of the treats, also, but to no avail. He told me
there would be plenty of treats later. Instead, behind closed doors, he led me
through the sinner’s prayer of repentance, and I felt a change come over me.
Instead of seeing it all as one big joke, I began to feel a real desire to
learn all I could about Jesus and the Bible. More than fifty years later, that
hunger is still with me. Oh, and for those who are curious, when I came out of
the den, the table looked like a horde of locusts had descended upon it. Nothing
was left. But I had something that would sustain me now through the life ahead
of me more than cake or cookies ever could.
What does my experience have to do with the lesson this
week? It is offered as a rebuttal to the implication by the lesson author that
real conversion only takes place after long study of doctrine. It is easy to
see how this thought could come to fruition. First, many of those stating such
an idea have themselves received several years of biblical instruction in
parochial school prior to ever being asked to consider baptism, even when such
baptism occurs at a rather early age. So naturally this inculcates the idea
that real, effective baptism can only take place after prolonged exposure to
dogma. While there may be nothing faulty in the doctrines taught, this process
roams dangerously close to a works oriented faith, if not actually crossing
that line. It places the “study to show thyself approved unto God”[i] squarely before baptism
rather than after it. This is in spite of that passage being written to Timothy
long after his baptism and after he had already become a leader in the church.
While there is nothing wrong with biblical studies in and of themselves,
requiring an extensive understanding of denominational dogma is little
different from those temple guards in ancient Israel who would keep the uncircumcised
Gentiles from approaching God within the precincts of the temple. We succumb
too often to the temptation to set ourselves up as petty judges, denying the
efficacy of the Holy Spirit in the lives of those He draws because they are not
yet able to regurgitate a creedal statement in some form. When we set ourselves
up as guardians of “truth” and orthodoxy in this way, we may very well limit
the ability of the one we are placing these burdens upon to hear truth from a
far better Source. We do this even though Jesus promised the Holy Spirit would
be that guiding light.[ii] While the Holy Spirit may
draw us and influence us prior to baptism, it is when we are baptized that we
actually receive the gift of the Spirit,[iii] and our spiritual
journey begins in earnest. When we set up doctrinal barriers to baptism, we may
actually be hindering others from ever experiencing that joy should they find
those barriers impossible to navigate. God must surely weep when that is
allowed to happen.
A second reason why the churches may push for this long
period of study prior to baptism is the statistically horrible rate of
attrition among converts to the institutional churches. Even in churches doing
a great deal of evangelizing, the members going out the backdoor erode the
numbers so much that even the fastest growing churches are only growing at the
rate of single digit percentages. Some try to hide the truth about these
figures by keeping members on the rolls whose shadows have not darkened the door
of a church for years, sometimes even decades. While this has long been known
by denominational leaders, even the average lay member can see the truth of
this simply by examining a membership list and trying to remember the last time
they saw some of those people. When faced with this, the old trope is often bandied
about that they were never properly prepared for baptism in the first place.
This is at best a facile excuse. It is popular perhaps because the blame can
then be placed on whoever brought the individuals to the church in the first
place. Perhaps it was a professional evangelist. Perhaps it was the pastor. Maybe
it was a Bible worker. In any event, the critic never studied with anyone so
they would like everyone to know they certainly aren’t to blame. The reality is
more likely that the average church member, misunderstanding, sees member
growth and development as completed at baptism. In doing so, they may be
placing the cart before the horse. No wonder that the horse then balks. The
greatest growth for the Christian occurs after baptism, not before.
The Holy Spirit will use everything at His disposal to
promote that growth. If the soil is not fertile in the church where the new
Christian has been baptized, He will lead the neophyte elsewhere. But as long
as they keep reaching out toward God, He will never abandon them. If we are losing
members, we may wish to ask ourselves, “Why?” What are we doing to facilitate
their experience? I know from experience that God does not play favorites with
churches based on denominational identity. He is more concerned about the
willing and humble hearts of His children. As I related above, when I gave my
heart to Jesus, it awoke a hunger in me for Bible knowledge. As I studied the
Bible, I began to ask questions in Sunday School and at the youth meetings,
questions that those leading out could not answer. Eventually they told me not
to come anymore. As heart-breaking as that was, I continued to reach out to God
for guidance. Eventually, while in the military, I found a church in Texas that
was accepting, non-judgmental, and willing to help me grow as we all studied
the Bible together. As a result, I ended up uniting with the Seventh-day
Adventist Church almost 50 years ago; I am still within that denomination. But
lest one be tempted to think that denomination has no judgmental or unaccepting
churches, there are too many. Fortunately, God led me to the right one at that
time for me. That church no longer exists as it was, and I have seen other
churches go from warm, welcoming congregations to stone cold. But I can testify
that if we are willing to reach out to God and be led by the Spirit, He will
tell us when it is time to walk away from the coldness and reveal to us where
we should be next.[iv]
That is what the Spirit led life is all about.
