Oh my. I ran across this link from Jonny Baker’s new blog [he too has moved over to the land of typepad]. The really sad thing is that I am tempted to wear this shirt more than I would a WWJD shirt.
Had a great evening last night at a group I go to in Twin Falls, called Affinity [an attempt at a more postmodern approach to a college-aged-group – my good friend Andrew Zirschky runs it, awesome guy]. Was totally able to worship and we had an interesting discussion on baptism, whether or not it’s necessary for salvation, or just an “outward-expression-of-an-inward-commitment.” I don’t know. I wasn’t baptized until my 23rd birthday, yet if I had died before then, I doubt God would have held that against me. But maybe this whole “outward-expression-of-an-inward-committment/transformation/reality” has caused us to put aside the mysticism of baptism. Maybe they talked so much about it in Scripture because they believed [but did not have to have understood/explained] that something really did happen during Baptism. Something mystical – where you were really changed by God. Maybe we need to reclaim the mystery, the mysticism, of baptism, of the Eucharist – and be okay with not claiming to have it all figured out – but to acknowledge that God may very well be present in ways we cannot understand. That God may very well be actually transforming someone through baptism.