Fun with Wordles

Another toy on the internet to play with.

Wordle lets you take any document and create a word picture based on the word counts. It's quite asthetic to look at, and sometimes seeing the most common words does give a new insight into the key concepts within. Other times, it's just a jumble of words!

Here's one I did based on the book History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom by Andrew Dickson White in 1895.



Here's another of the Book of Judges in the Old Testament.

Grace or Righteousness?

Terry Virgo describes a situation where a pastor is asked by an unmarried couple if he would baptize them. Terry uses it as a starting point for a study on grace and righteousness, and that grace is not an alternative to righteousness.

The situation Terry describes led me in a slightly different direction of thinking. What are the requirements for baptism? Is righteousness (Godly behaviour) a prerequisite for being baptized?

To Baptize or Not To Baptize?

In Acts 2:38 Peter says, "Repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." There is no time for a demonstration of righteous behaviour on the part of Peter's audience -- repentance was the only prerequisite.

In Acts 8, Philip asks the Ethiopian eunuch if he understands what he is reading in Isaiah. After Philip preaches Jesus to him, the eunuch immediately asks to be baptized in the nearby water. In this case, an understanding of what Jesus did for him was the prerequisite for baptism.

In Jesus' great commission, he tells us to "make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you." (Matt. 28:19-20) A decision to become a disciple of Christ preceeds baptism, but instruction on observing Christ's commands comes after baptism, not before.

So it appears from just these 3 passages that the requirements for baptism include:

1. A clear commitment to follow Christ;
2. Repentance of sin;
3. An understanding of what this commitment involves, and of what baptism signifies.

If a person meets these requirements, then there should be no objection to baptizing them. Baptism is a beginning, not an end, and we should not put a lot of hurdles in the way of a person beginning their walk with Christ.

There is no Biblical basis for us to insist that a person be disobedient to God by postponing their baptism in order to become obedient in another area first, such as marriage.

So What About Sin?

Getting back to the original situation of an unmarried couple wanting baptism, how do we address the fact that God intends for sex to be reserved for marriage? How do we address their sin?

First, we show them grace by allowing them time to become disciples of Christ before we expect them to live like Christ.

Second, once they are disciples, we begin teaching them how to live like Christ. We set expectations that their lives will look differently down the road, and that they need to be willing to let Christ show them areas that need changing. In this case, we show them that either they will get married or they will separate, but that they cannot remain in the status quo situation indefinitely.

Third, we do not presume which sins God wants to deal with first in the lives of new believers. There is no Biblical basis to assume that a couple in a common-law relationship is the most offensive sin before God and that it must be dealt with first. It may be the first sin God deals with for some people, but for others it may be second priority or fifth priority. We need to give God room to work within his priorities and not impose our own agendas on new believers.

For example, God may need to deal with a person's violent temper or their addictions or their chronic lying before marriage is even going to be a possibility. Rushing a couple into marriage before they are ready may just result in another divorce, and that is not God's desire either.

If there are children in the home of this unmarried couple, taking the father away until a marriage can occur may cause other undesirable problems in terms of family life. We want the children to see that their heavenly Father has changed their earthly father for the better, not that their Daddy became a Christian and suddenly couldn't live with them anymore.

A Year of Grace

At The King's Family Church, we talk in terms of a Year of Grace for new people who come to us. The idea of a year is rather arbitrary, but it seems to be a length of time that allows God to bring some significant changes, but not too long to seem indefinite.

If a particular sin is causing problems in the new believer's life, or in church life, we take the initiative to address it. Otherwise, we let God shine his light on different areas of the person's life and follow God's lead. As long as we see growth in at least one area, we know that God is at work and we can therefore be patient with the other areas of that person's life.

And when we see the fruit of righteous living in a new believer, even in just one little aspect of their life, we're grateful to God.