Christian Legalism-- When Right Policies Destroy Good People

Jeremy Archer writes this incredibly poignant description about the implications of church membership and baptism policies. Yes I know it sounds very dry and boring. But let's think about how what seems to be a good principle can easily hurt the lives of godly people.

When I came to faith in Christ in 1999 the church we began attending was a Bible-believing, God-honouring church. The pastor there took my wife and me into his care and carefully nurtured our faith. As we began reading the Bible more and more I became convinced that I must be baptized as a believer (I had been baptized as an infant.) The church we attended did not have a baptismal and it was the middle of winter here in Minnesota. After several meetings with my pastor he agreed to baptize me. I understood well the meaning of baptism and was eager to obey Christ’s command that I be baptized and identify myself with him in his death and resurrection.

Due to the fact that the church was without a baptismal and the lakes were frozen I was given the option to be baptized via pouring or wait until the summer. I knew that the baptism via pouring was not completely perfect but reasoned that an immediate baptism via pouring was better than a delayed baptism. Had I known then that so much dissension and controversy surrounds the modes and timing of baptism I would have waited until the summer. Nevertheless, in my eagerness to identify myself with Christ and obey his Word I opted to be baptized by pouring.

A few years later my wife and I decided it was time for a change. We had become Calvinists in an Arminian church, and our beloved pastor had moved away and entered into missions work with Frontiers in Arizona. During this time I had also been working to finish my Bachelor’s of Science in Biblical Studies through Moody Bible Institute’s distance education program. Both my wife and I felt a call by God for me to serve in pastoral ministry.

Sounds innocent enough so far. Read the full article to discover how Jeremy falls between the gaps of two good institutions to be crushed by them.

A problem for all christian organisations is to draw the line between grace and principles or rules. It was a place Jesus managed to walk, but for some reason we find it darned difficult!