Transcription
Let's just imagine that I'm new to your congregation and know that Christians do these things: they partake of the Lord's Supper, and they practice baptism. But I don't have any experience with that, and I came to you and said, "Pastor, can you just--can you nutshell--can you explain to me the importance of these two things, baptism and the Lord's Supper?" How would you--how would you do that for me?
Sure. I would just first agree with you that the practices of baptism and the Lord's Supper are often neglected in the life of the church, and they are confusing, not just to new members, but if they are not properly given the importance that they should be, people who have been in church for a long time can misunderstand the role that they should play in the life of the believer and in the life of the church. And our new membership process very early on, we are emphasizing the nature of the church, and before that, the nature of the gospel. And we believe that baptism and the Lord's Supper are important elements of both of those conversations: What is the gospel? And what does it mean to be the church? They have significance for both the personal believer and the corporate life of the body.
And I would just say, if you stopped me in the hallway and said, "Pastor, I'm a new member here, and I hear these things about baptism and the Lord's Supper. What is this all about?" Just simply in the hallway, I would point to several factors there. Number one: These are Christian essentials. These are not secondary things. Sometimes Christians who have different vantage points and viewpoints on these matters try to downplay them to ease the tension. I understand the sentiment, but the significance of these practices should not be downplayed. These are essential Christian practices.
Secondly, they are biblical commands. These are not optional practices that we have the right to accept or reject at our discretion. The Lord Jesus Christ commands us to practice baptism and the Lord's Supper. The third thing I would say is that they are symbols of salvation. They do not have a saving effect. We are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, plus or minus nothing, right? But these are important symbols of salvation. And again, we are not diminishing the significance of these ordinances by calling them symbols. They are meaningful acts that tie us, that connect us, that identify us to both Christ and the church.