Not becoming a Bapitst

I'm not sure what the rules are for reviving a locked thread, but I hope that this will be permissable. If not, my apologies to the moderators and forum members.

KK wrote:

After becoming a frequent reader of this board I have come to the realization that I could never be a baptist

You know, becoming a Baptist would probably be the most beneficial thing you could do for your spiritual growth. Permit me to explain why: Christianity is not about finding a church that will "accept you as you are," it is about serving one another in love rather than serving ourselves. This would include giving up things in your life that, while you find them totally permissable for yourself, the brethren find them not becoming of a Christian. This principle is found in Romans 14:13-23, in which love overrides our personal desires for the sake of keeping peace and unity with the brethren. And after all, love for the brethren is a deciding proof of whether or not you have really accepted Christ (see 1 Peter 1:22; 1 John 3:14).

Besides, you might wish to ask yourself just how will it hurt any young person to go without pink hair, tattoos, body piercings (just to use as examples), if that is what the church does not like to see out of its young members? Life certainly won't terminate upon the loss of these things, now will it? So, what is more important? Loving our brethren, or having things our own way? Being spiritual, even at one's own expense, or serving our own desires at the expense of everyone else's feelings?

I say these things having gone through this very thing when I was a young Christian. I first came to church in a leather biker jacket, a semi-mullet hairstyle, and a pierced ear to boot. I thought I looked cool and impressed people but really found it to be only a superficial desire of mine to make heads turn. And while no one ever said anything about it I found that these things did nothing for the brethren, and was probably creating more of a distraction than anything else. So off they came, and it really was no big deal to do it because I had more of a concern for the church than myself. And when one begins to possess that attitude, sacrificing one's own desires for the rest of the body becomes that much more simple to do.

A couple years down the road the Lord called me into the ministry, where I learned there was even more sacrificing to do. Even to this day, I do not feel I've sacrificed enough for my Lord and for my brethren. But that is what the life of a Christian is all about–becoming a "...living sacrifice...not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." This is the true spirit of Christianity, for even Jesus loved others more than himself, served others more than himself, and in the end even laid down his own life for all mankind because of his love for them over his own desire to have this cup pass from him.

So the question I leave with you, KK, is this: if you truly belong to Christ, are ye able to sacrifice out of a greater love for the brethren than for yourself? If you can answer yes to this question, then there is nothing in your way to becoming a Baptist.

SchracktheBaptist