This week I was privileged to serve the ladies at one of our local churches during their quarterly circle meeting. We had such a sweet time in the Lord and they were a gracious and beautiful group of ladies. It was truly an honor to speak to them and open the Word of God before them.
In the week leading up to this speaking opportunity I had an interesting exchange with an older lady in our community. She had seen that I was going to be speaking at this church, which happened to be a Methodist church. She looked at me and said something along the lines of, “Why does a Methodist church want a Baptist woman to speak to them?
Well, I was taken aback to say the least and said the first thing that came to my mind which was, “I guess they think that I can teach the Word in truth, no matter what denomination I am part of.” As I reflect back over the exchange, I wish I had said a few other things as well.
While I belong to a Baptist church, I have a love for the entire body of Christ and in the past have attended church on a regular basis at churches that were not Baptist affiliated. I don’t recall anywhere in the Bible where it says that Jesus was Baptist!!!
I wish I had had the presence of mind and time available to remind this dear lady that everyone who believes and accepts by faith that Jesus died, was buried and rose again to provide salvation and eternal life belongs to the body of Christ. We may have differing viewpoints on things like baptism versus sprinkling, eternal security of the believer, when the believer receives the Holy Spirit and other issues, but if we agree on the basic tenets of the faith, we ARE the body of Christ.
In 1 Corinthians 12: 12-14 we hear these words: “The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body–whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free–and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Now the body is not made up of one part but of many.”
Yes, I belong to a Baptist church, but I much prefer to be labeled as a follower of Christ rather than a member of a specific denomination. It is my privilege and honor to serve the body of Christ.
