Purpose of Pastors and churches (little 'c')

The purpose of a pastor, whether he or she works with adults, children, or youth, is to equip church members to do the work of the Kingdom of God (Ephesians 4:12). Specifically, the purpose of gathering together at church each week is to prepare believers to go out and be the Church in their daily lives outside of the church building. The work of the Kingdom of God can happen on the weekends in a church building … but it is supposed to grow, spread, and build outside of the church walls during the week. If a church congregation focuses on building itself and not the Kingdom, it is simply either a social club or an insular self-help group. Demographic research shows that what most people look for in a church is recreation. Accordingly, many churches (believe it or not) attempt to accommodate, often to the point where recreation and entertainment becomes an end unto itself. This is the worst case scenario. Only slightly better is the pastor and church that focuses on the spiritual (i.e. the moral) life of members but provide no direction for that personal growth. Remember: in this age, the primary purpose of being moral, of being Christ-like, is to do the work of the Kingdom of God. It may be a cliché, but too often liberal Christians want to pursue Kingdom goals without the morality, while conservative Christians want to pursue morality with limited Kingdom goals. You cannot separate morality from Kingdom purposes. The Kingdom without morality is self-defeating. Morality without the Kingdom is purposeless. You need both. Pastors and churches are there to prepare you to do both.

What Hinders Baptism?

I read this line in a Baptist Press article. I've highlighted my point of interest.

"Because the seminary is not a church and does not have the authority to baptize, SBTC President Jim Richards said the baptismal pool will provide a place for churches that do not have a baptismal and a place for students to practice the ordinance before entering formal full-time pastoral ministry."

Why doesn't the seminary have the authority to baptize? Do not all believers have the authority to baptize? Did not Christ himself give all believers the authority to baptize?

Actually, HE was given the authority and then commanded us to baptize.

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20)

I wonder if only churches have the authority to make disciples and teach. If that is so, then the seminary will have to close down.

And we are baptized into Christ, not the Church.

Sure, we are often bapitzed IN a church building. And we often become members of a church when baptized (providing all the proper forms have been filled out and are accurate, though sometimes such red tape can be done retroactively depending upon the individual situation).

I am quite partial to the story of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8. Philip teaches the Ethiopian and then he baptizes the Ethiopian. No "church" in site (Intended joke). [For another great joke, see The Humour of Deutero-Isaiah in Isaiah 56:3-5]

In fact, when wanting to be baptized, the Ethopian asked one of my favorite questions in the Bible: "What hinders me from being baptized?" (v. 36)

Really, what does hinder baptism?

Immersing Cancer Patients [Updated]

So far this month we’ve had six individuals make commitments to follow Jesus (i.e., “get saved”). Four have been youth and two have been adults.

Of these adults, one is a lady who is a former Buddhist. She is also suffering terribly from cancer.

Here is the issue:

This woman wishes to be Baptized into Christ (and this become a member of the church) but … her illness prevents her from being Baptized by immersion.

…

What shall we do?

It appears that our senior pastor is going to ask the deacons to either waive Baptism by immersion for church membership in this woman’s case OR, if she really wants to experience Baptism, allow her to be sprinkled.

Interesting scenario, huh? No unique but somewhat uncommon in Baptist circles.

[UPDATE]

I can now tell you that the woman in question was Baptized by Sprinkling, not immersion. In the tradition of Baptist pragmatism for the sake of the Gospel, this woman, lying in a hospital bed in Chapel Hill, NC, was Baptized by the sprinkling of water ... using a North Carolina Tar Heel cup.

The worst part is that both she and her husband are NC State Wolfpack fans.