Philip and the Eunuch

In Acts chapter 8, we are told about an eunuch from Ethiopia, who had traveled to Jerusalem, and was returning to Ethiopia when Philip the Evangelist was led of the Spirit to go out into the desert and meet this man. Philip shared the Gospel with him, and they came across an oasis in the desert, and Philip baptized him.
There are several points that I would like to make here. First of all, a lot of people have come to the conclusion that this eunuch was the first Gentile to become a member of the early church. I don’t think so. The Bible tells us that the eunuch was in his chariot reading Isaiah the prophet. It seems to me that this man must have been a Jew, or he wouldn’t have been reading the Jewish text. It would seem that he was already a Jew, and had received special dispensation from his queen, Candace, to travel to Jerusalem to worship at the temple. I don’t know of any Ethiopian religion that would have required him to go to Jerusalem to worship.
Additionally, Peter is the one who was given the keys to the kingdom, and Peter is the one who, amid much criticism, baptized a Roman citizen later. Much of the time, the early church seems to divide people into two basic categories: Jews and Gentiles. Sometimes the terms used are circumcision and uncircumcision, sometimes Jews and Greeks, but, in context, it is pretty clear that the early Christians really only recognized two ethnic groups. Peter preached a sermon on the day of Pentecost that led to baptizing Jews from every nation, and Peter preached to Cornelius, a Roman, which led to, what would seem to be, the first Gentiles becoming Christians.
Another point that I would like to make is the fact that, although the Bible doesn’t tell us what Philip preached to the eunuch (it only says that he preached unto him Jesus), by the time they came to a place in the desert where there was water, the eunuch had decided that he wanted to get baptized. I have had people ask me the question, “What if you were in the middle of the desert when you realized that you needed to be baptized?” Well, of course that is exactly what happened to the eunuch. When I point that out, though, then these people generally scoff, “Oh, I suppose you think God put that water there just so the eunuch could get baptized!” I am always tempted to point out that it would be foolishness to think that the devil put that water there so that the eunuch could get baptized (okay, I admit it, I have told people that a few times. It never helps the situation, though). I certainly don’t think that it was coincidence that, just about the time the eunuch decided that he needed to be baptized, they came across a place in the desert where he could be baptized.
Another thing, too, Philip told the eunuch that he wouldn’t perform a baptism, unless the eunuch believed. It seems to have become common practice these days, most churches don’t seem to really care if you believe or not. I have heard of churches where people have been talked into getting baptized simply because the church only performs baptismal ceremonies every so often. Sometimes it is because the church is trying to set a new record (“We’ve never baptized fifty people before! Right now there are forty-nine, you could make it fifty! Come on, get baptized!”). Of course, I have known of other churches who swing the other way, refusing to baptize someone for at least three weeks using the philosophy that it is better not to get baptized than to get baptized and then lose interest within a couple of weeks. There may be some truth in that, but I can’t help thinking that it could go the other way: if I had been forced to wait three weeks to get baptized, I might have started to think that baptism wasn’t that important (particularly since the church that taught me about baptism was now delaying the event), and probably would have gone back to my old ways. I’m not sure where I would be now if that had been the case, but almost certainly I would not be a Christian now.

What Should We Believe?

I had someone tell me once that they think the important thing is that one believes whatever one was brought up believing. I have a problem with that, personally, and not just because I no loner believe what I was raised to believe. Oh, don’t misunderstand me, I was raised in a Christian denomination, and I am still a Christian, but I now belong to a non-denominational church. Some might not consider that a change in beliefs so much as a change in emphasis, but it seems to me that if God requires people to continue to believe what they were raised to believe, then I am in trouble. Let’s consider, for a moment, though, that the members of the early church were mostly raised to believe in Judaism. Now, again, one could say that the difference between Judaism and Christianity is more a change in emphasis than in belief. After all, the Jews believe in the Messiah, they just don’t believe that He’s come yet. I suppose that there is something to be said for that, but then a lot of the early church came from some form of paganism, if not what is now known as Roman mythology, then Greek. Surely those can’t be considered the same belief. That was different, though; God was beginning a new religion, making it available to more people. “For what purpose?” I would have to ask. Those people already believed in something. If the important thing is believing in something, and not so much believing in the right something, then why would God bother? The crucifixion was a pretty horrific experience; I don’t think that I would have even wanted to watch it, much less go through it. And yet, so many people think that Jesus went through that just to give us another option. I can’t accept that. Jesus said that He was the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He also said that no man comes to the Father but by Him. I also have to question, “What if I had been raised as an atheist?” Would that be okay with God if I disregarded all that He has done for me, simply because my parents didn’t believe in Him? Would Jesus’ sacrifice then be meaningless, because I didn’t believe? Am I absolved of doing anything for God because I don’t believe? Would I be welcomed into Heaven because I kept the teachings of my parents, even though those teachings excluded all of God’s teaching? I don’t mean to down any other religion. I have known many Buddhists that were good people. Some of them are better people than some of us who call ourselves Christians. If you know anything about Buddhism, though, you know that Buddha never claimed to be God, or even that he knew the way. He only taught that one should search out the way, and he tried to teach what he had been able to learn about the search for the way during his life. He was certainly right that we should seek the Way. Even those of us who have come to know that Jesus is the Way should seek to know Him better, and allow Him to guide our steps and direct our paths. We should never take His sacrifice for granted. If it’s possible for any living human being to be held responsible for the death of Jesus Christ, those are the people that take His suffering for granted. Those of us who have come to love Him for what He has done for us have been absolved, as long as we keep the faith. Karl Marx said that religion is the opiate of the masses. If it doesn’t matter what you believe (other than, perhaps, that it be the religion of your parents), as long as you believe something, doesn’t that make religion the placebo of the masses? Of course, I don’t believe that at all, but I think part of the problem is that people don’t think of religion as real, so they think it just doesn’t matter what you believe—one sugar pill is as good as another. The problem is that a substitute religion can never replace the truth, any more than laetrile can take the place of a good cancer treatment protocol.

What Do You Believe?

I have a dimple on my chin, and that sometimes makes it difficult to shave. Most of my face is not a problem, but it's hard to get to the little hairs in my dimple. Some days, I manage to angle the blade just right and trim those bad boys right off, other days, I just can't seem to get them. Several years ago, I had one of those days, and it must have been a particularly bad day (or maybe one of several such days in a row) because I had a number of people comment on it. Towards the end of the day, a friend of mine told me that I had 'dirt' in my dimple. Taking a quick moment to decide whether it was actually worth explaining to him that they were whiskers, and deciding that it was not, I thanked him for pointing it out and started to walk away. He stopped me, and insisted that he was serious. Okay, no problem, thanks, and I started to walk away again. We cycled through this several times, and each time he got louder, and more upset. Meanwhile, I'm thinking to myself, "I'm not arguing with you, why are you arguing with me?" Finally someone else pulled him aside and explained it to him. If I had realized this conversation was going to take so long, I would have explained it to him in the first place.
After awhile, I came to the conclusion that he was arguing with me because the bathroom was in the opposite direction from the direction I kept trying to go each time I thought our conversation was over. Obviously, if I had believed him, I would have gone to the bathroom and washed my face. Of course, I realized that, although he was being honest with me, he really didn't understand the situation. He, meanwhile, is judging my belief by my actions rather than my words. Clearly I didn't believe him, and he didn't understand why not.
I said all of that to say this: Jesus said, "And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?" In today's society, I think that it's because a lot of people don't understand what the word 'lord' means. A lord is someone that is placed over you, one that you must obey. A lot of people call Jesus, Lord, who really just want Him to be their savior. News flash: He won't be your savior, unless you let Him be your Lord, also. If you believe that Jesus is your Lord, you will at least make a good effort to do what He says (you won't always succeed, that is a given, but you have to at least try).
I realize, of course, that this goes back to the question of whether one is saved by faith or by works. It is by faith, there should be no question about that. At the same time though, if your mouth says that you believe, but your actions don't match what you say, what is it that you really believe?