I've Learned to Stick Firmly to Being Flexible | Previous Challenge Entry

how it works

TITLE: I've Learned to Stick Firmly to Being Flexible | Previous Challenge Entry
By Noel Mitaxa
01/27/22
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With the sun beating down out of a clear blue sky, the quiet seclusion of our wooden shelter was very welcome as we looked towards the opposite bank from a gap between the reeds. About halfway across, we noticed a length of striped rubber hose floating on the surface, to indicate a division in this stretch of water.

It was barely twenty meters wide, but any idea of crossing this narrow stream in either direction would clearly be a bad call We had company - an unsmiling Jordanian soldier, complete with a submachine gun, who underscored the sense of division.

A contrasting mood came courtesy of the folks on the other bank, whose pilgrimage was reaching an emotional highpoint.

We were at the Jordan River, where Jesus had been baptized by John the Baptist two thousand years ago, and they were on the Israeli bank, excitedly reliving such a moment for themselves. Even from across the river, we sensed their anticipation as they waited in line at the water’s edge, before they waded in waist-deep, ready to be immersed and raised from the water.

Afterwards, as they lingered in the water for as long as they could, then waded out to rejoin the rest of their party, their joy was infectious.

In all this excitement, I noticed three distinct areas for these baptisms, created by two metal-mesh partitions stretching out into the stream. When I asked our guard why they were there, I was saddened by his explanation: “They are there to keep Roman Catholic, Orthodox, and Non-Conformist (or Protestant) candidates apart from each other!”

How ironic: the one Christian ordinance required three separate rituals and three separate doctrines – even though they were all being baptized in the same stretch of water, and in response to the same God.

In decades of ministry, I’ve been blessed to find so much common ground to work with other churches in city-wide or regional evangelism and community aid projects; youth ministry; holiday programs; and in presenting material for secular media.

Despite all this combined goodwill, to visit these churches is to find different rituals and reasons for them – to express far more distinctiveness than the common ground we’ve enjoyed. Some rituals date from centuries past, reflecting some serious doctrinal wars and harsh – even brutal – history, and they often follow careful liturgical patterns. Other rituals seem to have just fallen into practice, with no written guide – yet contravening or omitting any detail of those rituals can cause serious concerns.

Are we unwittingly focusing more on we worship rather than we worship; and as a result impeding the response of folks who are new to the whole worship thing? Do we risk paralleling the behavior of the priest or the Levite in Jesus’ Good Samaritan parable, who valued ritual cleanliness above lifting a finger to help a mugging victim?

Paul the apostle advised his fractured friends in Corinth that their worship needed recognizable structure – particularly regarding tongues and interpretation – to ensure that people could fully participate and not feel neglected. Yet no structure can afford to become a stricture that allows for no variation whatsoever.

Thanks to our college vice-principal, I learned about sticking firmly to being flexible in my first year of ministry training.

In guiding us through practical ministry, he invited us to discuss arrangements for couples to dedicate their newborn infants to God. Though our practice is believers’ rather than infant baptism, we quickly covered all the details. But then he asked, “What about something for people with no church connection?”

Our discussion about “what should go into this service” suddenly evaporated when he dropped a pearl of wisdom that has shaped my approach to chaplaincy in industry, sports, and international cruises – where I’m surrounded by people who raise their fears, doubts, or opinions from little or no personal contact with any church.

I doubt if it was in his discussion guide, but it was heartfelt - from his years of experience…

“Let’s remember that we aren’t conducting services – we’re on holy ground; ministering to people who may be opening to God’s grace for the first time. We are privileged to draw them further in, instead of maybe driving them away by pushing on them the kind of stuff that only makes us feel comfortable!”

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