In the town where I currently live, there was a pastor (years ago) named P. H. Welshimer, who happened to pastor the congregation where I currently attend (although that was a couple of buildings ago). If I ask the right people in town, they still know (or are) people who were baptized or married by P. H. Welshimer. While I never met him (he passed away about 40 years before I moved to town), I remember hearing about his influence in the city years ago, while making house calls with another pastor.
When I taught a version of this lesson to a Sunday School class, I asked a couple of questions, which I present to you with my “backup answers” (which I include in case the class is unexpectedly quiet in response) for your consideration:
Is it good that many people were baptized by P. H. Welshimer? Absolutely. I wish that everyone in town would choose to follow Jesus and be baptized.
Does it matter if someone was baptized by P. H. Welshimer versus being baptized by, say, Billy Graham or a local pastor? Not at all. These are merely fellow followers of Jesus who got the chance to introduce someone to the path of salvation, and were privileged to baptize another believer in the name of Jesus.
In the letter to the church in Corinth that we know of as 1 Corinthians, Paul had some pretty strong things to say about whether or not it was important who baptized the believers there:
I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, so no one can say that you were baptized in my name. (Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t remember if I baptized anyone else.) For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
1 Corinthians 1:14-17 NIV
Paul reflects a bit here, and seems to realize that it was a good thing he didn’t baptize a lot of people. It’s like he thinks about a couple of people from Corinth that he baptized, and then remembers another family, but his point is that he doesn’t want anyone to think that being baptized by him makes them any better – or even different – from other followers of Jesus.
It really doesn’t matter who baptized us, as long as we are following Jesus Christ. Similarly, I don’t think that it’s a stretch to say that it doesn’t matter who preaches at our church, writes the books we read, or teaches the Bible studies that we attend, as long as they are teaching truth about Jesus Christ, with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, to the glory of God the Father.
Paul also understands his role. If we think about the book of Acts, when Paul was being taken to Rome for trial before Caesar, there were already Christians in Rome (see Acts 28:12-15), but Paul was still eager to preach the good news from Rome. Paul didn’t have to win some sort of contest to be the first gospel messenger in a city, but he knew that there were plenty more people in Rome who needed Jesus.
There wasn’t some sort of race to see how many people he could baptize, compared to other apostles and evangelists. Instead, it was a shared goal to lead as many people as possible to Jesus, and to help followers of Jesus grow in their faith, as part of a team effort with every other disciple-making Christian.
Years ago, when yet another pastor of the congregation I attend was listening to others talk about how people in the area were going to different churches, he said, “You’re thinking like church people!” There are so many lost people around us, that it shouldn’t matter who leads them to Christ, as long as they hear about the good news of salvation.
And, Paul knew that the good news is good enough. He could try to “argue people to Jesus”, but the reality of Jesus coming to earth and giving His life in exchange for the penalty of our sins is the main point.
I’m not saying that we can’t study logic, history, and science – all of which point to God. However, I can personally become so enamored with finding just the right statement to refute a false argument against God, that I forget that the simple message – there is a God who loved the world enough to send HIs Son for us (see John 3:16) – is the word of hope that people need to hear.
As a reminder from the previous article, one thing that we can do to reduce conflict in the church (and make it more like Jesus prayed for) is to remember that we are all on the same team.
This doesn’t mean that God hasn’t blessed many of His servants with the ability to teach, preach, write, lead, and otherwise serve people in the Kingdom of God. God uses the church to reach a lost world, and – as we can see in the next passage to be covered in these articles – each of us has a role (see 1 Corinthians 12:12-20). So, keep listening to good sermons, reading good books, and finding good teachers. Just don’t put those people in the place within your hearts and lives that belongs to only Jesus Christ.
From Sunday School lesson prepared for March 3, 2024
References:
- The Lookout, March 3, 2024, © 2024 Christian Standard Media.
- Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
- The College Press NIV Commentary – 1 Corinthians, by Richard E. Oster, Jr. © 1995 College Press Publishing Co.
Those Who Sin Differently 