ok so I definitely stole the title from my mom. here's brown bag #4
Memoirs of an accidental Baptist
Hello! I hope Mountain View was an amazing God-focused time for you! So this brown bag may not be the most super uplifting and insightful. But, it’s not pointless. It’s to give you a good laugh. It gave ME a good laugh. And also to show you that anything crazy can happen on the field. Even state side fields. Yes, EVEN in Utah!
Ok so there’s this guy. His name is Nick Vujicic. I think his last name is Slovak so hopefully Kris can pronounce it. He was born without arms and legs. He spoke a week ago about overcoming adversity. He’s a Christian. It was at this HUGE convention center downtown. Rachel Holler and I took a group of 6 of our preteens to hear him speak.
Well, you see, this speaker presentation thing on Saturday was put on by the Baptist church. In case you were wondering, there are only like 2 Baptist churches here. Anyway, one of the Baptist churches was running this thing. The speaker was really good and I was really encouraged… but there’s a catch. At the end of his sermon, they had an altar call.
One of my girls ran up to respond, and then, before I could stop them, the rest of the kids went up too. So, I went up to kind of run interference. The speaker had them repeat the sinner’s prayer then told them their name was in the book of life after that. Then, he asked everyone who responded to go to the right and they had some literature for them. I had to think on my toes and told the kids we were going to quietly, respectfully, and strategically sneak away to the left. The kids asked what was going on and I responded in a stressful tone “just… go… and I’ll explain when we get outside.” Once we were Baptist-free, Rachel and I took the kids outside and explained to them that there was nothing wrong with that prayer, OR accepting Jesus in their hearts; HOWEVER, that church does things a little differently than we do. They believe that all you had to do to be saved was to accept Jesus in your heart and pray that prayer. Whereas that prayer is nice, and a good first step, they were incorrect. We told them that they needed to study a lot on their own and with their parents and ask questions and be BAPTIZED. We told them the truth in love. We said we were proud of them for wanting to grow closer to God, but there was more they needed to do.
All in all, it was a positive experience… but now my kids are accidental Baptists. It happens to the best of us. I learned a valuable lesson on how to explain different theologies to my kids, and wound up with a GREAT story to file away in my youth ministry memories. So, until next week, folks. Love God, Love others, and… watch out for them Baptists… they’re sneaky.
Accidentally Baptist,
Sarah Beth Hall
