Wearing the Mark

I don't generally quote The Message, but I have to admit that I love the way it staets the great commission in Matthew 28. "Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I'll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age."(v19-20). I especially like that it refers to the marking of saints by baptism. I have always believed that one Sunday night in 1977 was especially important in the timeline of my life. It marked me. It marked the day I stood in the baptismal with my earthly father and told the world that I would stand forever with my heavenly Father and that He had stood in the gap for me. Baptism is the setting apart of your life. The blessing of it. The consecration of your life to the work of God. It was the beginning of a journey that has taught me to do all things as unto the Lord and to His glory. My moment is the moment that set in motion the moment I witnessed today. A moment of heart wrenching joy! A moment of great and abiding peace - a moment when my sons set themselves apart for Him. I love that The Message calls those of us who have been baptized marked men and women. I believe it is imperative that we walk as though that mark were as visible as Christ's scars. It should mark us as living in the world but not brought down by it. I skimmed over the title of an article posted by a pastor in Houston the other day. It mentioned that the church would not be successful in this age if we continued to say we love the sinner and hate the sin. I agree and disagree at the same time. Loving someone is the greatest of the commandments according to Jesus in Matt 22:37-39(Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord they God with all they heart, and with all they soul and with all they mind. this is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."(King James) So yes we must above all be inclusive in our love. Reaching the world with the Love of Christ is more important than anything. But the greatest example of love was Christ himself. He became sin, suffered rejection and died a sinner's death on the cross but He never said that because of His death there is no more sin, no more judgement, no more right and wrong. He did not give us a blank check that allows for us to worship other gods, steal, kill, destroy, lie or any other of a laundry list of sins. So in fact there is a price to be paid for sinning or continuing in it. The problem we face in the church today is not loving people, or embracing the sinner, or even judging the sin. It is that we have become so much a part of this world that we are not longer visible by our mark. Nobody can tell the difference between us and them. We believe, we baptize and then we don't change. We wallow in the mire of sin saying that if we don't then how will they know the love of the Lord. It is a war our there. We are either dark or light? We are either for Him or against Him. We cannot stand in the midst of the sin and expect to reflect Christ's love to sinners if we are different. In battle, the soldiers are all visible by platoon or regiment based on the markings of their clothes. If you are wounded int the war, you look for the mark of the red cross to find a medic, corpsman or hospital worker. If you are a child who is lost in the streets you search for the police uniform and colored lights of a squad car to find your way home. If you want to find Jesus you should be able to tell His followers by their mark, by the striking difference between them and the world around them. I know that for years my mark was covered. Painted over with the colors of the world but not anymore I want to stand for something. And the something I want to stand for is the same something that brought my boys to the baptismal. That hope. That faith. That childlike trust that He is who He claims to be and that without Him I am nothing. I am standing up and brushing off the dust of this world to show my mark. I want people to know by the words of my mouth and the actions of my hands that I am different, wholly and completely different. Tomorrow morning is the first day of the marked lives of Karl and Paul. This week, Karl is choosing to listen to only Christian music and Paul is looking to tell someone about Jesus. I pray that everyday going forward they will love sinners and saints alike and that everyone will know them by their markings of their hearts.