Dear Gateway Family,
After I preached this sermon on the Sabbath, a few folks brought up Gateway’s membership and baptism connection. Where we, the elders of Gateway, require an individual to be a member in order to be baptized (and vice versa). And where we, the elders of Gateway, require a parent/guardian to be a member in order for their child to be baptized (in most cases).
I’m not going to get into the details of why we require membership for baptism (and baptism for membership) in this post. Instead, I want to clear up confusion I caused by not being clear on man-made laws vs man-made laws.
Yup. You read that right. Man-made laws vs man-made laws.
In the sermon, I contrasted the Pharisees’ man-made laws to God’s law. I highlighted how the Pharisees created many laws that became the standard for whether or not someone was a devout follower of God. And if you broke one of their man-made laws, you sinned according to them. They then stacked their man-made laws in their favor so they were always on the right side of being a devout follower of God.
Jesus came along and disrupted their man-made religious expectations. And, because he did so, the Pharisees said to Jesus, “Why are your followers doing what’s unlawful (i.e., ‘sinful’) on the Sabbath?” That’s a bold assertion. They basically accuse Jesus of sinning.
My point wasn’t to say that all man-made laws are bad. My point was to say that any man-made law that becomes the standard for determining whether or not someone was a devout follower of Jesus is bad. Similarly, any man-made law that becomes a standard for what is sinful or not is bad.
But there are many man-made laws, even religious ones, that do not determine whether someone has sinned or if they’re a devout follower of Jesus.
Some examples.
At Gateway, we require all volunteers who work with minors to have a background check. This is a man-made law. There’s no Bible verse to back this up. This is a different category of a man-made law than what the Pharisees were holding people to.
At Gateway, we give all financial donors an end-of-the-year giving statement. This is a man-made law. There’s no Bible verse to back this up. This is a different category of a man-made law than what the Pharisees were holding people to.
At both of our campuses, we have a seating capacity in our worship centers. This is a man-made law. There’s no Bible verse to back this up. This is a different category of a man-made law than what the Pharisees were holding people to.
And at Gateway, we require those wanting to be baptized (or to have their child baptized) to be a member of the church. There’s no Bible verse to back this up. But this is also a different category of a man-made law than what the Pharisees were holding people to.
Why?
Because we’re not saying that someone is sinning by not becoming a member of Gateway. We’re also not saying that someone is a less devout follower of Jesus by not becoming a member of Gateway. We’ve never said anything close to that. And we never will.
Not all man-made laws are the same. Some man-made rules are good practice, and others become the standard for whether someone is a Christian. Let’s not confuse the two. And let’s all remember that a man-made law isn’t the bad kind just because we don’t like it.
Your pastor and friend,
Josh