Thinking Differently

Michael came to be baptized at church today. He lives nearly two hours away, but wanted very much to be baptized in the oldest Church of Christ building in Chicago. Mike is autistic, and to him it only seemed right that his baptism into the ancient Christian faith should happen in the oldest building he could find.

I never would have thought of that, to tell you the truth. (In fact, I hadn't really thought about ours being the oldest building...) That's sort of my point, though; isn't it interesting that Mike did think of it? More to the point, isn't it interesting that, though Mike and I don't think in exactly the same way, the gospel has done its work so powerfully in both our hearts?

If we're not careful, we can give the impression that faith is really about a set of propositions to be learned and a series of logical connections to make. I think Michael's journey to faith illustrates that there's something more happening in conversion than the right synapses firing at the right times. Clearly there is a rational element to faith -- a "renewing of the mind," as Paul puts it -- but there's also something else happening. There's a Spirit moving in us, a Lord redeeming us, a Father calling us back to himself. That is what Christianity is ultimately about, God's work in the world and in us; not the way we understand and think about his work.

I think that has a lot to say to the disagreements and divisions that tend to plague Christianity. Almost invariably, the church fights and divides because segments of it think differently from one another. Michael reminded me this morning that despite the differences in the way our minds work, the gospel has captured our hearts. And today the Holy Spirit lives in us both and makes us brothers.