Then Peter answered, “Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” —Acts 10:46b-47
All of Christianity can be summed up in these two tremendous words—radical inclusion.
No divide can exist when it comes to the miraculous saving power of Jesus Christ’s work on the cross and His empty tomb three days later. This radical inclusive love isn’t for some. This radical inclusive love is for all who believe.
Admit this is exciting. Also admit that each of us has work to do within ourselves to not just accept but promote this radical inclusion because all of us have an opposite: the organizer and the hoarder, the night owl and the morning glory, the big spender and the tight bank, and the black coffee and black coffee with crème.
Okay, a little joke with the last one, but each one of us has a type that is diametrically opposite of who we are. Opposites don’t always attract. Sometimes (often times?) they repel.
Yet enter the gist of the New Testament. Even—or especially—when those opposite us are included in the eternal gift of being baptized into the eternal life of the Lord and no one—no one—can forbid the water for that baptism.
I’m not so sure about you, but each time I think of this radical, barrier breaking inclusion, I say two other words, “Wow. Awesome.”
PRAYER: Lord, help us see that one of the best ways to experience the magnitude and joy of who You are is to consider how radically inclusive You are. Amen.