"Oops!"

My brilliant daughter never ceases to amaze me. She is insightful, wise, articulate and, I'm proud to say, spiritual. (I say this, of course, without any prejudice whatsoever.)

We were watching movies that dealt with the Passover this past week and were enjoying the 1956 version of "The Ten Commandments." I had just bought the fifty-year commemorative three-disk set. My darling daughter had never seen the movie, so it was a big thrill for me to share it with her.

Now, if you've seen the movie and remember the story, it seems that Moses, Charleton Heston, had tarried too long on Mt. Sainah and the people were restless, unruly and had given up hope, even to the point of coercing Aaron, John Carradine, into building an idol of gold for them to worship...a golden calf.

So, Moses, after receiving the Ten Commandments, is walking down the mount where he meets Joshua, John Derek. They hear a noise in the camp which Joshua incorrectly interprets as that of battle. Moses, on the other hand, knew it to be only the sound of singing.

In true C.B. DeMille form, Moses steps out on a pedestal of stone, an outcrop, with a looming and dark sky at his back, to look down upon the children of Israel with a look so cold it would freeze water. For the moment, the people continued their party, not even noticing the old man on the mountain. Then Joshua, who had joined Moses on the precipice, blew his trumpet.

Suddenly, at this point, everything in the film, just for the slightest instant, went quiet. The people all turned from their wickedness and silliness to stare, mouths agape, at Moses gazing down at them. That's when the scene stopped. There they were, caught in their sin. Here's where my baby girl showed her genius.

I was sitting on the couch next to my daughter, enjoying the drama of the moment. That's when it happened. I heard my little girl say something so profound, the brilliance of it almost, almost passed me.

"Oops!," she said. Then, we laughed until we cried.

Now, I can only imagine that other words and phrases less suitable for genteel company went through their minds. Still, they knew that they were busted and they knew it was now, so to speak, the end of their ends.

The old adage goes, brevity is the soul of wit. Sometimes, understatement is the soul of genius.

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Exodus 32
1And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.

2And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me.

3And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron.

4And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

5And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To morrow is a feast to the LORD.

6And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.

7And the LORD said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves:

8They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

9And the LORD said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people:

10Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation.

11And Moses besought the LORD his God, and said, LORD, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand?

12Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people.

13Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever.

14And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.

15And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony were in his hand: the tables were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written.

16And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables.

17And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said unto Moses, There is a noise of war in the camp.

18And he said, It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome: but the noise of them that sing do I hear.

19And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses' anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount.

Baptism...Who Needs It?

Alright, all I was trying to do was sell this preacher I know a t.v., when he started in on me. He backed me into a corner. He really didn't give me much of a choice.

He was bragging, I mean, bragging about how he set his pastor "straight" on a certain matter and kept asking me, "Am I right? Am I right?" No, he wasn't right, but I was simply trying to avoid the ruckus I was certain would ensue if I didn't keep my opinions to myself.

He told me that a man had recently been saved at their church, but hadn't yet, for whatever reason, been baptized. His pastor said that the guy shouldn't take the Lord's supper since he had not been baptized. Well, this braggart recounted to me how he told his preacher that "everyone is welcome at the Lord's table," and since the man was saved, he should be welcome also. Jeepers! What a lot of rot!

I tried like the dickens to avoid the turmoil. Still, after being asked if he was right for the fourth or fifth time, I decided to just go ahead and answer him. I've known both of these preachers for years. So, tough if he didn't like my answer.

I asked him, "Would you let a man teach Sunday School in your church if he hadn't been baptized? Would you let him be a deacon? Would you let him pastor your church?" I argued that we wouldn't let the unbaptized fill any these functions in our church. Yet, would we allow them to do something even more important, such as, partake of the Lord's Communion?

I continued that we wouldn't want anyone taking a post in your church who is out of fellowship with the Lord. How could a man be in fellowship with God's will if he hasn't even been baptized?

He seemed a bit stymied as if he had never thought on it that way. Yet, he continued to argue that my view wasn't right, although without any reason why I was wrong.

I finally pulled out the big guns. I knew he had known and respected my dad and I just told him that that is what my dad taught me and it was good enough for me.

Do I think for a moment that this retired Baptist pastor went home, thought it over, swallowed his pride and decided I was right? Do I think for a moment that he went to his pastor and said, "I was wrong. You were right." Not likely.

Many Christians, even, shamefully, Southern Baptists, have reached the stage in our existence where we are so worried about being politically correct, even in God's house, that we think the "bigger" sin is offending somebody and hurting their precious feelings. Actually, the "bigger" sin is to go against the Lord's will and His way. Today, we are more than willing to sacrifice genuine piety for counterfeit politeness.

The Meat of the Gospel

Fundamentalists crack me up! They think the "meat" of the Gospel is "prophecy," or, at least, what they regard as prophecy. Personally, I think it's not that all.

I'm reminded of something I heard Mike Warnke say some years ago. He said that when a woman comes up to you and confesses she used to be a man, but just got saved and doesn't know what to do, "you'd better have some Jesus on tap."

It's not your ability to quote exhaustive eschatalogical books or draw complicated charts on your living room wall or juxtapose scripture passages with the front page of your local newspaper. It's about real people in a real world who need real hope. They don't need platitudes or mock profundity. What they really need is compassion and lovingkindness. Now, to me, that's the meat of the Gospel.

Quoting is always easier than caring. I will be the first to say, being involved is easier said that done. Still, it's impossible to hit the target when so many Christians don't even know what the target is.

Jeremiah 31:3
The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.