Can you be a Naaman?

You’re probably thinking that I’m going to talk about baptism, because that’s all “church of Christers” can talk about right? That’s actually not the point, but it’s close in an off-handed way.

When Naaman was told to go and dip in the Jordan River, he went away angry (2 Kings 5:10-11). A lot of people are angry when they first hear the truth. They hear that what they have believed all their life is wrong. They hear that their parents are not going to go to heaven because they believed something wrong. They hear that in order to be right their lives have to drastically change.

At this point, Naaman could have stayed mad and stayed leprous. However, his servants saved the day by convincing him to go ahead and dip himself in the Jordan River. Thankfully for him, he had second thoughts and did what he was told, and was cured of his leprosy.

The point is that he listened to reason, and was cured. People often immediately get angry at the truth, but with some time, they accept it. If people get mad at the need to be baptized (you didn’t think I drop it completely, did you?), sometimes a bit of contemplation is all that’s needed for someone to obey the truth. Can you be a Naaman?

Kyle Campbell