National news reports this week tell of a man who's accused of using counterfeit chips during a tournament in Atlantic City. Police say he tried to hide the evidence of his actions by.... (we should pause for comedic timing here) flushing them down the toilet in his hotel room!
Only one problem: the cover-up didn't work. The poker chips became stuck in hotel pipes. They caused a water leak on a lower floor. And the man accused of doing it now is under arrest.
This certainly isn't the first case of people trying to use water to hide evidence of wrongdoing. River and lake cleanup projects have found everything from guns to stolen cars -- and in the worst cases, a few human bodies.
Yet here's the thing - the Bible recommends we take this approach. Only in a very different sense....
A man named Ananias came to see me.... He stood beside me and said.... "And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name." - Acts 22:12-16
The man Ananias went to see went on to become the apostle Paul, who wrote many New Testament books. After Paul was struck down and blinded by Jesus Christ (verses 2-11), Ananias told him about the first steps in becoming a witness for God. One key step involves baptism.
We grew up in a Christian denomination that sprinkled babies on the head, to perform a baptism. Yet we recall a Pastor in our church admitting one day in a sermon the Baptists had a better argument when it comes to that custom - the method Jesus followed:
As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. - Matthew 3:16
Jesus went up and out, because the Greek word for "baptism" means "immersion." A few drops of water on your head might disinfect your head, but it won't clean the rest of your body.
We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. - Romans 6:3
The ceremony of baptism pictures your sins becoming dead and buried -- whether you're carrying fake poker chips, or have some other issues. But be sure you do one thing before the baptism begins....
Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ of the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." - Acts 2:38
Repentance means turning around and making a real change. It means not going fishing a few days from now for those fake poker chips, because you're short-stacked in a tournament. Let them go. Keep them buried. And live the "new life" Paul mentioned, walking away from sinful behavior.
The Atlantic City casino which had this scandal has changed its poker chips, to make them more secure. That's understandable - but what we all need to "secure" is our minds, to make them honest and upright. Baptism and the entrance of the Holy Spirit is the only true way to make that possible.
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