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Furthermore, we cannot in the midst of the marriage with Christ say, "Hey, I don't agree with the vows. I'm going to revise them. You can agree with me or not, but, if not, it's over between us." All we are to be in Christ was enfolded in our acceptance of Christ and public wedding ceremony: our baptism.
So, with Christ - we return to a moment of giving our hearts to Christ or our baptism, or both. Some have the blessing of a moment to remember, when they said Yes to Christ or received baptism I recall both, and I often return to those moments and scenes to remind myself of my vows to Christ. Some do not remember baptism, having been baptized as an infant. They, still, by faith, affirm with gratitude when they were welcomed into the care of the Church. Such infant baptism is in communal affirmation of their eventual acknowledgment of Christ as Savior and Beloved. Then, many churches have special times for the congregation to reaffirm their baptismal vows and remember their baptism.
As a little boy and youth, I came up in a revival culture. All churches, of all theological stance, can get the basic idea of revival. This simply means to renew, breathe life into again.
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The greatest need we have in the church in the States, and among us Christians, is just this: revival. No, I do not mean a tantalizing and titillating series of meetings. Often such religious highs do not last. And, having a series of meetings and calling it a revival, can be a boring charade of a true return to our First Love.
No, we need to realize that the Christian faith in our culture, is in many instances a dead or tepid religiousness. Often, we have just enough of faith to carry the vows on paper but without fire in the heart, without our First Love. We may even be in a church that scores high points in "keeping house," doing good works, and such churches may get praised by others as a church alive-and-well. And, such may be the case, or not even as a house may be a house or may be a home.
Christ is calling us to a renewal of our First Love. Not just to church growth, church good works, keeping up with the times in worship - so we can maintain or grow in numbers -, to more and better programs, or even more and more effective outreach. These things are not the essence of our baptismal vows, even though they can be an expression of our love.
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