And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.<\/em> (Acts 8:36-38<\/a>, KJV)<\/p>\n We hear this passage invoked as a criticism against new believers classes, usually when someone desires baptism, but must go through a church class prior to baptism. Yes, it can apply in that way (although I think there\u2019s nothing wrong with new believers classes before or after baptism, as deemed appropriate). There\u2019s something more relevant we need to hear in this passage. That is the question and its answer: What doth hinder me?<\/p>\n The answer to the question was, nothing hinders you. There was water, there was a willing individual to do the baptism, and there was an individual who desired baptism. He knew enough of Christ to embrace being buried and risen to new life with Him. There was no good reason to hinder the eunuch\u2019s baptism.<\/p>\n The reality, however, is that Philip the evangelist could have hindered him\u2026had he desired to. He didn\u2019t\u2026but he could have been a hindrance.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s imagine the story if Philip had decided to hinder the process. \u201cLook, here\u2019s water! Look, let\u2019s get this show on the road! I\u2019m ready for baptism!\u201d And instead of doing the baptism, Philip responded like this, instead:<\/p>\n We can laugh as we look down this list, but there are an awful lot of ways Philip could have hindered the eunuch\u2019s baptism into the Kingdom. There are any number of ways that had Philip wanted to make this about himself, distract from the issue at hand, or exercise ungodly power and control, that he could have \u201cdoth hindered\u201d the baptism of the eunuch.<\/p>\n For a few minutes, let\u2019s take this passage out of the exclusive context of baptism. There are an awful lot of ways we hinder others who desire to come into the Kingdom. When we are consumed with our concepts, traditions, rules and regulations, we avoid the real issue at hand \u2013 someone is before us and wants to be a believer. They want to get it right with God. No, it\u2019s not going to happen all at once, but we find a million reasons why they shouldn\u2019t even start. We tell them they can\u2019t do this, or that, because of this, or that.<\/p>\n We make sure they know just how opposed we are to them. Jesus says He\u2019s the open gate, and that He stands at the door and knocks. But instead of opening it up to others, we slam it shut, making sure that there is no way someone can enter the Kingdom on our watch.<\/p>\n Does this sound right? It shouldn\u2019t, but it\u2019s all too common. Most of the time, it\u2019s not lack of access, interest, or desire that keeps people out of the Kingdom. It\u2019s those who appoint themselves as personalized gatekeepers, as the official door slammers of the church who make sure no one comes and finds their way in if there is something about that person that the door slammer finds offensive.<\/p>\n Several years ago, I worked with another minister to establish a church. It was a great challenge. Many belonging to both of our groups didn\u2019t want to attend services for different reasons. There was a family I\u2019d met in the area, a woman who had a daughter and a son, and the woman\u2019s mother, who were very interested in working with me. They had a long history of floating from church to church and of power and control struggles therein. At the time, we were so preoccupied with finding new members, I didn\u2019t think that maybe I should sit down and talk to her about what joining the church would mean.<\/p>\n The entire family came and seemed excited about what we were doing. Then they didn\u2019t return. One day, I received an inbox full of complaints. They weren\u2019t quite as happy as they indicated. One of the primary issues raised was the perception of a specific \u201cspirit\u201d (which is not a spirit) on the men present in the church. She wasn\u2019t \u201ccomfortable\u201d with it. She then said that when that \u201cspirit\u201d is present, nothing that can be done about it. It just has to rest there because it will eventually lead to everyone\u2019s spiritual destruction.<\/p>\n I was livid for two reasons. The first was that she wasn\u2019t honest and upfront enough to say anything to anyone\u2019s face about this. The second reason? She seemed so comfortable with the idea of damning everyone she deemed \u201cunredeemable\u201d instead of praying for them, believing God, introducing some teaching, or doing something to work with others. She felt, in her opinion, that for people who had the \u201cspirit\u201d she perceived to exist, they needed the door slammed, right in their faces.<\/p>\n The woman in my story was so busy deciding that others were beyond salvation, she didn\u2019t realize she\u2019d become a hindrance. It wasn\u2019t that they couldn\u2019t be saved or weren\u2019t saved. It was that she decided they weren\u2019t and couldn\u2019t be. To her, that meant it was the end of the discussion. They desired salvation, knowledge of Scripture, and to know God for themselves. The water was there. When the question \u201cWhat doth hinder me?\u201d came up, the answer\u2026was her.<\/p>\n I\u2019m not one who believes that when the last day comes, everyone is going to make it into the presence of God without any consequence for sin. God does not force anyone to be saved. If we do not want to remain in His presence forever, He is not going to force us. But there are many out there in the valley of decision uncertain, who find themselves shoved off unto the other side because there is something about them that others deem undesirable.<\/p>\n The eunuch had things going for him \u2013 and not going for him<\/a>. He was sexually castrated, thus not considered a \u201cproper man\u201d by modern standards. Still, he held a high political status within Ethiopian leadership. Because he lived far away, it wasn\u2019t like he could join Philip\u2019s church in the next town over. Whatever he did after his baptism was between him and God.Philip didn\u2019t have the time nor the commission to check in and see where he was at later in time. The odds are good, they probably never saw one another again. Regardless, Philip realized something important: he didn\u2019t want to be a hindrance to the eunuch\u2019s salvation, nor his relationship with God. He wanted to do whatever he could to see the eunuch succeed in his faith.<\/p>\n Whenever we talk about throwing off a hindrance of salvation, we always think of a few specific things:<\/p>\n Hindrances are far more than things we dislike or don\u2019t want to encounter. Anything that keeps us from God can be a hindrance. Most relevantly, we can be a hindrance ourselves. We can hinder ourselves and others, and we can keep ourselves and others from the fullness of the Kingdom.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/1922\/2026\/02\/Aelbert_Cuyp_-_Saint_Philip_Baptising_the_Ethiopian_Eunuch_NTIII_ANG_515655-300x206.jpg\")
Understanding the Acts 8 experience<\/h3>\n
Not being a hindrance<\/h3>\n
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A bigger hindrance context<\/h3>\n
An example of a shut door<\/h3>\n
Who gets to decide what?<\/h3>\n
A lesson from the eunuch<\/h3>\n
Throwing off every hindrance\u2026including ourselves<\/h3>\n
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