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"What difference is a little water going to make anyway?" Ken Taufler thundered at his friend Jim Kaufmann for the hundredth time.

A little background information: Jim Kaufmann and Ken Taufler worked together in an insurance agency. The men had built a good working relationship with each other forged through many long hours spent on joint projects. Through it all, Jim and Ken became good friends. Eventually, their families got into the act as well. Their families had a lot in common.

There were also some important aspects of their lives, however, that they did not hold in common. The most important difference between them was in the area of religion. Jim Kaufmann and his wife Denice were deeply committed Christian folks. Ken Taufler had never even darkened the door of a church. He had no Christian training as a youth and he didn't want any as an adult! Gena, Ken's wife, followed her husband's lead in this area. So, neither one of them attended church.

Jim Kaufmann was troubled by his friend's indifference to the faith. They spoke about it often. "Can't you just try church for a while?" Jim challenged Ken. "What can it hurt? Come to our congregation. We'd love to have you. I think you'll find that it is a meaningful experience."

After much badgering, and to Jim's great surprise, his inviting attitude finally worked. Ken Taufler and his wife Gena promised to give church a whirl. They would come regularly for two months and see what would come of it all. Ken felt very awkward about it all at first. He really didn't know much more about Christianity than what you hear and read in the media. Ken found the actual living, breathing community of Christian people to be quite different from what he had imagined. The people were very friendly and supportive. But also, to his great surprise, Ken found the Bible stories and the sermons to be very meaningful to him. He was touched by the words and works of Jesus. He began to realize that his life had a spiritual void which Jesus addressed quite directly.

At work one day Ken Taufler asked his friend Jim what it would take for him and Gena to join the church. Jim Kaufmann could hardly believe his ears. "That's wonderful," he blurted out to Ken. "You really want to join. Great! It's pretty simple really. You need to contact the pastor first to find out when the next membership class is to begin. After you're instructed you'll be baptized and you'll be a member of our church."

"Baptized?" Ken queried. "You mean I would have to be baptized, soaked with some meaningless water, in order to join the church? I don't think I could do that. This baptism stuff looks an awful lot like magic to me. What difference is a little water going to make anyway?"

"The water is a visible and concrete way for God's love to touch you and it provides a concrete place for you to say your 'Yes' to God," Jim replied. "Jesus commanded us to be baptized you know. I kind of look at the water part as a tangible sign of God's presence and God's promise."

Ken Taufler wasn't convinced. It was the part about the water that was the real stumbling block for him. "Whoever heard of such a thing?" he mused to Jim. "Get washed with water, say yes, and then you're a Christian? What good is this water? What difference is a little water going to make anyway?"