When the Pharisees and Sadducees came to John the Baptizer to be baptized, John called them a brood of vipers. In many ways, these power players could represent the things with which we have unhealthily aligned our faith. They could be institutions, powers, traditions, or even the voices we hear within ourselves, telling us that we shouldn’t take risks or steer out of our lane. Repentance is about changing our mindset; baptism is about death and resurrection. Together, these things challenge us to let the unhealthy parts within us die, that we may cross into a new promised land in God’s Spirit.