Thoughts on Baptism
Our church was going to have a baptism service at the lake a few weeks back, but it was pouring rain so the service was moved to the family life center. We watched video this morning of the 43 people who were baptized, in short snippets of people being "dunked" (a term I have never been comfortable with) over and over.
Of course, these were full immersions, and the pastor wore a t-shirt and basketball shorts, as did most of the baptizees.
It was neat to watch so many people go through this rite, and I realized four things about the typical Baptist version of baptism.
It is total. These people came up wet from head to foot, cold, sputtering, wiping eyes, dripping. They needed towels as they came up out of the water and walked over another trail of towels to the bathroom. No sprinkling here. The top of the head was not the only wet part. The participants have said, I am all in.
It was public and communal. The whole church watched. Not just family attended (as at a christening in some churches). And it was part of the worship service.
It was decisional. Everyone in that video chose to be baptized. Yes, some of the children might have been doing it just because they were told to, but at least they were aware it was happening.
Finally, it was humiliating, or at least humbling. When you come up from being immersed you look like a drowned rat. Women have their hair messed soaked and it's not exactly becoming. People make faces. It's hard not to laugh sometimes at how the baptizees look.
Of course we Baptists are convinced this is the only way to be baptized or to baptize, since the Greek word means "to immerse." Baptists suffered a lot of persecution in the early years for several reasons, but their insistence on this way of doing the ritual is one of them. Perhaps all that persecution has made us a little wary and defensive. I don't think the logistics of this baptism is irrelevant to our self-identity.
Of course, these were full immersions, and the pastor wore a t-shirt and basketball shorts, as did most of the baptizees.
It was neat to watch so many people go through this rite, and I realized four things about the typical Baptist version of baptism.
It is total. These people came up wet from head to foot, cold, sputtering, wiping eyes, dripping. They needed towels as they came up out of the water and walked over another trail of towels to the bathroom. No sprinkling here. The top of the head was not the only wet part. The participants have said, I am all in.
It was public and communal. The whole church watched. Not just family attended (as at a christening in some churches). And it was part of the worship service.
It was decisional. Everyone in that video chose to be baptized. Yes, some of the children might have been doing it just because they were told to, but at least they were aware it was happening.
Finally, it was humiliating, or at least humbling. When you come up from being immersed you look like a drowned rat. Women have their hair messed soaked and it's not exactly becoming. People make faces. It's hard not to laugh sometimes at how the baptizees look.
Of course we Baptists are convinced this is the only way to be baptized or to baptize, since the Greek word means "to immerse." Baptists suffered a lot of persecution in the early years for several reasons, but their insistence on this way of doing the ritual is one of them. Perhaps all that persecution has made us a little wary and defensive. I don't think the logistics of this baptism is irrelevant to our self-identity.
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