Baptism
Baptism. What's the deal? I have more students without Christian backgrounds asking me about baptism. In some ways this is a great thing. They don't have some of the Christian baggage and they have lots of questions. And, they instinctively know that if they are going to become a Christian then something must signify it, set it apart, a bar-mitzvah of sorts. With this in mind I'm going to try and hit what I think the bible is getting at with baptism.
It's a coming out of the closet statement. It's a person's declaration that "I'm throwing in my lot with these crazy people." I have learned alot by watching my students wrestle with this. They instinctively know that it's a big deal to become a Christian, that they will take some things on the chin, that they are not the same people they were and they know they must do something outward to declare it. They realize they are IDENTIFYING with a new family and they must ackowledge before others that reality.
It's a birthday party and a tatoo! What do I mean? Why does it have to be public? Why not just a private decision kept to oneself? Why not just share it with a small group of friends? For the same reason we don't open gifts in private, put candle on cakes to be seen only by a few (in some cases we do but who argues against big parties???). We are humans which means we are more than minds or souls. We have bodies that like to flesh out what we believe inside. The reason we do something outwardly (pour water, dunk, sprinkle, splash, squirt...) to signify an inward reality is that, again, we are human! We don't see chickens getting tatoos or cows (unless done by humans). When we join a team we want what? The team logo. We buy jackets, shirts, accessories. When we join a fraternity we are identified by letters. When we are married we give rings. When we listen to emo music we dress accordingly. We baptize because God's love has been indellibly tatooed on us. We must show outwardly what he has done.
We baptize because it's a better option than circumcision! Old school believers pre-Jesus understood this. When you signed a covenant you did all sorts of things to signify it: you erected pillars of rocks, you cut parts of your body, you swore verbally... When God inititated a relationship it was literally known as "cutting" a covenant. God's outward picture to illustrate this to His people was the actual cutting of the flesh. What? Why would we do that? And, worse, it was the cutting of the male penus. Why in the world would he do that? Couple reasons to ponder: 1. It was God's way of saying that there are no private parts. I'm your "all or nothing" God. There are no secret, hidden places. My grace will get inside the deepest places of who you are. 2. It incapacitated men. Men seem to have a harder time with weakness in my experience. Women will sign up for prayer groups in droves. Men, you have to twist their arms. They don't want to pray. They don't want to show they aren't strong. Once, God was bringing His people to a special land He had promised. He parted a river to help them out. There they were with a river to their backs and a walled city in front of them (Jericho - the first obstacle to the promised land). And, by the way, God told them their men weren't circumcised and they needed to do it asap. Why didn't He say something before they crossed the river? Surely they would be "under the weather" for several days, totally vulnerable. What was God getting at? This sign reminds you that it is not about you and your strength. It's about me and my great arm of salvation. Rest and recover and I'll take care of things.
Why not circumcision today? The simplest answer is that it's too bloody and painful. It was another Old Testament teaser to the coming reality of one who would get bloodied and endure pain so that God's grace could literally be poured out on weak people. Why not celebrate that in some way? Why not show that God's love purifies, cleanses our consciences, make us new and acceptable to God? Why not get rid of the stain of guilt and the mess of blood. The power of the blood is shown in the shower of water we call baptism. There's much more to baptism, but I hope this is a good start!
It's a coming out of the closet statement. It's a person's declaration that "I'm throwing in my lot with these crazy people." I have learned alot by watching my students wrestle with this. They instinctively know that it's a big deal to become a Christian, that they will take some things on the chin, that they are not the same people they were and they know they must do something outward to declare it. They realize they are IDENTIFYING with a new family and they must ackowledge before others that reality.
It's a birthday party and a tatoo! What do I mean? Why does it have to be public? Why not just a private decision kept to oneself? Why not just share it with a small group of friends? For the same reason we don't open gifts in private, put candle on cakes to be seen only by a few (in some cases we do but who argues against big parties???). We are humans which means we are more than minds or souls. We have bodies that like to flesh out what we believe inside. The reason we do something outwardly (pour water, dunk, sprinkle, splash, squirt...) to signify an inward reality is that, again, we are human! We don't see chickens getting tatoos or cows (unless done by humans). When we join a team we want what? The team logo. We buy jackets, shirts, accessories. When we join a fraternity we are identified by letters. When we are married we give rings. When we listen to emo music we dress accordingly. We baptize because God's love has been indellibly tatooed on us. We must show outwardly what he has done.
We baptize because it's a better option than circumcision! Old school believers pre-Jesus understood this. When you signed a covenant you did all sorts of things to signify it: you erected pillars of rocks, you cut parts of your body, you swore verbally... When God inititated a relationship it was literally known as "cutting" a covenant. God's outward picture to illustrate this to His people was the actual cutting of the flesh. What? Why would we do that? And, worse, it was the cutting of the male penus. Why in the world would he do that? Couple reasons to ponder: 1. It was God's way of saying that there are no private parts. I'm your "all or nothing" God. There are no secret, hidden places. My grace will get inside the deepest places of who you are. 2. It incapacitated men. Men seem to have a harder time with weakness in my experience. Women will sign up for prayer groups in droves. Men, you have to twist their arms. They don't want to pray. They don't want to show they aren't strong. Once, God was bringing His people to a special land He had promised. He parted a river to help them out. There they were with a river to their backs and a walled city in front of them (Jericho - the first obstacle to the promised land). And, by the way, God told them their men weren't circumcised and they needed to do it asap. Why didn't He say something before they crossed the river? Surely they would be "under the weather" for several days, totally vulnerable. What was God getting at? This sign reminds you that it is not about you and your strength. It's about me and my great arm of salvation. Rest and recover and I'll take care of things.
Why not circumcision today? The simplest answer is that it's too bloody and painful. It was another Old Testament teaser to the coming reality of one who would get bloodied and endure pain so that God's grace could literally be poured out on weak people. Why not celebrate that in some way? Why not show that God's love purifies, cleanses our consciences, make us new and acceptable to God? Why not get rid of the stain of guilt and the mess of blood. The power of the blood is shown in the shower of water we call baptism. There's much more to baptism, but I hope this is a good start!