Is Baptism Really Necessary?
There are two very different ways to think about baptism. The first
approach
recognizes the time of baptism as a saving moment in which the person
being
baptized accepts the love and forgiveness of God. The person then
considers him or herself "saved." He or she may grow in the faith through the years,
but nothing experienced after baptism will be as important as the baptism.
The person will always be able to recall the baptism as the time when his or her
life changed.
The second approach wouldn't disagree with any of that, but would add to
it
significantly. This idea affirms baptism as the time when God's love and
forgiveness are experienced. It also recognizes baptism as a time of
change.
However, where the first approach isolates the act of baptism as the most
important moment, the second approach understands baptism more as a
beginning. While it is true that in the waters of baptism God laid claim
on
our lives, it is also true that we spend the rest of our lives trying to
figure out what that means. The first understanding often overlooks the
journey which follows baptism.
Baptism too frequently carries the connotation of having arrived.
Sometimes
people say to their ministers, "I want to be baptized and join the
church as
soon as I get my life in order." Of course, if that is what any of us
are
waiting on, we will never be baptized. None of us will ever have our lives
sufficiently in order to be baptized. Baptism is not something we earn,
nor
is it a sign that we have found all the answers. Nothing could be further
from the truth.
Baptism is a beginning. It is the desire to see the world differently, to
see each other differently, and even to see ourselves differently. Baptism
is a fresh start, not a destination. Baptism calls into question our
previous lives, it does not bless them. Baptism is not a trial-free
membership, but a rite of initiation into a way of life in which Jesus
promised there would be trials.
Jesus' baptism serves as a model for our baptism. For Jesus, baptism
represents the beginning of his ministry. While some ultimate questions
may
have been answered when he was with John the Baptist in the Jordan River,
Jesus continued to deal with questions and temptations throughout his
life.
The baptism of Jesus is one of our favorite stories. We love to hear how
the
heavens opened, to imagine the dove descending, and to hear God's blessing
on the Son. We would like to think something like that happens when we are
baptized. What we should be prepared for is that our journey of faith,
much
like Jesus' journey, continues to unfold long after our baptism as we try
to
discern what our baptism means in our daily living.
We can begin to understand more about our baptism by thinking of it in
three
ways:
| 1. |
First, baptism is about beginning anew. |
| 2. |
The second part of baptism is the good news that we have been included. |
| 3. |
The third part of baptism is ordination. With baptism comes the Spirit, and with the Spirit come gifts to be used in the service of God. |
|
