Baptism and Babies

Baptism and Babies

     Matthew 3:13-17 is an incredibly memorable part of scripture. Jesus comes down to the river where his cousin, John the Baptist, is baptizing people in the Jordan (because... you know... he’s JOHN THE BAPTIST... it’s kinda’ his thing...) to represent their repentance of their old way of doing life and committing theirselves to God. In essence, it was a symbolic gesture of individuals saying, “Moving forward, my life will be different from the sinful way in which I had been living.” This was obviously a choice that was being made by these individuals who had (hopefully) given much thought and consideration into this action and wanted this very public and very visual demonstration of obedience to God.

     And then Jesus came along - the guy without sin - asking his cousin John the Baptist to baptize him. “But Jesus, I’m not even worthy to tie your sandal - if anything, you should be baptizing me!” was the response that John gives Jesus. John recognized that what he was doing was baptizing folks with plain old Jordan River water, while Jesus would baptize with a holy fire - the Holy Spirit! Yet Jesus insisted, and what we see this event of baptism being is the starting line of the Son’s ministry, for the Father, empowered but the Holy Spirit. It was an appropriate way to mark the beginning of his life’s focus not changing, but becoming even more focused on his calling.

     “What does this have to do with babies, Ben?” Before going any farther, we need to talk about what baptism is. 1 Peter 3:20-22:

“20 In the past, these spirits were disobedient—when God patiently waited during the time of Noah. Noah built an ark in which a few (that is, eight) lives were rescued through water. 21 Baptism is like that. It saves you now—not because it removes dirt from your body but because it is the mark of a good conscience toward God. Your salvation comes through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who is at God’s right side. Now that he has gone into heaven, he rules over all angels, authorities, and powers.” 

Did you catch that? In verse 21, it says that “[baptism] saves you now — not because it removes dirt from your body but because it is the mark of a good conscience toward God.” I have heard the argument from Christians before that if you are not baptized then you are not saved, because salvation comes through the cleansing waters. Reading this carefully, however, we can come to realize that the power of salvation does not come through the waters. The waters are merely symbolic of something that is happening within you - a right way of thinking, a redirecting of one’s attention toward, our Heavenly Parent. “Your salvation comes through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who is at God’s right side.”

Baptism is an outward sign of an inward grace.

     In the United Methodist Church, we have come to understand that baptism is not what saves you, nor are you condemned to an eternity in hell if you don’t get baptized. Instead, baptism is a public and visible display of showing your community that you believe in the salvation that Jesus Christ provides. Hence one of my favorite phrases in Methodist theology and doctrine, “Baptism is an outward sign of an inward grace.” Baptism is visibly acknowledging that the Holy Spirit is already at work in your life, so let’s celebrate this fact in the community!

     Because baptism has so long been held up as part of the “necessary salvation checklist” in many denominations, it has also been associated as something that is unable to be done without the person making that decision for themselves. This is a very logical argument - accepting the gift of salvation is a choice, and if baptism is a necessary component of salvation, then the individual to be baptized must make that decision for their own spiritual well-being. But, this is saying that without baptism the Holy Spirit cannot work in your life and Christ can’t save you, which many Christians when they look on their lives before accepting Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour, must openly admit is false: The Spirit WAS working in their lives EVEN BEFORE they knew it was God! They were already experiencing God’s grace even if they were unable to accept it. This is called Prevenient Grace in fancy theological terms.

     So when we begin to see that baptism is acknowledging that God is already doing awesome things in a person’s life — surrounding them by people that love them, offering protection and health, etc… — then we begin to realize that baptism is more of a celebration that God loves us and is doing great things in our lives already. And when the community affirms that God is at work in someone’s life as opposed to the point at which they receive “their ticket to heaven,” then babies being baptized doesn’t sound so crazy at all, does it? As a matter of fact, it even makes sense within the context of Jesus stating “‘Allow the children to come to me,’ Jesus said. ‘Don’t forbid them, because the kingdom of heaven belongs to people like these children.’” (Matthew 19:14) and helps give us a context as to why entire households were baptized. Even Peter in Acts 2:39 shares that the promise of the Holy Spirit was for not just the parents, but the children as well!

     When one is baptized in the United Methodist Church, there are vows to be made: “Do you renounce the spiritual forces of wickedness, reject the evil power of this world, and repent of your sin? Do you accept the freedom and power God gives you to resist evil, injustice, and oppression, in whatever forms they present themselves? Do you confess Jesus Christ as your Savior, put your whole trust in his grace, and promise to serve him as your Lord, in union with the church which Christ has opened to people of all ages, nations, and races?” If they agree to each of these questions, they then say, “I do.” When baptizing an infant, however, it is the parents (or legal guardian) that is asked these questions on behalf of the child with the intention that, even though they cannot speak for themselves as of yet, they will be raised in an environment where they will learn what it is to follow Christ, reject evil, injustice, and oppression, and be taught what it is to put their trust in Christ. Then, when they are old enough, they will have the opportunity through a process called Confirmation to affirm and take upon theirselves these vows which were made for them at a young age.

     Then it is the congregation’s turn to make a vow – not only to renew their own baptismal vows, but promising to take this new brother or sister in Christ and raise them up in Christ’s love. The act of baptism is a way of bringing the community of Christ together and reaffirm that the Spirit is moving in and amongst everyone’s life. Is baptism something that guarantees that someone gets to Heaven? No – but if the congregation and parents are serious about helping to raise this child to follow Christ, then the likelihood of them knowing that the Spirit is at work in their lives drastically rises along with the possibility of them accepting Jesus Christ.

     This was obviously a brief overview of infant baptism (albeit longer than I intended), and there is so much more to it. So instead of thinking of this post as a complete defense of infant baptism, think of it instead as the beginnings of a conversation. I tried to briefly point out that there is a Biblical precedent for it as well as share that there is more than simply sprinkling water on a baby’s head and calling it “good to go!” Baptism, being the deeply communal act that it is, requires an action that all christians, regardless of age, must practice: loving one another like Christ loves us.I believe that is where much of the confusion stems from: because baptism has been regarded by so many for so long as directly related to salvation, it has become an individualistic action as opposed to one that the whole community of Christ is a part of.

     If you are at church one morning or in a lake, pool, ocean, horse trough, etc… and you see someone being baptized – whether it be an infant or adult baptism – I encourage you to recognize it for what it is: an acknowledgement that the Spirit is already at work in transforming their life, and your role as a disciple is to foster their growth in Christ.

     God Bless.