Four Times Christians Get Baptisms Wrong
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Four Times Christians Get Baptisms Wrong
While I was writing these past several posts on baptism, I couldn’t help but think of times when Christian get baptized under subpar conditions. Here's the posts from earlier:
Infant Baptism: A Holistic View
Here’s my take on four times Christian Baptisms get it wrong, let me know what you think.
1. Tourism Baptism
One Baptism site in the Jordan receives half a million visitors a year – many of those visitors are baptized Christians who want to get rebaptized in the same place that Jesus was baptized in. Is this problematic? Some might imagine that I’m being a little dramatic – after all, what does it matter if someone wants to have this experience? It seems harmless, doesn’t it?
What's the problem?
The main problem with this is that rebaptism diminishes the meaning of your first baptism. Christians only need to get baptized once and their first baptism is an effective means of grace in which God is the primary one at work. The other problem with this is that it emphasizes baptism as an individual experience (most people don't bring their whole church community with them when they tour holy sites in the Middle East).
What can you do instead?
You can practice remembering your baptism by taking a dip in the Jordan. There's nothing wrong with wanting to experience this solidarity with Jesus. But there's also no reason to get rebaptized by ordained clergy using the Trinitarian formula for something that God has already done in your life.
2. Camp Baptism
I remember coming back to college from summer break and a friend was eager to tell us all about how he got to baptize a teenager at a church summer camp. I was less than thrilled. Honestly though, I understand that this is a significant moment and that there's precedence in the NT for baptizing people shortly after their conversion.
What's the problem?
Was my friend a pastor? No.
Did the Church authorize him to baptize? No.
Did this student’s parents have an opportunity to celebrate and witness his baptism? No.
Did this student’s church community get to participate in his baptism? No.
Oftentimes when church camps baptize students they miss out on recognizing that baptism is an initiation into the faith community and that our faith community manifests itself as local congregations. I understand that it’s easy to get excited at the chance to baptize someone but that excitement shouldn’t cause us to overlook all that Baptism is and means to us.
What can you do instead?
Have the student commit to getting baptized at his local church when he gets home. Tell his parents and tell his Church leadership. Then follow up and make sure the date is set.
3. Home Baptism
Shortly after a baptism service, a man came up to me and told me that his children weren’t baptized but wanted to be. He wondered: can we baptize our kids at home, in our bathtub? He didn’t want to make it a public thing. While this was the first time I had ever heard of that idea, it turns out it’s not that uncommon. American Christians seem to love the idea of a private faith.
What's the Problem?
The truth is though that neither baptism nor faith are private. Also the wisdom from the majority of the Church (for most of our history) has been to see baptism as a role of ordained clergy. Baptizing at home diminishes the importance of the local church while also circumventing the role of church leadership. We're a Body composed of different parts and each part has a different role and that's good and pleasing to God.
What can you do instead?
There's nothing wrong with wanting to be the one to baptize your children - it's a special moment. Why not ask your pastor if you can help assist with the baptism?
4. Membership Baptism
One church I knew baptized anyone who wanted to be a member – regardless of whether or not that person had already been baptized. As a pastor – you see the pros of this practice right away. Every time you have a membership class, you end up having a whole group of people getting baptized. Statistically, you’ll end up with great baptism numbers for the year AND your church will love seeing the impact that they’re having as they celebrate large numbers of baptisms.
What’s the problem?
Well, it severely undermines the significance of baptism. What’s baptism? It’s initiation into the Body of Christ. When you rebaptize everyone that becomes a member, you simultaneously communicate a few lies:
The lie that your other church wasn’t past of the real Church.
The lie that you weren’t truly a Christian until you became a member of this church
The lie that this church is the best expression of Christianity
The lie that Baptism initiates you into your local church but not the entire Body of Christ
What can you do instead?
Have members publicly affirm their faith by reciting the Apostle's Creed or sharing a brief testimony.
I think number one and two might ruffle a few feathers. Especially so if you’ve participated in either and hold that experience near to your heart.