Sunday, September 13, 2009
Baptism
When I was in high school, I went through the confirmation program at my church. My studies related to that, though, led me to an unusual conclusion: I didn't just want to be confirmed, but I wanted to be baptized by immersion. That was the method of Christ and his followers to make real the choice they were making, and it is what I wanted to do to reflect that same adult choice.
No one in my church had ever been baptized by immersion, so my pastor was somewhat taken aback by the request. He was an older and quite scholarly Congregationalist from Boston who had not only never baptized anyone that way, but had never seen it done. To his credit, though, he worked with me and it happened. It was a strange bit of boldness on my part, but one of the best choices I ever made, and one that framed my spiritual life from then on.
Now that I am surrounded by Baptists, I wonder how the reality of Baptism must be different for them, in a place where it is less of a strange thing to do. Is there social pressure to be baptized? How is it that six-year-olds are said to have an "adult" baptism? How does one come to that choice?
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Speaking as the son of Baptist parents, and now as a Baptist pastor, I can tell you the choice to be baptized is probably less radical than yours was. While I hope there is no overt social pressure, no doubt, there is the subtle, "Well, my friend/brother/sister, is getting baptized so why shouldn't I?" I've been a part of a church that wouldn't baptize anyone under the age of twelve. My current church doesn't hold to that, but I have asked children to wait until they were older b/c I didn't think they fully understood what they were doing yet. I was young at my baptism, 7, but I do remember it with some detail. It remains a meaningful experience for me to this day. Of course, I think that's aided by the fact that I reenter the baptismal waters with great frequency. I often wish I could splash the congregation to remind them of their baptisms as well.
I think I was eight or nine when I was baptized, by immersion, during a Sunday morning service.
It was the way it happened to most of my fellows.
The social pressure was definite and probably the motivating factor; I wanted to be accepted not only by my parents but by the other adults at the church as a part of their society. I don't recall how many of my friends got baptized before me, but I was neither the first nor the last.
And we know how that's worked out now! My coworkers think it is odd when I swear oaths in the name of Odin or Thor.
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It was the way it happened to most of my fellows.
The social pressure was definite and probably the motivating factor; I wanted to be accepted not only by my parents but by the other adults at the church as a part of their society. I don't recall how many of my friends got baptized before me, but I was neither the first nor the last.
And we know how that's worked out now! My coworkers think it is odd when I swear oaths in the name of Odin or Thor.
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