“See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?”
I don’t sugarcoat things of religious or spiritual nature. If you’re offended by my stance, then I’m sorry I offended you. But I’m not going to change my beliefs because you are offended. My latest issue comes from a “mega-church.” As an act of disclosure, I’m not a fan or a supporter of mega-churches. I grew up in, and still attend, small churches. The church family is tighter-knit. The worship is more intimate.
I’ve spoken with people who attend mega-churches. Two good friends of mine, who were not mutual acquaintances, discovered they attended the same mega-church, and had for at least three years. They did not know each other. I like to know everyone at my church. But, I look at church as more of a spiritual event while many of the mega-churches have taken on an air of McWorship, fast-food-type spirituality. This lack of personal acquaintance leads me to the topic of the day: baptism. In the Baptist denomination, baptism is also the threshold over which men and women must pass to become members of the church.
My cousin attended a church that, while not quite a mega-church, surely had aspirations of one day becoming one. The night came that she found herself in need of salvation (I’ll not go into the spiritual mechanics of salvation here, but I’ll gladly talk about it to anyone who does). Her family could not get in touch with anyone from the church, so she came to my grandfather’s house, as he was a minister. He spoke with her for a bit, they prayed, and she got up satisfied that the Lord had saved her. She invited me grandfather to her baptism at the would-be-mega-church. My grandfather found his way into a conversation with the pastor, at which time he rehearsed the story of her salvation. The would-be-mega-pastor said “I was wondering why she wanted to be baptized.”
Just down the street from me is another mega-church that currently has nearly 10,000 members. On their website, they detail the requirements for baptism. You have to go online and register to be baptized. You select the “campus” at which you wish to be baptized, and then fill out a form that requests your phone number and email address. The form then asks what you were like “before you decided to follow Christ,” what change occurred in “how did you meet and decide to follow Christ,” and what affect this change has had in what “life [has] been like as a follower of Christ.” This feels like an academic assignment. Do they deny you baptism if they don’t like your answers?
By the way, this is for adults. If a child in 5th Grade or younger desires to be baptized, a parent/guardian must attend a class about leading children to Christ, then they must accompany the child to a class on living a Christian life and the order of the baptism service, and then they may register their child for baptism. I don’t know what translation of the Bible these people have, but this is wrong.
Consider one of the purest requests for baptism found in the New Testament. In Acts, chapter 8, the Holy Spirit guides Philip to the desert, where he comes across an Ethiopian eunuch reading from the old scriptures. Philip “joins himself” to the chariot the man is in, and begins to expound to him the meaning of the words, describing Christ and his work.
And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert.
And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship,
Was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet.
Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot.
And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest?
And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him.
The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth:
In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth.
And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man?
Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.
And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?
And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.
And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing.
-Acts 8:26-39
The Ethiopian accepts Christ, and, in the middle of the desert, they come across a body of water. The eunuch says to Philip, “See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?” Philip didn’t tell the Ethiopian that he needed to register and write a detailed account of his “faith journey.” He didn’t have to take a class before being baptized. The requirement was the same as it was from the beginning: accept Christ as your lord and savior.
Baptism is an outward sign of an inward change. It imparts no saving grace. It is a symbol only. It represents the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. How can you partake in a symbol of something you’ve not accepted?
I was saved at the age of ten. I believe this to be the result of being in church all my life, hearing the gospel preached, and having a family that talked about what to do when God moved in your life. Just as for my cousin, when the time came for me to be saved, I moved. I went to the same grandfather, and basically went through the same thing that she would later go through.
Then, instead of having to take a class with my parents, or having to write out a detailed account of my “decision to follow Christ,” I stood before the whole church, at ten years old, and requested to be baptized. In my mind, and a belief I hold to this day, I didn’t choose to follow Christ. Instead, Christ chose me, just as he chooses everyone. He offers the opportunity to accept his sacrifice. This acceptance does not come from signing a card or being baptized. The acceptance of Christ comes with “fear and trembling,” with a broken and contrite heart.
Imagine if, when the Ethiopian had said “what doth hinder me to be baptized,” Philip had responded “Well, you need to go to this website and fill out the forms. Once you’ve registered, you need to come to our class Sunday morning. After that, we’ll schedule your baptism. You should be baptized sometime within the next few months.” Requiring those things are conditions of man. In God’s way, baptism is as simple as “See, here is water.”
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