Towards a Practical Theology of Baptism

“Whoever does not acknowledge Me before men, neither will I acknowledge him before the Father…”  -Jesus

            I believe that more churches should take a sharp look at their practices today in view of what the New Testament actually teaches. Perhaps the most tragic abuse is that of the a poor understanding, and thus a poor practice of Baptism. More pastors should undertake the journey necessary to understand Baptism. At the heart of this quest is an understanding of the principle person involved in baptism. It is not the recipient of water baptism. Nor is it the church. Nor is it the crowd of onlookers who are not believers. At the heart of baptism is Jesus. At the heart of baptism is the voluntary act of crucifixion and atonement, the effects of which are immediate; but also inherent in baptism is the proclamation of God’s promise of a coming resurrection to all mankind. The church, for better or worse, is entrusted with the responsibility of loosing and binding members into the body of Christ based upon the head who is Jesus himself. The theology of Christ’s sacrifice is the center of everything that believers are. The practice of baptism, then, is the practice of Christ. The practice of conferring baptism is the practice of acknowledging an individual’s standing before God. Baptism is central to this binding and loosing. Churches should safeguard their membership by conducting a thorough baptism. This doesn’t mean using extra water. This implies the use of extra caution. Baptism gives assurance, and it is dangerous to offer anyone false assurances of promises that belong to God alone.

There are two changes that would greatly improve church health: 1.) Institute the practice of “prevention.” The church alone has the right to determine its membership. If membership is incumbent upon water baptism, then the church should have a say in the administration of water baptism. This means that church members should be allowed to speak at length with potential baptismal candidates, to hear their testimony, and to get a feel for the legitimacy of their faith. If any member of the church has biblical warrant and can offer substantial evidence for why a person should not be baptized, let them be offered the freedom to object and prevent baptism. 2.) Make baptism public again. For too long it has been relegated to a private ceremony held behind closed doors within the confines of the church. Believers are no longer encouraged through the act of water baptism to publicly profess their newfound salvation to old friends and loved ones.

Finally, it would behoove churches to remember their first love. It would behoove churches who are abandoning and forgetting baptism to remember from where they have fallen, and to fall in love again with Christ. It is only from a proper spiritual condition that the church will be able to rally itself back to a proper practice of baptism.