Love this meme. Laughing here, but When God wants you baptized, He’ll simply have you baptized. This is what happens when you delay. It’s way nicer to do it willingly and under controlled circumstances, with warm water, but wutever. Suit yourself. God is well acquainted with His stubborn kids.
Recently our pastor has been talking about baptism, encouraging people to get baptized. I second that, you should do it, it’s a good thing. I’m kind of a fan of baptism, and a bit like voting, we should probably do it early and often.
Back the Middle Ages people got baptized naked. Now that would be scary! Uncomfortable for us, but probably even scarier for the spectators. Good factoid to have in case you ever find yourself naked in front of a bunch of people. They are probably more scared than you are.
Also, that’s another good reason to be baptised today. We seldom do it naked anymore.
The trend of baptizing babies in beer and others in everything from soup stock to any handy liquid once got so prevalent, the church had to issue this edict declaring baptism didn’t count if you didn’t use water. We can laugh about such things today, but safe and purified water used to be a scarce resource. Nobody wanted to waste it by dumping it over someone’s head.
There are a lot of really good reasons to get baptized, but that’s another one. Because you are grateful for modern times, for abundant and plentiful safe water. That’s no joke, at one time in history our life expectancy was 40 and the leading cause of death was dysentery from drinking bad water. There are parts of the world that still suffer.
Water is a precious resource and literally “life.” Without water, there would be no life. Baptism is a bit like that too, a celebration of life, a celebration of living water that never ceases. “There’s something in the water” as the song goes. Follow that preacher man down to the river… You won’t be sorry.
So, I met the Lord when I was about 3, in the midst of atheism, total non believers, and it was just a baby faith, but even as a small kid, I felt this pressing need to be baptized, to be sealed, not for the Lord’s benefit but for mine. I think baptism is a gift He gives us, an outward expression of the desire to be adopted by Him, to become a part of His family, His body, His church. It’s like a birthday. When I was about 12, I felt like an orphan that had just been officially adopted, as if the Lord had just signed the Fed ex receipt for me. I believe He had me long before he signed the return receipt, but it really is a bit like a love letter simply being stamped, “received.”
Like an orphan you are not necessarily making a committment yourself, so much as simply receiving His commitment, His desire to adopt you, acknowledging His claim on you. Maybe, it’s a bit like offering yourself to Him for adoption. I mention that because a lot of people are scared, as if baptism were more like running off to Vegas and getting married to Someone you don’t even know….
It isn’t like that at all, it’s simply a symbolic and often public recognition of faith. Perhaps the start of a journey. A celebration of life and purification, of regeneration. One need not wait until you are “a perfect Christian,” or none of us would ever get baptized in the first place.
Come to think of it, it you actually believe you are a “perfect Christian,” you might want to go get baptized….again. I’d be a bit concerned that the first dip didn’t take. Just saying.
Myself, I tend to take communion very seriously, with all sober mindedness, but play somewhat fast and loose with baptism. I think we should be baptizing everyone, all the time. Hey, still not quite sure how you feel about the Lord? Let’s just baptize you and see what happens. It’s not a casual thing…….but it’s not something you can mess up or get wrong, either.
I also think in Jesus Christ, we’re all authorized, empowered to baptize people. I really like pastors to do it, but that’s a preference, an “ahhh perfect” moment. In a pinch however, anyone will do. I myself baptized all my kids when they were small, but it’s simply a sealing for the Lord, an acknowledgment that they belong to Him. They all have to step forward as grown ups and receive Him themselves, in order to actually be “baptised.”
I’ve baptised two friends, just one of those dire moments where, this just needs to happen right now. Ha! Also, they agreed to it, so that was nice. I’m so cheerful about baptism, I’m not even opposed to wrestling people into the water or just casually pushing them into the baptismal, although it’s probably more meaningful if you actually consent.
And that’s something else I tend to believe, if you were baptized by proxy, or too small to remember it, or have short term memory problems, just do it again. Be rebaptized. It’s kind of like celebrating a birthday or renewing your marriage. People renew their marriage vows all the time, same people, same dedication, one simply doesn’t cancel out their first wedding, by having an anniversary party.
Those are all my thoughts on baptism. There’s some really good theology around it, it matters, churches sometimes assign different meanings to it, but for me I’m kind of one of those people who just believes in the power of the Holy Spirit, so relax, close your eyes, feel the music no one else can hear, sink in and allow yourself to be washed in the water. He’ll do the rest.
So those are all my thoughts on baptism. Do it early and often because you can’t mess it up. Also, unlike our elections, there are never any shenangians around counting the votes. God is a bit like “Diebold delivers,” only far more powerful and far more accurate.
oneta hayes said:
I have a tinge of the same feelings when I hear an invitation for salvation; although I know I am his child already, the invitation always sounds so good and the gate is so welcoming…. But, you know, the same thing happens often when I sit in my “closet” and enter another gate – one that comes farther on down the road. Every time he opens a new gate for me, surprise and delight wait on the other side.
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soakedduck said:
I knew a guy who raised his hand every time the preacher asked who had just received Jesus. At first I was concerned about his security. Then I realized he was just doublin’ down. I think we should all do the same!
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insanitybytes22 said:
Absolutely! Love Oneta’s words. I often want to respond to that call too, Do you receive Jesus? Yes! I call it being “born again yesterday.” I thought I was a Christian, but that was last week. Things are new this morning. 🙂
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Joseph E Bird said:
i haven’t read anything yet because i can’t quit laughing at the guy throwing himself in the water…
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soakedduck said:
Nice blog. I’m a little stuck on the beer thing…Tex Ritter sang a song that included, If the ocean were whiskey and I was a duck, I’d drive to the bottom and never come up. Maybe we should still use beer for baptism, it might prevent backsliding!
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Salvageable said:
Great post, and I agree with almost all of it. Baptism is a wonderful gift from the Lord, an assurance that he really means what the Bible says, making it personal to each of us. I would not ever recommend a rebaptism, though, unless it was done wrong the first time (done with beer instead of water, for example, or done “in the name of the parent, the offspring, and the spirit”). As I see it, baptism is something God does for us, not something we do for God–I get the sense that you are saying the same thing here. But God never gets anything wrong, so we don’t have to go back a second time. On the other hand, we renew God’s promise of baptism every time we repent and ask for forgiveness. So I “give my life to Jesus” every day, but I was baptized only once. J.
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insanitybytes22 said:
LOL, I was actually thinking of you when I wrote that part, Salvageable. We really do get to know one another, don’t we? I think my hubby would agree with you, I think he would feel as if rebaptism would in some way make the first one less important,and the whole thing less sacred? Or at least that’s how he seems to feel about renewing wedding vows.
In my world however, there are lot of people who were baptized as infants or who were baptized as teens, but haven’t been to church in 30 yrs, never even thought about the Lord after that summer. Then we have cultural Christianity, the people who think faith is related to dna, like “I’m a Christian because I’m an American and my parents were Christians,so by default I am one too, but I can’t even remember if I was baptized.” So I am not really talking about baptism as repentance, but more like if you weren’t really present the first time, it’s okay to do it again.
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Salvageable said:
“If you weren’t really present the first time…” That’s funny. Unless it really was a proxy baptism, you were there. Not remembering it is a different kettle of fish. God was there and he remembers it, which is what matters the most. If someone came to my church and said, “I was baptized a long time ago, don’t remember it, and haven’t believed for thirty years, but now I want to be a Christian,” I would welcome that person, teach that person, and have that person join the congregation through a public confession of faith; but I wouldn’t rebaptize. (WordPress agrees with me–it says that rebaptize isn’t a word!) I completely agree with the problem of cultural Christianity. Kierkegaard wrote extensively about that problem 150 years ago, and it hasn’t gone away. J.
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insanitybytes22 said:
Funny about the word “rebaptize.” WP is giving me fits, as is my keyboard. I am missing some keys on my laptop and then spell check keeps changing my words. Since I am missing some letters, I can’t even force a fix.
I would never actually force a baptism, like a grammar cop or something. I’m not trying to say your T wasn’t crossed, so God is throwing out your paper work. But someone out of faith for 30 years who doesn’t even remember if they were baptized? Why would you try to prevent them from being baptized?
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Salvageable said:
There’s a big difference between “doesn’t remember” and “doesn’t remember if.” Should any doubt exist about whether or not baptism happened in the past, I would baptize. J.
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John Branyan said:
I always appreciate a good prat fall, especially one that involves submersion.
There is much debate about the purpose of baptism. The dogmatic folks in my background assure me that baptism is absolutely essential for salvation. The dogmatic folks in the other camps assure me that baptism is merely symbolic and totally optional. I think both sides overstep the authority scripture grants them.
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insanitybytes22 said:
Yes, I think I side with “both extremes over step scripture.”
One problem with mandatory baptism for salvation is that now takes it out of the realm of a gift and makes it a chore, a piece of bureaucracy.
One problem with it being completely optional, that’s not what scripture says, but also few will ever do it because we’ve falsely sent the message that it isn’t really necessary.
It’s necessary,it’s important, it’s a gift.
My thinking with God is that He is the Lord of all Common Sense, so rigid rules, bureaucracy, technicalities, red tape, and extremes are probably the work of the other guy.
God is not the Dept of Motor Vehicles. 🙂
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Sonny said:
What is baptism? Is it the answer of a good conscience? 1 Peter 3:20-21, Why does Jesus say we must repent? Why did Jesus say we must believe? What is the meaning of the Greek word in Acts 2:38 Repent and be “immersed”
Reply with scripture, not what some Right Reverend told you. With the exception of the thief on the cross, everyone repented and believed before baptism. Why was Jesus immersed by John? Matt 3:15. Follower of Christ, not religion.
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Jim said:
I love that GIF. “SPLASH!”
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myquirkyfriend said:
The more I read your posts, the more I think you’re my long lost best friend. Great minds and all that jazz. 😜 Although I might refrain from performing accidental baptisms myself. Lol! You saying that made me think of a movie clip my church uses sometimes to promote larger baptism events. (Like setting a specific time at the river, etc. ) Here’s the clip. 👍😎 https://youtu.be/LhtaXzu2kto
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insanitybytes22 said:
LOL! That’s hysterical! Now that’s what I’m talking about. 🙂
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Wally Fry said:
First I’m not so much a fan of the idea of multiple baptisms. Once is quite enough, if done in a scriptural manner to a saved person.
@ John Branyan. Good point. I am of the camp that would say Baptism is symbolic and totally unnecessary for salvation. On the other hand, since we teach it is also a believer very first act of obedience that is is absolutely an essential. Not to smart to profess salvation and immediately refuse to follow the Lord Jesus in salvation and dismiss it as optional. So, I am in the middle camp. Not salvific at all, but an necessary part of our Christian life.
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Clyde Herrin said:
Baptism can be dangerous if an unsaved person is baptized and then believes he is a Christian as a result. I was once in this condition. I grew up in a liberal church which emphasized being baptized and joining the church but where I don’t recall ever hearing a clear explanation of how to be saved. I was baptized and became a member of the church and thought that because of that I was a Christian. I later heard the gospel and got saved, and afterward was baptized in a church that preached the gospel. I don’t consider that second baptism a rebaptism. It was the only time I was really baptized.
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newenglandsun said:
“I’m kind of a fan of baptism, and a bit like voting, we should probably do it early and often.”
And…ONCE!!!
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insanitybytes22 said:
LOL! See, I knew I would get somebody all riled up 🙂
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Mel Wild said:
Great post, IB. I also believe baptism is not necessary but we should do it for our own benefit. We also only need one, but it is a good way to keep your faith fresh. I have a funny story about baptism. Whenever we go to Israel we baptize people in the Jordan River. It’s a great experience. Well, the first time I did it, there were little fish in the water who liked to nibble on your legs when you waded in the water. I was baptizing 19 people so I was in there for a while and got used to it (I grew up on the Mississippi where this is a normal experience). But my Chicago-born wife got in the water and when I started to pray for her, she shrieked, “There’s fish biting me!” and then proceeded to climb up my body while I was trying to finish. The whole scene was quite silly and funny. I think we entertained everyone there. 🙂
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insanitybytes22 said:
LOL! I totally get that, Mel. I’d probably be climbing myself right out of there, too.
Interesting point about the Jordan river. I think I would totally rebaptize myself if I ever traveled to Israel. Or perhaps I would dunk myself and simply pray. My point being, in my heart, I don’t feel this spiritual objection to the idea of being baptized again. Can you really be baptized too many times? Well, perhaps if it was a weekly thing or done for all the wrong reasons.
Actually, come to think of it, I can’t even think of a wrong reason to be baptized…..
LOL, well I’m really no help at all! Go talk to your pastor, people. 🙂
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Mel Wild said:
There’s an early account of the apostle John rebaptizing one of his disciples after they had fallen away, as a symbol of their rededication. So, yes, there can be appropriate reasons to do it. But yeah, follow your convictions. 🙂
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SLIMJIM said:
Whoah…it was once done naked? Crazy
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Pingback: Baptism – Salvageable
Clyde Herrin said:
“We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.”
Romans 6:4 ESV
This verse tells us two things about baptism.
1. It should only be done once because Christ was only buried once.
2. It should be done by immersion because immersion is a picture of burial while pouring water on someone is not.
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patrickhawthorne01 said:
Someone was being a bit messy on this one. That’s what we say here in the South when someone is being naughty by seeing if they can get a rise out of people. 🙂
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insanitybytes22 said:
Ha! You have totally caught me. I am often all about “the mess,” but it’s a mess with a good purpose.
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Ron said:
Immerse yourself in the Lords Word.
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