This blog is the 7th in a series "The Top Ten Questions People Ask Pastors." Over the last year or two, these have been the questions that most frequently make their way to my office.
It is often said that people here in the Northeast are much too private to publicly identify with a personal religious tradition. In fact, that's simply not true. Every week during football season, vast numbers of my friends and neighbors wear color combinations they would never wear under any other circumstances in order to carry the cross of the Washington Redskins. And it is a cross! The Skins have enjoyed only one winning season in the last decade or so. Our team has elevated defeat to an art. Nevertheless, Redskins bumper stickers, jerseys, workout clothing, caps, mailboxes, etc., etc., are everywhere.
We're not ashamed to announce our allegiance to the Redskins or the Packers or the Crimson Tide or the Longhorns. And we're not ashamed to identify with Gucci or Christian Dior or the Outer Banks or a leading political candidate. Why does privacy become such a priority when it comes to Jesus Christ?
That brings us to my 4th most frequently asked question. "Why should I be immersed as an adult if I've already been christened as a child in some other Christian church?" Apparently, I'm not the only pastor who gets that question a lot. Studies show that baptism is declining all across the USA as people are more reluctant to experience immersion and churches are more reluctant to require it. Are Christians really the most private of all private citizens?
When I explain that baptism is not essential for salvation, but is simply a very important symbol, I am sometimes challenged: "If it's just a symbol, why is it so important?" In fact, the flag of the United States is nothing more than a symbol, but large numbers of men and women die defending that symbol. And while burning a flag in public is quite legal, it can also get you pummeled and kicked to the dirt pretty quickly in America. The wedding ring is nothing more than a symbol of marital faith and fidelity, but don't tell millions of married men and women that ring isn't important.
In 1 Peter 3:21,22 scripture teaches that the floodwater in the story of Noah "symbolizes baptism which now saves you also, not by the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God." Neither buoyant water nor floating boat actually saved Noah and his family. God saved them all. But the the boat and the water were tools in his hands. Likewise, baptism is a tool in the hands of Almighty God. It expresses our allegiance to his kingdom based on the mystery of faith. Like a wedding band, it doesn't make me a Christian but it does reflect the truth that I am one. So why are most football fans willing to look ridiculous for hours on end, while many Christians are not willing to look wet for a moment?
Of course, someone will ask, "But I don't object to baptism. I object to being baptized by immersion! Why must I be soaked in front of a crowd? Why do you insist that I be immersed?" I'll answer that next week with three texts from scripture that make it perfectly clear.
Selah!
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