Nine and One Half Baptisms

I went to an old fashioned river baptism recently. You don't see many of those, these days.

There were a total of ten baptismal candidates. Though, in my book, it was, at the most, nine and a half.

Why do I say so? Because one lady, who appeared to me to be a fine lady, had been waiting on her "letter" to arrive from her previous church. ("Letter:" that's a Southern Baptist thing, if you don't know.) Suddenly, went to the altar asking the preacher if she could join the church by baptism instead of waiting on her letter. The preacher was pleased with the idea and the congregation even voted in the affirmative.

I suppose her recently converted husband's immanent baptism was on her mind. Perhaps she wanted, in some way, to show some sort of solidarity with him. She gave no real indication of her thoughts or feelings other than saying that she wanted to be baptized again. The pastor remarked at least twice, "There's nothing wrong with that!"

Well, is there? Is he right? One thought, among many, that loomed in my mind which apparently occurred to no one else, was the simple question: "Why?"

Was there some problem with her first baptism? Was it done incorrectly? Was she lost when she was originally baptized?

The very fact that the pastor described at least part of her wish to be baptized as a desire to "join the church" by baptism, begged several unasked questions. That very statement alludes to the old baptist teachings of baptism being the door to the church.

I know enough about Baptist history to know that the Ana-Baptists were so named because of their requirement of rebaptism, but that requirement applied only to those joining their ranks from other denominations. It's a topic for another blog, but, in short, they were dealing with pedo-baptists, papists, sprinklers and those who had been baptized under false authority. (It never seems to occur to most modern Baptists that, although the minister may be the administer of the ordinance of baptism, without the authority of the congregation, it's no more than bathing at home in your tub.)

What if she wants to be baptized again next week? Will the congregation gladly accommodate her? What if another member gets the notion to be baptized again? What if the pastor got the notion to be baptized again, would the church accommodate him?

I wasn't surprised when the pastor cheerfully professed that he had been baptized twice, himself. Sometimes it's hard to kick against the pricks. What I mean is, if he, in the recesses of his mind, somehow realizes that perhaps he was somehow in error, that's the type of thing that usually haunts one's mind. People who are in the wrong always try to bring others over to their unorthodox thinking. As my dad used to say, "You've got me convinced, now convince yourself."

It seems that Baptism, along with the Lord's Supper, have become something completely different than what they were even fifty, let alone, two thousand years ago. They are both thrown around and passed around on a whim without any thought that Almighty God, Creator of the earth, moon and stars, might be even the least bit particular about how we administer his ordinances. If you search nature itself, you'll discover order and structure throughout the cosmos. (That's yet another blog.) Yet, we capriciously chase any idea that throws itself before us.

Now, I'm really not trying to hurt any one's feelings or be insensitive to any one's sincere desire to be closer to God. I'm only trying to point out that there is a wrong way and a right way to do the Lord's work. Again to quote my dad, "If any way will do, then no way will do just as well."