So if you are new to following or learning about Jesus, you might have heard about Baptism and you might be wondering if it’s important or not. Depending on what church background you’re a part of right now, you’ll get varying degrees of importance from “you have to get baptized in order to go to heaven” all the way to “it’s not necessary at all.” You’ll also get a different understanding of what baptism looks like and the meaning behind it, so let’s take a deeper look.
How do you get Baptized?
Baptism comes from the Greek word “baptidzo” which literally means to immerse, dip, or plunge. So this is why many of the denominations baptize by going all the way under and all the way out because it’s literally what it means. It’s also how the practice happened in ancient Bible times.
I know for a long time, I thought baptism was something Jesus made up specifically for Christians, but it started as a Jewish practice. It was part of how Gentiles converted to Judaism. They would have baptistries with steps where you would walk down into the water and across and up the steps on the other side to spiritually cleanse yourself. So while it seems like a strange tradition to us, it was common to the Jews that Jesus came to teach and preach to, which is probably why they don’t go into a lot of detail about how to do it because the “how” seemed so obvious to them, they didn’t think it needs to be written down. So we have to trust what we historically know about the practice, and it would have been a full immersion in water.
But do you have to do that to make it count? We’ll get to that in a minute.
What is Baptism?
The next thing about baptism is that this is a part of a public confession of faith. This is you saying, I’m going to follow Jesus and join the family. With that comes the support, encouragement, and accountability on how to follow Jesus and represent him well as an ambassador. This is kind of the clear line in the sand that you are saying no turning back, to quote the song. And it’s important for you and for those around you to know without a shadow of a doubt you’re all in on Jesus. Otherwise, everything is a little wishy-washy. You’re trying Jesus out if you don’t make a line in the sand saying you’re all in on Jesus.
But do you have to get baptized to make it clear? Can’t you just say a prayer, go to church and volunteer to make it clear you’re following Jesus?
That’s kind of like asking do I have to do everything Jesus told me to do or if can I do half of it, and ignore the other half of the commands. Do I have to Love God and love people, or can I just pick one to love?
You see, the last thing Jesus told us to do before he left the earth was to
19Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20
So if the last thing Jesus told us to do was to baptize people, it must be important.
And the thing is we try to split hairs and draw lines and circles on how much do we have to obey or how little do I have to do to make it count.
- Can be sprinkled?
- Does it count if I was a baby?
- Do I get the Holy Spirit before or after?
- If I die on my way to being baptized will I still go to heaven?
- Etc. etc. etc.
We love trying to find the line between us and God and the reality is whether you are in a relationship with him or not.
It would be like me asking how close can I get to an affair without it being an affair. Thankfully Jesus answered that one for us, he said just thinking about another person that way is as bad as actually doing it. Meaning, if your heart is betraying your spouse, then your actions aren’t that far away. So the goal isn’t to see how far from my husband I can be and still be married to him, the goal is to see how close I can get to him to have a strong relationship with him.
And it’s the same with our relationship with God. Do we love him and want a relationship, or do we want all the perks with none of the responsibility? That’s a situationship, and God don’t play that game.
At the end of it all, baptism is a celebration of obedience and commitment to Jesus for everything he’s done. And once we’re ready to choose Jesus over anything, why wouldn’t we say yes to anything that might get us closer?
I think that’s why he showed us Cornelius and his family. Because it wasn’t about what they got, they already had the Holy Spirit. But what they learned is that there was one more way for them to show God that they were all-in on relationship with him and they said yes. So at the end of everything, do you want to be all in with Jesus, or do you want to see how little you can do and still call it a relationship, because in any other relationship, we would call a red flag.
Does Baby Baptism count?
I’ve talked with lots of people who were baptized as babies and want to know if that counts. And what I always say is, while it was a great foundation for you’re parents to raise you in, you didn’t have a say in the decision. Baby baptism is more about the parents’ committing to raise their children to love Jesus more than it is about their children making a choice to follow Jesus. And baptism is really about making the choice for yourself.
So then people will ask how old should you be. Do you have to be an adult to make it count? I was baptized just before I turned 8, and while I had moments I wasn’t sure if I understood it as much as I should have, as I’ve got older, I’ve realized we never really understand everything about choosing to follow Jesus. So when it comes to kids, I think it’s about being able to acknowledge what sin is and that they are sinful, and then also being able to work on their relationship on their own. Meaning they are choosing to pray, they are reading their Bible on their own, they are able to talk to people about their faith and they are helping others as an example of Christ’s love. And while all of those things will look different at 8 than at 30, it’s about where they are at in ability, just like anything else in life.
So regardless of age, when you get to understand that you are sinful, that Jesus died to cover that sin, and you want to accept that give of Jesus’s death and give your life to him as a thank you. Those are the basics, you always learn more as you go.
I need to get some things taken care of before saying yes to Jesus
There are many people who have lived a hard life and understand how far they are from Jesus in ways many of us will never experience. When you understand the depth of your sin, it’s hard to accept at face value the depth of Jesus’ grace. Many times people will delay the commitment of baptism because they feel like they need to get rid of some of their sins before they ask Jesus to help them with the rest. But trying to clean your life up on your own without Jesus is like trying to remove tar without soap, you are still sticky and attract more dirt. You have to have Jesus in the middle of the mess for chaos to go to calm.
It doesn’t solve every problem
Baptism isn’t a solve-all or get-out-of-jail-free card. Even as Jesus pieces us back together through his grace and mercy, the world is still broken, we are still human, and some of our choices before Christ will have consequences that last past the water or for our whole life. Jesus can solve and heal anything, but that doesn’t mean everything will be solved or healed on this side of eternity. So when you get baptized, know that it doesn’t instantly get easy and perfect. For some of us, it may feel harder before it gets easy, because the more we try to recenter our life around Jesus, the more that will be moved and released, and not everyone or everything will be happy with that shift. But Jesus promises to be with you through the hardships, and God promises to care for each of his children. Will you trust God when it’s not easy, is the question, or are you saying yes trying to get an easy life?
What if I’m ready?
Maybe reading this you’re thinking Baptism might be your next step. Talk to your minister. If you don’t have a Church home, that would be your first step, find a church family that you are willing to join and accept encouragement and accountability from. If you’re not sure email me or message me on socials. I’ll help you investigate your area to get connected to a solid church family that can support you through your next steps of faith. Because we weren’t meant to do this alone, and it’s all about relationship with God and others.
Stay Weird,
