When baptism becomes works righteousness
“What the … [gospels] describe as hearing and following the call to discipleship, Paul expresses with the concept of baptism. Baptism is not something we offer to God. It is, rather, something Jesus Christ offers to us. It is grounded solely in the will of Jesus Christ, as expressed in his gracious call. Baptism is essentially a paradoxically passive action; it means being baptized, suffering Christ’s call. In baptism we become Christ’s possession.”
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The apostle Peter says at Pentecost, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38).
As Bonhoeffer says, there is something paradoxical about baptism. I must consent to it, but baptism is not essentially about me acting. I am being baptized in the name of Christ. Christ asks each of us, “Can I have you?” When we answer “yes,” the church as the representative of Christ takes us and pours the water of baptism over our heads. We are taken into the body of Christ and receive the Spirit by which we will walk. Our humanly created identities (Jews or Greeks, slaves or free) are washed away (1 Corinthians 12:12–13).
In the EMC, as in evangelical circles more generally, we now have a more active understanding of baptism that emphasizes the unfettered free choice of the young person in the church. This was not always so. In my teen years baptism was still an unspoken expectation by a certain grade in school. In some conservative Mennonite churches, one is expected to be baptized before marriage. But today we almost expect young people to spontaneously come up with the idea for baptism on their own. I have heard church leaders lament that many well-intentioned church young people don’t seem to ever get around to baptism.
Do we assume that if someone is meeting a community expectation, their actions are therefore inauthentic, impersonal and coerced? That is to dismiss what was happening in people’s hearts in the previous generation, even as they complied with expectations.
Do we assume that if someone is meeting a community expectation, their actions are therefore inauthentic, impersonal and coerced? That is to dismiss what was happening in people’s hearts in the previous generation, even as they complied with expectations. Authentically and personally consenting to the expectations of a church is the best of both worlds. This might be a more profound surrender to grace, symbolizing our consent to the Lordship of Christ.
While baptism “merely” to comply with community church expectations is wrong, in our modern “age of authenticity” (Charles Taylor) we will almost naturally fall off the horse on the other side. Like our weddings and funerals, baptism will most easily become just one more way modern consumers exercise their Almighty Power of Choice and create their own unique path to spirituality. This is works righteousness.
Churches that invite people to choose their own mode of baptism, either pouring or immersion, choose the “special” friends or parents to stand beside them in the water, or pick the “special” time of life when they now “feel ready” for baptism, are in danger of losing this “paradoxically passive action”. They could give the impression that each Christian has been given the privilege (burden!) of tailoring their own salvation.
Baptism is an act of non-resistance to Jesus. Without this paradoxical act of passivity, we cannot be Christians in the fullest sense. Jesus asks, “Will you let me take you?” When the church senses that you have stopped saying “No,” and are “suffering Christ’s call,” you will be baptized, for your own good.
