After church one Sunday afternoon, a four-year-old boy said, very seriously, "Daddy, will you let me baptize you?" The father laughed it off as a joke but then realized that his son was serious, because he kept asking him, "Daddy, will you let me baptize you?" Finally, not knowing if his son even knew what "baptism" meant, the father said, "Okay son. You can baptize me." The son then came very close to his father, looked intently into his eyes, and said, "You're getting sleepy. You're getting sleepy. . . "
So many are confused by what baptism is. The boy in our story thought is was a form of hypnosis… Others see it as a way to wash off a sinful weekend… still others as a method to get to heaven. So what is it? None of these.
Instead, baptism is an outward expression of an inward decision. It’s what comes after you pray the prayer of salvation. Steph and I often refer to it as putting on your “God jersey”… showing the world that you are on God’s team. We do it by immersion (dunking underwater) because that’s what they did in the Bible… and any believer can do it (or do it again). It doesn’t get you to heaven… it doesn’t wash off a bunch of bad choices… it’s simply a chance to express the decision you’ve already made to follow Christ with your life. It’s showing the world that you belong to Jesus… in a very public way.
Many ask me if Christening counts…. They want to know if the baptism that happened to them as little babies still holds up. Yes. Baptism as an adult by no means negates the Christening that your parents did for you when you were too young to remember. In fact, it completes it. When they had you sprinkled as a baby, they were committing to raising you in a way that honored God. And now, as an adult, you are confirming their intent. When you enter the waters of baptism by your own decision, you are telling them… yes… you wanted me to follow God in my life… and I have… and now I’m telling the world.
If you have yet to be baptized, and have already prayed the prayer of salvation…. what are you waiting for? Jesus Himself did it. And why? Because He wanted us to follow in His beautiful footsteps and be baptized as well. Ready to follow Him in obedience? Ready to put on your God jersey? Let me know in the comments below.
