In a Christianity Today article titled “Adult
Baptisms” Calvin Miller laments the hesitancy of
adults to being baptized. He writes, “The
doctrine of baptism is not just a damp
aggravation Jesus tacked onto church practice to
annoy those who come to faith. It is ‘an outward
and visible sign of an inward and spiritual
grace,’ an act of obedience, a public statement
of faith. [The Bible never describes it as
an “outward sign of an inward grace” but more on
that later. BF] Miller goes on, “Perhaps
Jesus knew that a faith never publicly expressed
had little chance of surviving…You'd expect a
Baptist minister to say these things. What's
interesting is that even in a Baptist church,
many adults face the rite with a kind of terror.
This terror is not so much a fear of drowning
(though I have encountered even that) but a fear
of being ‘center staged’ and scrutinized as a
new saint, a situation that can occur in any
church — immersionist or not. Why this fear?
There are several reasons.” Let’s consider
the reasons he offers and then look to the Bible
for an answer.
Miller writes,”
First, the adultness of the person being
baptized is a psychological stumbling block.
There persists the feeling today that baptism is
for children. The predominance of paedobaptism
in our culture has no doubt accounted for this,
but it is a widespread problem when adults come
to faith. Clearing up this misunderstanding is
work.” The simple truth of the matter is
this. There is not a single instance of any
infant being “baptized” in the Bible. Biblical
baptism is preceded by faith (Mark
16:16)
and repentance (Acts
2:38),
two actions wholly impossible and unnecessary
for infants.
Miller writes,
“Second, the public nature of baptism is
troublesome to many. People often ask me if they
could be baptized in some more private way. They
would like it to be just me and them, or perhaps
just a few friends. No amount of my reasoning
has worked very well in overcoming this fear. I
can point out theologically that baptism is an
outward confession and would thus lose its
meaning [emphasis mine, BF] in a
totally private service.” Really? Imagine
how that would disappoint the Ethiopian eunuch
whose baptism was witnessed God and Philip (Acts
8:26-39).
This is what happens when one assigns a meaning
to baptism that the Bible does not and ignores
the meaning of baptism that the Bible gives.
Let’s be crystal clear about this: baptism is an
act of faith and obedience for the forgiveness
of sins. The New Testament does not portray it
as an event to attend or a ceremony to behold.
If witnesses attend it and behold its
occurrence, fine and well. But that is not what
it is about. It is an appeal to God for a good
conscience (1 Peter
3:21).
It is becoming more common in the church today
to hear that “little Johnny is going to be
baptized in two weeks and we want you to be
there.” If little Johnny knows he’s lost and has
a sufficient understanding of how to be saved
what is he waiting for?! “Why
do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away
your sins, calling on his name”
(Acts 22:16).
Miller writes that
the third obstacle is one of vanity. Says he,
“Baptism is, admittedly, an undignified
experience, especially for those of us who
immerse.” First of all biblical baptism is
immersion. That’s what the word means.
Romans 6:1-4
and
Colossians 2:12
refer to it as a burial. But if the act of
submitting oneself to the alleged indignity of
being dunked under water is too high a hurdle
doesn’t that say something significant about the
one so hesitant? Until pride has been dealt with
there can be no conversion to Christ (James
4:6,7). The poor in spirit makes no demands.
He simply asks, “What must I do to be saved?” (Acts
16:30).
God bless you,
Brad Fry
