Baptism is an expression of trust, an act of obedience and a symbol of commitment by someone who wants to follow Christ with their life. For baptism to be meaningful, it should be done by those who are mature enough to make this decision for themselves. Simply put, it should be done by those who understand what they are doing. That’s why there are no stories in scripture of infants being baptized. Many young children express a desire to be baptized, but we encourage parents to wait until they are certain that it is a decision their child is making on his/her own behalf and can truly appreciate its significance.
It’s not uncommon for children to want to be baptized because they want to please their parents or because they saw someone else do it. The best way is to read some of these passages with your child and talk to them about it. Have them put into their own words why they want to be baptized. Can they explain what baptism is? Does your child not only love God, but also understand their sin and their need for God? Ask your child what it means to them to follow Christ. There is no specific age for this, but our pastors can help you determine if your child is ready to take this step.
Often adults assume baptism is only for kids, or they are embarrassed to take this step of obedience. Remember, the point of baptism is to follow the instructions and example of Christ, who was baptized even as the Son of God. Every baptism is a powerful story of someone wanting to follow the example of their Savior.
The symbolism is best pictured by immersion. It pictures the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus (Romans 6:3,4). It also pictures our identification with Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection (2 Corinthians 5:17). The “old” you has passed away, the “new” you has been raised. If there are special circumstances that prevent immersion, please feel free to discuss this privately with one of our pastors. Ultimately, the amount of water used in a public baptism is not the issue, an obedient heart is.
Being baptized is also an opportunity for you to influence others in a positive way spiritually. It provides you a way to publicly show your faith before others. Non-believing friends and family members usually attend our baptisms, and they are often deeply impacted by the stories of those being baptized. Christian friends are also built up by this and motivated to continue sharing the message of Christ. Being baptized is also an opportunity for you to take a step of faith.
Getting baptized is, at times, intimidating because it involves taking a stand for your faith in front of the community of believers. It could be stepping outside of your “comfort zone” to do something that shares Christ and serves others. Christ will challenge you to take such steps throughout your life journey, so experiencing baptism can be a celebrated success of displaying your faith!
Throughout the book of Acts, the early Christians followed Jesus’ instructions for those who follow him to be baptized (Acts 2:41; 8:12, 36-38; 9:18; 10:44-48; 16:14, 15, 30-34; 18:8; 19:4,5). The New Testament order was always “believe and be baptized,” there is not one single act of baptism before conversion in scripture. Christian baptism then, is not what causes you to become a Christian—it is an action taken after becoming a Christian. It is not something you do to earn God’s acceptance—it is something you do because you have received the free gift of God’s acceptance through faith in Christ. We become Christians when we admit our sin and trust Christ as our Forgiver.
Baptism is a symbolic act—the water cannot wash away sin. Baptism is merely an “object lesson” of how our sins were washed away by the blood of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:18-19). Therefore, we baptize people for the reasons outlined in the Bible (as a symbol of their personal commitment to follow Jesus Christ), and in the manner outlined in the Bible (immersion).
