Wow! If you decide you want to elicit some strong emotions from parents of young children, just bring up the topic of when/if children should be baptized!
I find myself in the position of having to wrestle with this issue right now, so I thought I'd share some thoughts and then (as usual) ask for feedback...
First, let me note (briefly) why I don't practice or approve of infant baptism. I understand that there are plenty of folk that do; I just have to agree to disagree. In a nutshell, those that baptize babies believe that the ancient rite of circumcision was a sign of membership into the community of faith (a point I agree with) and that modern day infant baptism is the replacement for that rite, now that we're in the church age. These folk believe that the Church has replaced Israel.
I don't take that position. I advocate what's commonly called "believer's baptism"; that is, I believe only those who've personally chosen to follow Christ should be baptized.
Hence, the "at what age" questions begin...
For my part, I believe that it's in the best interest of local churches to make a legitimate effort not to baptize those that really don't understand the Gospel. It's ultimately unfair and unhealthy to baptize a hypothetical seven year old kid that says she loves Jesus but otherwise doesn't really understand what she's saying.
Therefore, local churches have a responsibility to implement wisdom in making this decision. For me, I'm increasingly coming to the conviction that wisdom on this question involves asking the prospective baptismal candidate the right questions; questions that are neither tricky nor leading. We can't, for example, simply ask a child "Do you love Jesus?" and expect that their answer reflects actual understanding!
But neither can we expect children (or adults, for that matter) to have a developed theology before we baptize them. The New Testament pattern typically reflects baptism very soon after the decision to follow Christ. But with children, the question centers around when they are actually mature enough to really make that decision.
Believing as I do that young children best grasp narrative, I'm thinking that posing hypothetical situations is a much better way to get the kind of honest, heart-felt answers we should be looking for. Asking a child a "fill in the blank" kind of question will get us only so far. But asking a child to tell a story in response to a story we tell them? Much better.
The question now becomes harder - the details. That's where I'm wrestling right now. I'm trying to think of reasonable, hypothetical situations I could mentally put children into - narratives that will set the stage for their continuation of the story. I'm optimistic that(if done the right way) this will get us closer to a child's true understanding of what it means to follow Jesus.
Your thoughts? Anybody with personal experience on this issue? I'd love to hear from you ...
Hatushili
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Children and Baptism
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2 comments:
Well certainly asking children if they said “the prayer” is not an adequate method of determining salvation.
Mathew 16:15 says “But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?"
This verse comes to my mind as the most important thing they can answer,who is Jesus to them. But as you’re saying, it sure is hard to ask it in a way that is not leading. Honestly, I doubt there is anyway to check someone’s salvation with conversation alone. Really the only Biblical way to tell a Christian is by their fruit and that can only be accomplished by developing a relationship with them and by observing them over time.
Perhaps if someone were to express an interest in getting baptized, they could be paired with an elder/church leader for a certain amount of time in which the two could discuss a plethora of issues and share testimonies to be certain of salvation. As if in an evaluation or hiring process, the elder could make contact with family members and friends of the individual, he or she could spend time with them in a variety of settings and so forth to get a more complete picture of the person. Additionally, if after the mentorship time where completed and the elder determines the individual is not genuine about his/her faith he is in a perfect position to mentor further and help lead them to a better understanding of who Christ is. It really is an important issue and perhaps a larger amount of time should be devoted to ensuring salvation before baptism. Personally, I’ve always admired the time devoted to, and the idea behind catechism, however I’m not proposing anything like it…it’s a bit off the mark…knowledge can be easy to fake, relationships are much harder.
When I asked to be baptized over 8 years ago I was set before the church leaders and I was simply asked if I was a Christian… the discussion lasted all of 30 seconds. In fact, I was baptized with a rather large group, and I believe all of us where “checked for salvation” in less than a half hour. I had not even been attending the church for a full year when this occurred and I doubt the leaders knew me personally well enough to already be assured of my salvation before hand. Any individual placed in front of a group of church leaders, especially a child, is going to be in a mindset of trying to say the right things to make sure they can get baptized. This set up seems almost like a pass/fail test… which doesn’t foster honesty and transparent discussions.
If there must be some assurance of salvation in a single setting, what do you think about asking them to share their journey… initially leaving it at that? A definitive conversion experience or a more progressive trust in Christ should quickly become evident.
Thanks for posting the question Nathan; as usual you’ve given me a topic to spend time thinking about that I may not have on my own. I’ll chew on this for a while…
we are wrestling with this question as well on a pastor/elder level. thanks for posting it - hope to get a chance to discuss it more with you guys.
JB - one of the things we are looking into is a catechism class that parents would work with the kids at home. you are right that mere knowledge can be fake and I apologize that your baptizing church was a simple q&a ... if it will be on any encouragement to you my wife and i had watched your life (perhaps not as closely as we could have) and were convinced by your life that your words were legit.
gotta run but look forward to getting back to talk more in the near future.
jwm
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