Today's story of baptism comes from an article by Melanie Ross, which looks at the way Baptists have cheapened baptism and not taken it as seriously as we might. The section below comes from the beginning of the article, in the rest of it Ross seeks to provide some better ways to practice baptism amongst Baptists.
Recently, as part of the Sunday morning worship, my church viewed a short promotional video advocating believer’s baptism. Focusing my attention on the screen at the front of the sanctuary, I quickly discovered that none of my courses in sacramental theology had prepared me for what I was about to see:
A young, casually dressed pastor stands in front of a bustling local doughnut franchise. He begins his remarks with a passage from 1 Corinthians, in which the apostle Paul speaks of baptizing a man named Crispus. “Now, we can’t know this for certain,” the pastor intimates, leaning into the camera, “but I think his real name might have been … ‘Crispus Cremus!” The video quickly cuts to a close up of hot, golden brown pastries bumping along a conveyor belt. “Christians,” the voiceover cheerfully announces, “are much like these doughnuts!” As the pastries passed beneath a fountain of thick, syrupy sugar, the narrator explains, “Baptism is the glaze that gives Christians our sweetness!” I easily and accurately anticipated the story’s conclusion: after baptism, we are put into a box (the local church), and sent forth to feed the world.
This five minute media presentation was clever, lighthearted, professionally produced – and theologically disturbing. Immediately, objections swelled within me; Christianity as junk food for the world? Faith as a predictable mechanized process? Church as a confining box? But perhaps the analogy that rankled most was baptism as a secondary “glaze” added to the already-formed Christian doughnut.
As the video ended and the morning worship continued, I found myself reflecting on my own experience of baptism. Interestingly, I had been identifying myself as a Christian several years prior to my baptism. I had made a commitment to Christ as a young child, and had already been participating in the Lord’s Supper on a regular basis. I was baptized at the age of 13 (many years removed from my initial conversion experience), and the decision to be baptized was one I made without any coercion from my family. My parents felts strongly that baptism was not something my younger sister and I should be pressured into; they prayed for us both, and trusted that we would know for ourselves when the timing was right. While this approach worked, I now regret that I have no memory of the spiritual and psychological progression which eventually led me to seek out the waters of baptism. The morning’s video gave me no further help in expressing a mature theology of Christian initiation.
Melanie Ross, ‘Dunking Doughnuts?: Rethinking Free Church Baptismal Theology', Pro Ecclesia 14.4 (2005), 433-434.
If only that video had been a "spoof" to get the congregation thinking more deeply about Baptism! Sadly, it sounds as if it wasn't.
Posted by: Andrew Kleissner | March 01, 2016 at 09:07 AM
My goodness . . . I'm shocked by the description of that video!
Posted by: Terry | March 01, 2016 at 02:57 PM