Why We Don't Baptize in Private

I hate to break it to those who think that faith is a private matter, but when you are a part of Christian community, faith is no longer private.  If it was ever private at all, then I question whether it we should actually call it faith.  Somewhere along the line we have come to the mistaken conclusion that faith is only a "personal" thing.  This has brought on a whole new generation of people who call themselves "spiritual but not religious."  We may not be "religious" in the strict sense of the word, but faith is always something that is meant to be shared (The Great Commission of Matthew 28 tells us that!)

Baptism is the entry point into the community of faith, the church.  For Jesus it was the beginning of his PUBLIC ministry.  You could say that it is the beginning of each of our ministries as well.  If you are an adult who seeks baptism then a confession of faith is required and that is a public acknowledgment that you believe and confess Jesus as Lord of your life and wish to be baptized into Christ's salvation.  If you are a baby then you will have your opportunity to make the same confession after you have studied and been instructed in the faith in confirmation/catechism classes.  Then it becomes an "Affirmation of Faith."  You say "yes" to God's "yes" in your life.

But you can do that anytime you want to!  Just say "yes!"

Baptism in the center of community worship is so vitally important therefore we do not relegate this sacrament to 20 minutes after our latest worship service.  We do not wait for the congregation to go home before we fill up the font.  We invite them to participate with the baptismal candidate as part of the worship discipline.  We are asking the community of believers to take us under their wing, to teach us, mentor us, prod us when we need it, hold us accountable to being a disciple of Jesus Christ.

Baptism is NOT a ceremony where we get a nice new candle and a certificate of authenticity to put in our scrap book at home.  It is a holy sacrament (one of two for Lutherans).  It has been commanded by Jesus (Matthew 28:19-20), it shows us tangibly God's grace, it uses natural elements as signs of what God is doing in our lives (water).  Baptism bestows upon the believer God's mercy and forgiveness. It does not eradicate original sin (that sin that we inherited from our ancestors, Adam and Eve).  It does however keep it in check!  We will never be perfect this side of heaven but daily we remember the sacrament and rejoice that we have been saved through water and the Word.  The Holy Spirit is bestowed upon us and resides in us as our advocate and guide.

This is too wonderful to do in private!
This is too amazing to keep from the rest of the community!
We are all in this together. . . and so we do it together. . . the baptized makes promises to God (or the parents of the baptized) and the community of faith makes promises to the baptized-- AND to God on behalf of the baptized.  The congregation also gets an opportunity to remember their baptisms and how connected we are through our Lord Jesus Christ.  This is ABOUT community. . . to make it private is to relativize it, make it less important and it is VERY important!!

I don't know about you, but I'm glad we do this in community because I could never, ever do this "faith thing" alone!

Thanks be to God that I don't have to, and neither do you!!

(In dire emergencies, such as when a person who has not been baptized, we would do it wherever and whenever we needed to so that they did not die without the sacrament.  In this case any baptized person can baptize another, it need not be an ordained clergy person.)