Thoughts on Baptism, Communion and Church Membership

Recently, there has been a debate circulating through the blogosphere in regards to baptism, communion, and church membership. Justin Taylor has provided a nice summation of the debate on his blog if you want to catch up. Ultimately, the debate boils down to this: Baptism is required for church membership. Baptists believe that biblical baptism consists of immersion after a mature profession of faith. Some baptists believe that those who have only been sprinkled as a baby have not received true baptism and shouldn’t be allowed to join a baptist church or partake in the Lord’s Supper (church membership being a prerequisite). Other baptists believe that while baptism is necessary for membership and communion, how or when a person is baptised isn’t as important as recognizing that person as a fellow believer. Therefore, they should be able to partake of the Lord’s Supper (at the least) and possibly join a baptist church without having to be rebaptized.

There are certainly many nuances within this debate, and I don’t care to rehash all of them here – the link above is sufficient for that. What I would like to focus on here is why there is really only one logical position in this debate – that paedobaptists (those who have been baptized as infants) should be barred from joining a baptist church and from partaking of the Lord’s Supper in that church.

My initial postition in this debate was to side with those who would allow all Christians – regardless of baptism mode – to join and commune. It is clear in the scriptures that the Lord’s Supper is to be observed by the church – the baptized body of Christ. It is clear that the church consists of both paedobaptists and credobaptists (those who are baptized after a mature profession of faith). That seems to be pretty easy, huh? But let’s take a closer look.

What constitutes a Christian in the bible? Well, there are a number of things that a Christian is recognized by: his walk, his participation in the body of Christ, his obedience to Christ, his profession of faith, etc… but ultimately, the bible looks to a person’s baptism into Christ as their Christian identity. While repentance and baptism go hand in hand, baptism is the objective, physical marker of becoming a Christian, and this is what the apostles pointed to when they addressed the church. That being said, then, it is clear that baptism is a necessary requirement for being a member of the church and partaking of the Lord’s Supper. Now let’s take a look at the baptist view of baptism.

This is what the Baptist Faith and Message says about baptism -

Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer’s faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Saviour, the believer’s death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus. It is a testimony to his faith in the final resurrection of the dead. Being a church ordinance, it is prerequisite to the privileges of church membership and to the Lord’s Supper.

In a nutshell, if you want to join a baptist church and take communion, you must be baptized as a believer by immersion. Simple as that. In fact, if you notice, I highlighted the point about it being an act of obedience. This is the case that is made in the current debate: paedobaptists cannot join a baptist church because they have not been properly baptized, and they cannot partake of the Lord’s Supper because they are in direct disobedience to the command of our Lord.

So, you see the dilemma here, right? The bible clearly calls for Christians to feast together at the Lord’s Supper, but because of disobedience, some Christians can’t feast with other Christians at the Lord’s Supper. There is a lot to think about here. Everybody sins, so is this “sin” grievous enough to prevent table fellowship? If Christians are to partake of the Lord’s Supper, are those who are barred from the Lord’s Supper not Christians? Assuming you do allow paedobaptists to join and feast, how do you get around the clear baptist doctrine of baptism? Are you then sinning (as a pastor) by allowing others to sin?

We could go on. And other’s have. This is why many of our baptist churches practice closed communion – there’s just so many “what ifs” it’s easier to just keep it simple – if you’re a member of the local church, you can partake, if not, fuhget about it. So, as much as I commend those who support membership and communion regardless of baptism mode because of what they believe the bible says about the church, there really is no other way around it – something has to give. The other side is right. If you want to be a part of the baptist church, you must adhere strictly to their understanding of baptism and membership. If you don’t meet these prerequisites, then you shouldn’t be able to be a member. End of story.

 Baptist – It’s the new Roman Catholicism.

Adventures in VBAC

My search continues for a doula support person. I have found the following resource that has been encouraging.  Portions of her blog is this woman’s quest for VBAC options.  We are in ‘email communication’ with a doula in the area that comes highly recommended and she is helping us with some options for our delivery.  We shall keep you posted.  One nice thing is that for this delivery, my mom will be available to attend.  She plans on arriving here once I am a reported 3cm dialated or when I feel ‘its time’.  I am so grateful for her and look forward to her having a wonderful experience with us and Lucy for this next delivery.  I have been having at least one braxton hicks contraction a day for about a week. That is exciting!  It is just enough to make me pause, have a sinking feeling in my throat, and then my belly tightens up all around.  I am continually amazed at how our bodies work, how intricate we are.  I really have been intrigued with the whole birthing process.  I would like to consider offerring my services as a doula to women in the area once my girls are grown and I get some certified training.  I just want women to be fully educated about their birthing options and that it can be a wonderful experience and not some mere medical transaction that is basically treated like an illness.  I AM NOT ILL!  This, of course, steming from recent readings from that aforementioned blog.

On a side note…all went well with Molly’s bday party.  I have pics to post shortly on shutterfly, but too tired to do them now.  We had a great turnout of friends and family and the Lord saw fit to bring us much needed rain, rather a monsoon, at the very start of our outdoor party.  Not that it dampered our spirits a bit!   I will talk more later on all that.  All visiting family is now gone home and we get to start our ‘routine’ at home.  Getting back into the normal mode.  I still get to look forward to Katie’s birthday!!  She will turn 2 on 9/19.  We are definitely not doing a similar event for her- mainly because she becomes quite daunted at that kind of crowd. We shall see what we come up with.

Where’s Birmingham?

Check out this interesting post on the world’s 30 best skylines.

And, yes, that is a picture of the amazingly ordinary Birmingham skyline…. probably came in at #31.

Countdown has begun…

So I figured I should be adding my posts here that I have been posting on myspace. I realize not everyone cares to keep up on there and so for the few that read there, I will remain.  Thanks to Big Daddy Donato for recommending the old handy copy/paste   So here goes!

I had my first of the 2 weeker appt today with the OB.  All measures well and Lucy’s heartbeat sounded beautiful as usual!  I am having some of the braxton-hicks contractions, and they already make me stop in my tracks when one comes on. It is so exciting! She surely has been an active one.  It seems she sits real low and then pokes both elbows out at once trying to stretch out my hips- uh ouch!  One good thing at this appointment is that I found that I passed the glucose screening test.  I was surprised and not at the same time.  I have felt better this pregnancy than the last two overall, but I did fail the last two times and had to take that 4hr test.  SO GLAD to avoid that- no doubt due to your prayers!  Around here I have one cousin due any moment and then I will be the last in our family with the 5th kid born this year.  It has been a blast having all these babies all around, plus all the mom’s that we got to experience this pregnancy together- what a sweet time.  Be continuing in prayer as we have been very pleased with our doctor and are excited that he will allow us to try a VBAC on this #3 to try to avoid a c-section and reduce our overall recovery period and complications. Our goal is no drugs and minimal medical intervention- we shall see!

We are preparing for Molly’s bday tomorrow (Tues, 8/14).  I can’t believe she is turing 4! She is so big now.  So many of you on this site were so gracious to await her arrival on that big day in KY and she still loves a crowd! Her Mimi (Brian’s mom) is hosting a tea party at her home tomorrow for Granny, Aunt Tricia, me, and Pat and Thelma (Brian’s Dad’s family).  She has some cute finger foods and little tea set to use that is precious.  I can’t wait to see how that turns out.  The birthday cards have started to arrive and she absolutely LOVES it.  I love that she can recognize her name on the cards and gets that much more excited about it!

Saturday is the BIG PARTY day.  We have about 25 families that will be coming with children.  Friends and family alike.  Thanks to an uncle and aunt we will have an inflatable water slide to play on.  Molly and I have been making some cute little wands to give out to the girls all sparkly with glitter and purple, pink, green, and white.  For the boys we will have some dollar general swords for them to play with – however, very important rule on the packaging – ‘do not hit, swing, or poke at another person or animal’…cracks me up! Ummm it’s a sword people!  We have labeled the whole event Molly’s Merriland.  We just thought it would be fun to have a special name.  I have a little bean bag toss game we will do (I got to sew the bags- cool!) and a little magnetic fishing game too.  We will be doing a cook out with hot dogs and beans.  It went over well last year with a big crowd and still keeps costs down – Thanks to Sam’s of course! 

I was really hoping that some out of town family would make it in for this event, and as it turns out some are! I am so fortunate to have my Sis- Dana (TX) and Mom (FL) coming in so I will be enjoying this visit with them and especially love to see my girls grow their relationship with each of them.  Thanks so much guys for making this sacrifice of time and energy!

The only thing I am hoping for is a little bit of a breeze.  We did choose 3-6p time of the day since 3/4 of the yard is covered in shade, but the heat index here for the past few days has been like 110 degrees- stay cool out there people!  Basically that means for me that I either stay inside or sit in a pool- I don’t think the little kiddies will appreciate me sitting in their kiddy pool this day!  At least at this time of the day we will have plenty of shade and a/c option at the house.  I wish we could get some kind of set up like they have a Disney, you know the misters you can “refresh” yourself with?  They have ONE here at the zoo.  That is if you don’t count the one that the goats use and I try to sneak under .

Oh the summer is about over and I have so enjoyed being in the water so much.  Not sure if I love the coolness of it or just the zero gravity part- either way it works for me. 

One last thing is that I have really enjoyed a series on Marriage that our pastor has been preaching on Sundays.  I highly recommend if for single and married folks to listen.  You can download these to an IPOD or MP3 player and listen when you are not sitting in front of the PC.  They are all called ‘To Have and To Hold’ parts 1-4 and this past Sunday will be up in a day or so.  He is concluding the messages on this coming Sunday.

I pray you are all doing well and we will keep you posted on “stuff”. We just need to get past Katie’s bday and it will be time for our Lucy! I sure can’t wait to meet her!  Much love!

Current Readings

 

I usually read about 4 or 5 books at a time. Because of this, it usually takes me a couple of weeks to about a month to get through a book. This is because I strategically place books around the house so that I make sure I read them. For example, right now I have Moby Dick on my night stand, Ralph Smith’s Trinity and Reality downstairs in the living room, David McCullough’s The Great Bridge in the bathroom, N.T. Wright’s The Challenge of Jesus in my car, and Phillip Schaff’s The Principle of Protestantism in the van. Usually the bedside book gets read faster, but because we’ve been eating out a little too much recently, The Great Bridge is getting read more. While one reason for this allows me to read a variety of subjects, the main reason I do this is so that I’m never in a position where I say, “Man, I wish I had a book with me.” Because I rarely drive the van, this book is the one that gets neglected the most, but I try to remedy this by getting up early Saturday mornings and driving the van to the local coffee shop to read before the family gets up.

Anyways, my point is that I want to keep ya’ll updated on what I’m reading in case ya’ll are looking for something new to read, or have read a book I’m reading and want to discuss it. I also want to highlight some of the things I’m reading if I think it’s a “must read.”

It just so happens that I am reading a “must read,” Ralph Smith’s Trinity and Reality.

 

Ralph Smith is the pastor of a church in Japan and is the director of the Covenant Worldview Institute. And this is precisely what his book is about – worldviews. For those that have read books on worldviews, you are probably familiar with a few of the most popular ones: James Sire’s The Universe Next Door, Norman Geisler’s Worlds Apart, and Ronald Nash’s Worldviews in Conflict. These are the books I have read on the subject, with Sire’s book being the best, in my opinion. That is, until I started reading Trinity and Reality. In reading Trinity and Reality, I realize that while these other books are helpful and full of good info, they completely miss the foundation for a Christian worldview: The Trinity. The fact that God exists in a trinitarian relationship, and we are made to participate in this relationship, is what makes the Christian worldview distinct from every other worldview. Unfortunately, these other books rarely touch on this important issue – in fact, The Universe Next Door has only one paragraph dealing with the Trinity.

Trinity and Reality is written for high school students, so it is a very accessible read, and it is broken down into managable sections, so that you don’t have to injest 40 pages in one sitting to get the sense of what he’s talking about. Smith also has questions for discussion at the end of each chapter, which I have found to be very helpful. I highly recommend this book, especially as a small group study of some sort.

Enemy’s Camp

This past Sunday our pastor was out of town, so my buddy Jeremy got to preach. You can listen to it here. One of the subjects he touched on was the biblical theology of stones – often the Bible uses stone and rocks to symbolically point us to Christ. For example, Jesus is the chief cornerstone. One of the things that Jeremy said that I really liked was that Jesus is the stone that breaks everyone: the wicked will be crushed by the Rock or the righteous will be broken when they throw themselves upon the Rock of salvation. This is an awesome picture of spiritual warfare. As the church grows, the enemy is defeated one way or the other – they are destroyed or regenerated – and leading the attack is the Rock of Ages, leading His bride in battle, crushing heads and “taking prisoners.”

The real point of this post, though, is in regards to another thing Jeremy said in his sermon. As he was talking about Jesus as the rock that crushes His enemies, he referred to Genesis 3, where the seed of the woman will crush the head of the serpent. This, again, points us to a picture of Jesus as a mighty rock. And ultimately, this is what happened on the cross, when Jesus was crucified on the rock (Golgotha) – crushing the head of the serpent.

As Christians, we are to mimic our Savior – and this means we are to continue crushing the head of Satan. The ultimate blow was struck on the cross, and the final blow will be struck when Christ returns. Until then, we are to continue stomping on the head of the serpent every chance we get. Toward the end of the sermon, when application was made, Jeremy first spoke directly to the children by asking them, “how many of you want to crush Satan’s head?” Of course all the children raised their hand and excitedly said “I do!” He told them that this happens everytime they follow Christ, obey their parents, are kind to their siblings, etc.

This got me thinking about  a song that was popular in youth circles a few years back called “Enemy’s Camp.” A couple of bands did this song at some youth events and camps I worked at, and everyone in my circle of friends – including myself – hated this song. The lyrics go:

Verse

I went to the Enemy’s camp, and I took back what he stole from me. (Repeat)

Chorus

Well, he’s under my feet, he’s under my feet, he’s under my feet, he’s under my feet, he’s under my feet, he’s under my feet, Satan is under my feet.

As you can see, it’s not particulary deep, but what us “reformed” types really hated about it was that it seemed to leave Jesus out of the mix. It was all about what we can do in our power. And there probably is some truth to this – I’m not really sure where this song originated, but it is popular in pentecostal circles. But I always secretly harbored a love for this song because it was fun and upbeat, and during the chorus, everyone jumps up and down like their stomping on Satan.

 Recently I’ve been teaching my girls a lot of fun songs with motions and “Enemy’s Camp” is one of the songs we play. And they love it. And you know what? I love it too. Because it’s a fun way to teach my girls to be “head crushers.”