In the last few months, the Lord has opened doors for new Bible
studies and Bible Storying groups to begin here in the Nashville area. Through
this, there have been persons who have come to salvation in Christ and people
being baptized.
This past week, one of the leaders involved in this effort was
sharing with some local pastors about this and about baptisms happening in
apartment complexes here in the city. There was concern raised about the
“legitimacy” of these baptisms since they were not done by “ordained”
ministers.
When I heard of this and heard the remarks of two of our others stating that only “ordained” ministers could do baptisms, I became
concerned. It seems that our tradition has superseded the scripture.
Here are some reasons that I believe that this is not Biblical,
but rather based on tradition:
1.
The
Great Commission was not limited to just the 11 Apostles and Paul. The Great
Commission states: And
Jesus came and said to them, “All
authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in
the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I
am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20)
Now if we as Southern Baptist, or as
Christians in general, want to say we are Great Commission Christians then we
must hold to the commission GO, MAKE DISCIPLES, BAPTIZING, and TEACHING which
given to all of us as believers. It’s not that we go, make disciples and the
rest is up to ordained leaders. That is flawed thinking. That is like saying,
go have a baby, birth that baby and then turn that baby over to an ordained
person and let them raise it.
As believers and followers of Christ
we are called to make disciples, baptize them (help them to testify and
identify with the community of faith) and help teach them the essentials of the
faith and how to follow it. The problem we have today is relying too much on
letting others (professional clergy) follow the commands of Christ and not
obeying them ourselves.
2.
Jesus demonstrated an empowering, “permission given” model for
ministry. When Jesus’
disciples came upon someone who wasn’t “endorsed” by them casting out demons
using Jesus’ name (His authority), they told him to stop. Jesus was clear in
his correction to them:
“Teacher, we saw someone using your
name to cast out demons, but we told him to stop because he wasn’t in our
group.” “Don’t stop him!” Jesus said. “No one who performs a miracle in my name
will soon be able to speak evil of me. Anyone who is not against us is for us.”
(Mark 9:38-40)
When Jesus’ disciples began to try to
limit people from following Jesus’ example, He emphatically corrected them.
This temptation has hindered the church for 2,000 years whenever it rears its
ugly head.
If Jesus told his disciples not to stop others
outside their group from casting out demons, representing His name, why should
we try to hinder people from baptizing others, using His name?
Now some would counter this point by saying, “What
about the sons of Sceva who tried to use the name of Jesus and got beat up by a
demon possessed guy?” (Acts 19) They’re missing the point. The sons of
Sceva weren’t followers of Jesus. All disciples of Jesus are commanded to
use Jesus’ name to call people to repentance, baptism, and freedom. If you’re
not a follower of Jesus, yes, it’s silly to try to represent His authority. But
even then, Jesus never once forbids people from trying. He says, “These
signs will accompany those who believe,” not those who are ordained.
3.
In the New Testament, baptism was an immediate action that
accompanied repentance and faith in Jesus. The
Ethiopian Eunuch is just one. “So beginning with this same Scripture, Philip
told him the Good News about Jesus. As they rode along, they came to some
water, and the eunuch said, “Look! There’s some water! Why can’t I be
baptized?” He ordered the carriage to stop, and they went down into the water,
and Philip baptized him.” (Acts 8:35-38)
If a similar story happened today many of us
in the body of Christ might have responded to the Ethiopian’s question, “Why
can’t I be baptized?” with, “Well, you can’t yet because you haven’t taken a
baptism class and there’s not an ordained pastor present.” Thankfully, Phillip
had never heard of such a policy. I’m confident Jesus would not be a huge fan
of the policy, either.
There are some times to wait for baptism, like
honoring the heads of a household when a minor begins following Jesus. But, if
all people are commanded to preach the gospel, then all people are called to
baptize others as well.
4.
Even Jesus didn’t baptize – His disciples did. “Jesus knew the Pharisees had heard that he
was baptizing and making more disciples than John (though Jesus himself didn’t
baptize them—his disciples did). So he left Judea and returned to Galilee.” (John 4:1-3)
Jesus didn’t say, “Only I have the
authority to baptize, because you guys are young and inexperienced.” Jesus
Himself modeled for us that He empowers others to baptize. We should do the
same!
5.
The Apostle Paul didn’t make a big deal about who was doing the baptizing.
In his letter to the Corinthians Paul
says: “I appeal to you, dear brothers and sisters, by the authority
of our Lord Jesus Christ, to live in harmony with each other. Let there be no
divisions in the church…. I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except
Crispus and Gaius, for now no one can say they were baptized in my name. (Oh
yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas, but I don’t remember baptizing
anyone else.) For Christ didn’t send me to baptize, but to preach the Good
News—and not with clever speech, for fear that the cross of Christ would lose
its power.” (I Corinthians 1:10-17)
There were a number of issues in the
Corinthian church Paul addresses in this letter, but the point is the same:
Paul states it doesn’t matter who does the baptizing. He warned them about
bragging about having a certain leader or another as the one who baptized you.
The important thing is whether the gospel of Jesus is being preached with power
to transform people’s lives. It doesn’t really matter who baptizes you if you
sincerely want to follow Jesus.
6.
It’s a sinful temptation to substitute our traditions for God’s
clear commands. “For you ignore
God’s commands and substitute your own tradition.” (Mark 7:8)
In the case of baptism, we have made the same
error so many have made through history, we’ve substituted our own tradition
for a command of God. This doesn’t invalidate our ministries. God is able to
work powerfully through all sorts of churches and ministries who have done this.
He is gracious! As followers of Jesus, we should never let policies rise above
the authority of Jesus’ clear commands, the Scriptures, and the Holy Spirit.
Now I know that some ministers would say that
they hold the right to baptize to the ordained because of wanting to make sure
that those being baptize know the true meaning of baptism and that they are
true converts to Christ. This reasoning should be an indictment against our
discipleship process. If we are not discipling believers to recognize true
fruit or true conversion and how to counsel new believers then we are doing a
bad job of making disciples.
The bottom line in all of this is: If we are
to truly fulfill the Great Commission in this age then we must empower and
equip all believers to
observe and do everything
that Christ has commanded us to do.
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