Rethinking Baptism

The scene is a common one and is repeated regularly throughout the Church. At a certain point in the service, the pastor invites a couple and their infant child to the front of the sanctuary. The smiling parents and their family proudly present their child for Baptism into the family of Christ. The pastor speaks a few words and puts water on the baby’s head. The child starts to cry and the congregation laughs.

The General Board of Discipleship has stated that "Baptism brings us into union with Christ, with each other, and with the Church in every time and place." In addition to incorporating us into the Body of Christ, Baptism is a means by which God offers, and we accept, the forgiveness of our sins and we begin new lives in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. For United Methodists, Baptism is a sign of the covenant connecting God, the community of faith, and the person being baptized. And the congregation laughs.

Imagine with it is like to be that tiny infant. You are asleep on your mother’s shoulder when suddenly, you wake up as a pair of unknown hands picks you up and turns you around. Now you are facing a sea of strange faces and loud words are being spoken by an unfamiliar voice. Without warning, cold water is put on your head. You are surprised and scared. Using the only method you have of communicating, you begin to cry. You see your mother and father just inches away, yet they make no move to pick you up. You are cold and scared and even though the familiar solace of Mom and Dad is no longer there, the congregation laughs.

I can think of no other situation in we watch young children cry in fear and discomfort as we stay where we are and laugh. If a toddler looses his mother in a crowd of people and begins to cry, do we all stand and laugh? Of course not. Immediately someone comforts the child and helps him find his lost mother. If a kindergartner falls on the sidewalk and skins her knee, do we all stop and laugh? Of course not. Immediately someone rushes up with a tissue to dry the tears and a bandage to stop the bleeding. And yet, on this day, the day of one of the most important rituals of Christian life, when a tiny baby cries in fear, we sit and laugh.

Imagine what it is like to be that infant’s parents. At a Baptism this morning, I sat in my pew and watched the infant’s mother wipe away tears each time her daughter began to cry. It was very obvious that she wanted nothing more than to hold her child and dry her baby’s tears. Instead, she had to dry her own as the congregation laughed.

So why does the congregation laugh? I can think of only two reasons. Since the first reason, that is actually is funny to watch a child suffer, is too horrible to imagine, it must be the second reason, that nobody has ever told the members of the congregation how to react to this situation.

Perhaps now it is time to add a few additional words to the Baptismal service. Although the importance of Baptism is recalled in the text of the service, often we as members of the congregation simply speak the words without pausing to understand them. At the point in the service when the family is invited to the front of the sanctuary, that would also be an appropriate time for the pastor to remind the congregation not only the importance of Baptism, but also how to act during that time. It may be as simple as saying something like the following: "As we participate in the Baptismal service for David, let us remember that Baptism is a sign of God’s continual forgiveness and transformation in our lives. Let us also remember how frightening this may be for David. If he cries, we should remember how frightened we might have been in a similar situation."

Certainly, it would take a strong pastor to encourage his or her congregation to rethink the importance of Baptism. However, when the congregation is asked if they will "nurture one another in the Christian faith and life and include these persons now before you in your care?" it is important that the congregation respond with love, not laughter.