Mitch Lewis

I think the church ought to remind its members frequently of their baptism. If the mission of the church is to make disciples for Jesus Christ, then baptism is at the heart of our mission (Matthew 28:19, Acts 2:38-39).

One reason that Christians think so little of baptism is that we hide it away and think of it seldom. Out of sight, out of mind. Let's keep God's gift of baptism in plain sight so that it can begin to shape our thinking about what it means to be a Christian.

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Mark Galli writes in Christianity Today:  Are We Transformed Yet? Why the spiritually mature don't talk about how God has made them spiritually mature.

An excellent article, on where the focus of the church ought to be.

I first read Dietrich Bohnoeffer's writings when I was a high school student 38 years ago. My worn-out copy of Life Together (Gemeinsames Leben)  dates to 1978, my first year in seminary. Its words were foreign and almost incomprehensible to my Baptist ears, but even then I thought "wow." My appreciation of Bonhoeffer's words grows deeper every time I read this beautiful little text. Bonhoeffer's first chapter on "Community" starts with standard Reformation language regarding our righteousness in Christ. He proceeds to draw out from that, however, an understanding of the Christian life that turned my understanding of Christian piety upside down. The later chapters of Life Together describe what we might call spiritual disciplines that belong to Christian discipleship. You'll never understand what Bonhoeffer says about things like prayer, confession, communion, work and service, however, unless you first grasp the foundation that he lays in his chapter on community.

I revisited Bonhoeffer's chapter on "Community" in Life Together after writing this week's post on "Ordinary Christianity." It was obvious to me how much this little book has come to color not only my understanding of Christian community, but of Christian holiness as well.

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How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord, is laid for your faith in his excellent word!
What more can he say than to you he hath said, to you who for refuge to Jesus have fled?

The rabble with them began to crave other food, and again the Israelites started wailing and said, "If only we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost—also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!" Numbers 11:4-6

But [Jesus] answered them, "An evil and adulterous generation demands a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah." Mark 12:39

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Does Christianity consist merely of gathering as God's people, being united to Christ in baptism, abiding in Christ in the worship and fellowship of Holy Communion and attending to the word of God? Don’t you want something more than ordinary Christianity? Don’t you need something more?

I've spent my entire life in Christian denominations that grew out of 19th century American revivalism, which in turn grew out of the 18th century pietist movement in Europe. I have frequently heard Christian messages that went something like this:

Are you sure that you are a Christian - have faith in Jesus - are saved - have the Holy Spirit? Are you really, really sure? Yes, you've been baptized and go to church, but are you really a Christian?

The revivalist continues:

Here's the reason that you're not really a Christian. You haven't had the right experience. You don't have enough enthusiasm. You don't have the right feelings in your heart. You don't have the true, inner witness of the Spirit. Your faith if - if it exists at all - is in a category too weak to save you. You're still committing secret sins. If you really loved Jesus, you would be doing some really important Christian thing. You don't really love God.

Or, there's the liberal-progressive version of that riff.

You're not really a Christian because you're not sufficiently committed to the cause. You haven't broken free of the idolatry of the capitalist imperial mindset. You're not imitating Jesus closely enough. If you really loved Jesus, you would be doing some really important Christian thing. You don’t' really love your neighbor.

Both versions share the same basic message.

Your version of Christianity is ordinary, cold, unexciting and weak. Baptism? Communion? Preaching and hearing the word of God? Don't depend on them! They don't mean anything unless you really feel it in your heart and act it out in your life (and, by the way, in the manner that I tell you is the right way to feel and act). If you were a real Christian, your heart would be filled with white-hot passion and the world would be turned upside down by your zeal. You need something more to be a true Christian.

So, don't you want something more – something more than ordinary Christianity?

What if, however, the desire for something more is not a sign of holiness, but a sign of worldliness? What if it is a sign that we've rejected what God has actually given us and demanded something else - something that better fits our human desire for emotional fulfillment, entertainment, relevance, practicality, pride and importance - something that puts us, and not God, at the center of the picture?

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With regard to the baptism of infants, what if we didn't allow parents to select godparents or sponsors for their children. What if the church appointed godparents, whose role would be to remind the parents (and later the children) on behalf of the church that a baptism had taken place. What if the sponsors' job was to never let baptized children (and their parents) forget that they were now joined to Jesus - that they were members of the household of God - and that they belonged in worship, study, service and fellowship with their brothers and sisters in Christ. Maybe we could even instruct the parents before the baptism, "We're appointing Joe and Mary as your child's sponsors. Even if you neglect to remind your children of their baptism, their sponsors will tell them about it - and what it means - repeatedly. Over and over. Forever. It might even get tiresome after awhile, if you don't really want to raise your kids in God's family. It's part of the deal if we baptize your children. Are you OK with that?"

Sponsorship at the baptismal font should not be about who will raise your kids if you die. Put that in your will. It shouldn't be about paying a special honor to a dear friend or a beloved family member. Buy them a greeting card. And it shouldn't be about currying favor with important people. Don't do that at all.

We United Methodists have concluded our quadrennial General Conference. As expected, the church spent days upon days arguing about a long list of divisive social issues - each settled by a divided vote of 992 delegates representing over 12 million worldwide members. We can calculate the labor-hours wasted at General Conference on this exercise, but this waste pales in comparison the damage that has been inflicted on the church over the past four decades of our existence.

Still, this may not be the worst thing to come out of General Conference. The worst thing may be six words that nearly everyone agreed on. Currently, the "mission of the Church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ." (Book of Discipline, ¶ 120). General Conference voted 776-102 to add these words to the mission statement: "for the transformation of the world" (Petition 80271).

I dissent.

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