Wednesday, February
5, 2014
The picture (above) of a United Methodist Ordained elder, a woman,
anointing and praying for a Roman Catholic cardinal caused quite a stir amongst
the news media. After all, the Catholic Church
has never ordained women. For a
high-ranking official like Cardinal O’Malley to willingly participate is
recognition there’s something of a new breeze of ecumenism afoot.
That still doesn’t lower the level of misunderstanding about issues
which divide us in the first place.
One
of those issues is baptism.
In yesterday’s post I wrote rather frivolously that I’d been asked “62
times per day” about the “why” of my change from Baptist to
Methodist (it never was more than 57).
The perception behind the question “why” is many-faceted, not the least
of which is baptism. That perception,
sometimes stated and sometimes not, is that Methodists and Baptists (among
others) think so differently about the meaning and method.
I am not convinced.
For instance – both Methodists and Baptists baptize by
full-immersion. And neither group sees
baptism as regenerative (salvation) in the act.
While Methodism’s founder, John Wesley, “…affirmed a regenerative grace
of infant baptism, he also insisted upon the necessity of adult conversion for
those who have fallen from grace.”[1]
While Baptists would never baptize an infant, they often bring those
infants before the church in an act of dedication, with the parents vowing to
“bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” (Ephesians 6:4)
Having stood before both kinds of congregations, holding Baptist babies
and Methodist babies, I can tell you the ones dedicated, as well as the ones
sprinkled both have parents who stand there with hearts bursting with joy and
anticipation. You see that anticipation
in their wrinkled brow, knowing they feel the weight of their parental responsibility.
They want God to cover their inability
to raise that child alone.
They’re
asking for grace!
Both kinds of babies know nothing of what’s going on. Both kinds of congregations are feeling a
mixture of incredible joy and wondering about the future for those parents,
praying they’ll make good decisions.
They’re counting on grace!
Adult baptism
As for the adults, never before baptized; there is not a shred of
difference (other than the amount of water used) between a Methodist and a
Baptist who makes the decision to be obedient to our Lord’s command to be
baptized. I’ve never seen a Baptist come
up from “under” without a smile reaching from East to West.
Similarly, Methodists rejoice (and some even whisper
a sweet “amen”).
They’re both trusting fully
in God’s grace.
Don’t tell me there’s not
something holy going on in both!
So, What?
What I’ve written here isn’t a treatise on baptism per se. It’s just a few thoughts on the similarities we
have, and how miscommunication often divides us unnecessarily. It’s merely stuff I had to settle in my heart before
I transitioned to Wesleyan Methodism.
Today…for you to settle:
Think about this verse:
If someone says, “I love God,” but
hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is a liar; for if we don’t
love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see? 1 John
4:20 (NLT)
Those Methodists and Baptists are all over the place; you’ve
seen ‘em. There’s a bunch of other brands
too.
They’re all wondering and need God’s
grace.
Put aside the divide – go love like that
Catholic Cardinal and Methodist preacher-woman!
Seems they got it right, deciding they had more in common than their “differences”
that divided them.
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