Christians do weird stuff. From the outside, I imagine baptism looks like one of those weird things. However, from the inside, it is one of the greatest parts of the Christian family. Baptism is done differently across denominations, but it’s always a celebration. This morning I got to celebrate eight people declaring their faith in Jesus and desire to live for him.
The sacrament is symbolic of our death to self as we are raised to new life in Christ. The moment itself isn’t supernatural, but it stands as a marker in the life of a Christ follower that identifies them as part of the family of God. I was baptized over a decade ago, and I barely remember my dad asking me with tears of joy in his eyes if I believed Jesus was my Savior and wanted to live my life for him. Based on that declaration, he dunked me in the water and lifted me up – buried with Christ and raised to newness of life in him. What I do remember clearly is the celebration this event was.
Life has highs and lows, but as a Christian, I share all of those with my family – my whole family of God. Listening to a student share pieces of a conversation we had as part of her testimony and decision to follow Jesus was one of the highest highs I’ve ever had. She shared with the church that when she arrived at BFA, she thought it was the worst thing in her life only to discover after a painful year that it was the greatest thing that could ever have happened.
Our stories are linked now, and I’m eternally grateful. The work that the Lord has prepared for me here is to live life alongside students like her. We’ve both made a decision to follow Jesus and publicly declared it. We’re both messed up people, but we’re looking to be more like Jesus every day. Our lives look drastically different, and we’ll go on to share Jesus in different ways and different places, but I’m so happy for those intersections where we can share tea and talk about insightful rap lyrics (I’m partial to Dame DOLLA but that’s a given).
This extension of my family through baptism is really important to me. All of you who are in my family are joining with me to celebrate this new sister while you continue to pray for me; that’s a pretty great feeling to share in.
