Some Needful Clarification, Apparently...

March 12, 2008 8:08

Apparently some people were left with the impression that the baptisms at the Jordan were "just a fun thing to do," and not something meaningful. I guess what I took to be a given in my account was not a given for those reading, so let me clarify.

There was a lot of laughter. The water was cold. There were rats swimming around with the catfish (think about that one). We had two pastor types who are also good friends. There is a lot of fodder for laughter in that combination, folks, and if you don't believe me, you really need to read Stories I Couldn't Tell While I Was a Pastor by Bruce McIver.

But the reason we were there in the first place–the reason the folks who were baptized braved the cold water and the rats and the cigarette butts in the water and the overpriced robe rentals–is because they really wanted to be baptized where Jesus was baptized... to share yet another unique communion with Him by proximity, to demonstrate once again their faith in the first Christian act of obedience. And I have yet to see a baptism, solemn or hilarious, that is not also joyous because of what it symbolizes.

Hope that clears things up a bit.