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Baptism and our young people

Daničle Lajeunesse

A dramatic conversion, a spectacular testimony. “I am a new creature in Christ. I have changed course!” exclaims the newly baptized church member. Glory to God! God’s Spirit is still restoring people with bruised hearts and disfigured souls.

But what about the young people who have grown up in our local churches as second-generation Christians? What is their response following such a spectacle? “It is fine for them,” they might say, “but what has that to do with me? I can’t identify with a testimony like that.”

Maybe it’s time we re-examined our concepts concerning baptism. Certainly, baptism by immersion can represent a dramatic change; it can be a demonstration of separation from a former way of life. But couldn’t it also be a symbol of faith and a response of love as our young people commit their lives to God?

In general, our young people come from relatively functional families where the fruit of the Spirit is present. In biblical terms, they resemble more the Jews who grew up under healthy influences than the Corinthians who had never heard of the gospel. For them, taking the step of baptism was more a consecration than a conversion.

Like a Levite who wanted to begin participating in the temple service, the young person who recognizes he or she is a sinner (even if he or she has not sinned spectacularly), can see in baptism a ritual allowing him or her to enter the body of the local church. This very significant day becomes a milestone, a beacon, a stopping place, a foothold on a spiritual journey that is often too fuzzy and imprecise.

Certainly, baptism cannot save; only faith in Jesus Christ enables us to become children of God. But I repeat: Baptism is not only for great sinners (otherwise, the baptism of Jesus would not make any sense), but for any person who, having tasted the love of the Lord, wants to go with Him on a walk that is regular, progressive and voluntary.

A priest in preparation for service was to take off his old clothes, wash himself completely, put on a special tunic and be anointed with oil. In the same way, the young person who wants to join the church is invited:

to take off his sinful nature in a process of humility, to be immersed in the waters of baptism as a symbol of the purification of his heart and conscience, to put on new clothes (that is, to take up spiritual weapons in order to fight the good fight), and to allow himself to be regenerated through the work of the Holy Spirit.

And that everyone has need of, young people as well as adults.

Therefore, youth, I invite you to reconsider your position in regard to baptism and your involvement, commitment and responsibility in your local church.

As for us adults, let us encourage our youth in their spiritual walk, as limited as it may be.

Danièle Lajeunesse is a member of the MB church in Saint-Eustache, Que. This article is reprinted, with permission from the July-August 1998 issue of Le Lien, French-language periodical of the Canadian MB Conference.

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Last modified September 20, 2000.

© 2000 Mennonite Brethren Herald.
Published by the Canadian Conference of MB Churches.
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