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| Infant Baptism |
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| This Sunday I will find myself sitting in the pews of a strange church. I don't mean strange in a negative way, I just mean that all of you will not see me sitting in my usual front row seat leaning forward trying to grab onto every morsel of fresh bread Pastor John hands out. My sister and her fiance, who attend a Catholic church, have asked me to be the God-mother of my nephew, Cody. He is about 6 weeks old and he will be baptized. So with the honor of being his God mother, I am faced with another honor - only this other honor is disguised as the spirit of religion continuing to be crushed, smashed, squeezed right out of me. Maybe I haven't vocalized this with many, but I tend to stand firm in my argument against infant baptism. Don't we have to have a choice before we choose to die with Christ? Well, that doesn't really matter here. God has spoken to me, and to Tim (my fiance who I am crazy about!!), that this infant baptism, and me being his God-mother (such a weird phrase) has great implications in the spiritual realm. We believe that I am being handed some spiritual authority in my nephew's life. While I was still squirming on the inside about an infant - who isn't old enough to make choices - being baptized this thought occurred to me: Romans 4:11 "Abraham received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith...." Also Joshua had this to say "As for me and my house we will serve the Lord." Joshua 24:15 That sounds like an ultimate statement to me. Joshua took charge of his household, and they reverenced and honored and feared God. If he had babies in his household, this statement would include them. Genesis 17:12 "He who is 8 days old among you shall be circumcised." And just for kickers a verse from Leviticus! Last time I checked 8 days is younger than 5 weeks. And the verse in Genesis goes on to say that if an Israelite was not circumcised he should be cut off from the people of God! So what do I have to say about that? I am not as wise as I thought.
God is more wise than me :) |
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| Well God bless you Tristanloves for sharing that mature, honest portrayal of your intellectual/spiritual journey through the issue of infant baptism. It makes me very sad when the issue of baptism, a beautiful sacrament rich in meaning, becomes a divisive issue among Christians. I'm so glad to read that God used you as a bridge of sorts. Thanks for writing this! ~mike |
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this is a great breakthrough T... and it will help bring light to a subject that maybe some people have opinions about or not...they will be enlightened.... and other than that...you know how i feel about you!!!!! |
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G |
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September 05, 2007 at 10:23am |
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you are a good writer Tristan Rogers, very interesting stuff
G |
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Tammy |
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September 06, 2007 at 8:13am |
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Let me start by saying I am not Catholic. I am a Non-Denominational Christian. My take on being baptize as an infant is that it should not happen. I have family that are Catholic and I have been to these baptisms and if it helps this is how I look at it so I don’t come out of my skin. An infant needs to be dedicated in to the congregation of whatever church the parents belong to signify the need to come together to help bring up the child on the right path. As a God Mother you now have that responsibility sitting solely on your shoulders. This child will hopefully stay close enough to you for you to have this honor to the point of his/hers age of understanding. You need to show this child though God’s words the true meaning of baptism and with God’s help the child will see the light and can then be truly baptize and take Jesus into their heart. I believe that an individual can be baptized more then once in their lives. The act of baptism signifies the washing away of sin. It’s the act of saying the words out loud asking Jesus into ones heart and confessing (at an age of understanding) that he is the son of the living God and he is Lord that is important, not that baptism is not important it is very important, but an individual must be in understand of what all of it signifies to have true meaning. Good luck and Be Blessed -- T |
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Bob |
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September 07, 2007 at 1:48pm |
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| My God farther has always been my favorite relative, it is the god parents who are to stand in when ever needed for the parents. There spiritual life is of upmost importance,so i think they pecked the best person. Go with God my sister |
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Shellie |
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September 07, 2007 at 2:03pm |
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I struggled with infant baptism when I was first saved because I was raised in the Lutheran church. I kept telling myself I didn't need to be baptized, until God told me yes you do out of obedience. My baptism as an infant was my parents dedicating me to the Lord. I believe being asked to be a God parent is in honor and you will have great spiritual influence with the child.
Be blessed. |
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Deb |
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September 07, 2007 at 7:02pm |
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| I was raised in the Episcopal church, and I was baptized as an infant. When I grew older, and turned my life over to God and we started attending a new church, I was faced with the decision of whether to be baptized by immersion. I struggled with it, but my pastor showed me places in the bible where it says we should be "buried in the waters of baptism". That to me sounds like I need to be immersed...so I was baptized again, by immersion. I truly believe the Holy Spirit entered me then and there. I definitely believe in baptism by immersion, and not infant baptism. However, the honor that you have been given as a god parent is a special one, not to be taken lightly. You can ifluence this child, and perhaps help him to see other religions than just that of the Catholic faith. God Bless. |
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