Baptism and Marriage. Part Six.

The Concept. 

The concept of Baptism is quite strange. We make a lifetime commitment to the divine Creator and invite him into our heart so he can dwell there. We ask him to be a very part of our being, our thoughts and actions. We ask him to walk with us through life’s biggest challenges and fears, and then finally through the dark vale of death itself. 

That sounds like a deal no one would refuse. But many of us do. One reason is we would not feel comfortable having God with us when we visit certain places or do certain things.

Another reason can be that we have the wrong idea of God, we envision him as non-personal and aloof. We think that after our death God will examine our lives and makes a judgement on whether we deserve heaven or hell. Almost as if the sole requirement of our getting to heaven is having our good deeds outweigh our bad deeds.

I don’t believe God works that way. I think we can look at the concept of marriage here to illustrate the point. When we marry our spouse we may think we know each other, but in all reality we know very little. We make a huge leap of faith that we will live happily ever after. We think our whirlwind love will always be there in it’s burning intensity, but we find something different, something much deeper and substantial. We find a love that delights in giving, rather than taking, and one that flourishes in times of sickness, hurt and need, instead of only anticipated happy times.

The way we find this love is we let go of old ingrained selfish habits and cultivate new caring ones, ones that consider the needs and feelings of our loved one. Once we start bettering and are conscious of our love and commitment deepening, we try harder. As we do this, our relationship comes ever closer and closer to what God had originally intended for marriage: two people becoming one flesh

This kind of love is obviously not present at the time of marriage. This is a love that has been tested and purified by the refining ovens of life. A love that comes out of the remains of its first fiery burst, and then slowly but surely turns into the love of understanding and appreciating of our life’s partner. 

The same holds true for baptism. We know very little about God till we start a relationship with him. As He reveals himself more and more we begin to understand his love. This causes us to love him more, causing him to reveal himself more. It’s an ever deepening cycle of trust and love and understanding. God accepts us fully when we enter a relationship with him, and the judgmental image that we have of God as we were growing up turns into a image of Love, a God that only has our best interests in mind. 

To sum things up, we don’t live out our life with the one we love and then at the end decide if we are worthy and then propose marriage. That would make no sense at all. It works this way, we take the leap of faith, marry, and then gradually mold into one flesh.

The same concept applies to Baptism. When we get baptized and accept Jesus as our personal saviour our name is entered into the Book of Life.  Then, as we learn more about Jesus and His love for us, our understanding and love for Him grows. 

But here’s the disclaimer. Baptism without faithfulness, through hardheartedness, totally voids the contract. Not that this is God’s will, but ours.

P.S. When I started this blog on Baptism and Marriage I had no idea that it would go beyond the first instalment. As I started writing and thinking the similarities became so obvious that each begged the next post. To help us understand the concept of Baptism it helps to look at the institution of Marriage. The clues and practical experiences are all there. 

Thank you for being on this journey with me.

Louie Vetter