Thoughts on conversionism

There are a couple unhelpful ways of thinking, or even errors, common amongst American evangelicals which presbyterians would do well to avoid.

First is an overemphasis on a conversion experience. Several people in the Bible clearly have a conversion experience (such as the Philippian jailer), by which I mean that at one time they were not Christians, and then became Christians. However, that’s certainly not the case with everyone in the Bible, not even in the New Testament. (Timothy seems just such an example.) Obviously, there’s nothing wrong with having a conversion experience. It should be equally obvious that there’s nothing wrong with not having a conversion experience. Unfortunately, overemphasis on the importance of a conversion experience has led some to question whether they truly have been saved, and that should not be. As I remember someone telling me sometime ago, “It doesn’t matter when you became a Christian; all that matters is whether you’re trusting in Christ rignt now!”

Secondly, some appear to think that genuine Christians do not sin, or at least do not commit particularly unpleasant sins. That may not be their doctrine, but that is their assumption when they question whether a particularly heinous sinner (or just someone who one finds unpleasant) is "really a Christian." The Bible does not teach us to think or talk this way. Peter confessed Jesus as the Christ, and then committed what was probably the worst sin of his life: denying Jesus during his trial. The simple truth is that Christians are perfectly capable of not acting very Christian, but that, by itself, is not evidence they are not converted. Faith in Christ is the only thing that makes one a Christian.

I think of chapter 18.4 of our Confession of Faith: “True believers may have the assurance of their salvation divers ways shaken, diminished, and intermitted; as, by negligence in preserving of it, by falling into some special sin which wounds the conscience and grieves the Spirit; by some sudden or vehement temptation, by God's withdrawing the light of His countenance, and suffering even such as fear Him to walk in darkness and to have no light: yet are they never so utterly destitute of that seed of God, and life of faith, that love of Christ and the brethren, that sincerity of heart, and conscience of duty, out of which, by the operation of the Spirit, this assurance may, in due time, be revived; and by the which, in the meantime, they are supported from utter despair."

A related thought has occurred to me as I’ve thought about my own life. There was a period of time when I did not act like a Christian, and claimed not to believe in God. But I was baptized as an infant, and certainly did believe in God before that time. I wandered in sin, but then again professed saving faith. If I were to say I did was not really a Christian prior to that spiritual renewal, what would that say about God? That would seem to imply that he was not part of my life at all before that time, that his Spirit had done no work in my baptism despite my childhood faith, and that he did not seek after me as a shepherd after a lost sheep. It would seem to imply that I was saved because I chose to believe again, not because the Lord was more faithful to my baptism than was I. In other words, to deny that I was a Christian for some portion of my life seems to me to detract from the magnitude of the Lord’s grace in my life, and therefore to take away some of the glory which is rightfully his.

Learning from the priests & Levites

The priests and Levites who come to John the Baptist in John 1:19-28 are not interrogators, but inquirers. As servants of the Temple, they are experts in Biblical worship, and in John's practice of baptism, they recognize a new ritual. Notice that they don't challenge baptism's propriety or John's right to perform it; in fact, they seem to implicitly grant it. Instead, they want to understand what this ritual reveals about John's identity.

John the Baptist could be Elijah, who they thought would inaugurate the eschatological Day of the Lord (Malachi 4:5-6). He could be the Christ, who would defeat the enemies of God and his people and establish a reign of eternal peace (Psalms 2 & 45). He could be the Prophet like Moses who will bring a new, perfect and final Law (Deuteronomy 18:15-18). In other words, John the Baptist appears to be a, if not the, subject of prophecy who will inaugurate the eschaton precisely because he has introduced an new ritual which signifies citizenship in a kingdom and entrance into a new age.

Of course, John is merely the herald of that figure. But as he does not challenge the priests' & Levites' assumptions, he effectively affirms them. By so doing, he lets us know that we all could learn a lot from the liturgical expertise of the priests and Levites.

Baptism books

2013 started off well for me, as I got to perform my first baptism of the year on Epiphany, which had the good manners to fall on a Lord's Day this time through the liturgical calendar. This gave me the opportunity to cram in two sacraments after the sermon, which in turn meant I got to go from Epiphany to Pentecost to the new heavens and earth within about 45 minutes, and pulled off the whole liturgy in just 90 minutes. A pretty decent land speed, if I say so myself.

For a number of years now, I've made a practice of gifting baptizands with an age-appropriate book. For infants (as this last one was), I've been giving copies of Water, Come Down! by Walter Wangerin. It anthropomorphizes elements of the creation to teach the child about the significance of his or her baptism. Read repeatedly (as any children's book must be), it will help said child interpret Biblical imagery and appropriate her or his identity as a child of God.

I also pay a home visit during the week before the baptism. For a first child, this gives me the opportunity to instruct the new parents on the reasons we baptize our children. (Sadly, those who grew up in presbyterian or reformed homes are often the shakiest on these.) For subsequent children, it's a chance to help the older sibling(s) view the upcoming celebration less as yet another occasion on which s/he will be ignored in favor of this new interloper and more as the first time to really improve on one's own baptism. To that end, the board book Things I See at Baptism by Julie Stigmeyer explains the sacrament by emphasizing important key words and by emphasizing baptism as the entry point into Church membership. I usually ask the parents to read it with their child(ren) every day before the baptism.

My discerning readers will have already searched Amazon for these titles and noticed they're both written by Lutherans, for Lutherans. Given our robust doctrines of covenant and, therefore, infant baptism, one would think presbyterians would have produced any number of children's books on baptism. One would think; however, after much searching, I must tell one that one is incorrect.

I trust someone in my vast international readership will soon correct this grievous oversight.