Taking the Plunge

It took me 31 years, but I finally took the plunge.

It’s funny that it took so long. I believed in it, taught about it, and even helped someone else do it. For a long time I didn’t know that I needed it. I thought what I had would suffice. After all, it was meaningful, and memorable and a significant time in my walk.

But God has been dealing with me about going deeper.

You see, when I was baptized as a 12 year old girl, it was in a church that baptized by the pastor dipping his hand in water and then putting his hand on my hand. It was confirmation Sunday, the day I would be confirmed as a member of our church and publicly announce my faith in Jesus Christ. Without a doubt it was a pivotal point in my faith.

But the more I think about it, the more I realize that it wasn’t baptism.

You see, this practice of dipping your hand in water and somehow laying your hand on someone’s head is found nowhere in scripture, at least nowhere that I can find. People were baptized throughout the New Testament, but every time it happened they found a pool of water somewhere to honor the ceremony. John baptized Jesus in the Jordan; even Philip baptized the new Christian in a nearby pool. In every case, there was something significant about the person being immersed in the water.

I never really gave it much thought until recently. I always thought like many people do, that baptism is baptism, no matter how you do it. I never really wanted to jump into the whole denominational debate over whether or not one is better than the other. I simply accepted both practices as fine.

Last Spring, I began the application paperwork of applying for my ministerial credentials. I graduated from GA School of Ministry in April, and this was the next step to finally pursuing what God has laid on my heart for most of my life. I filled out the mound of paperwork with little difficulty, but one question kept coming back to me. “Have you been baptized by immersion in water?” hmmm…

Had I been baptized? I thought I had. But how would I now teach those who would be under my leadership? Would I lead others in wishy-washy thinking, or would I be determined to only hold true to those things that are Biblical truths? So I needed to know for certain.

As I said, the examples in scripture all point to baptism by immersion. But still I justified in my spirit that the experience I had was really the only step I needed to be covered by the commandment of Jesus to be baptized. As I began to really pray about this issue, God began to deal with my spirit. Was this really an issue of right and wrong or was this simply about me being disobedient to the things God has called me to?

What kind of leader could I ever be if I am not first willing to associate myself with the things that Jesus Himself was willing to do? Jesus was willing to face the Jordan River under the care and control of someone else to visually show us what it means to die to our old life and life a new life. Our sinless Savior did this, not because He needed forgiveness but to role model what a life in Him would look like if we chose to follow Him. So in my justification to try to take the easy route, I missed the greatest lesson of all.

Jesus was teaching us about an EXPERIENCE. He wanted for us to forever be able to associate our time in the water with the renewing of our lives through Him. He wanted us to feel the coolness of the water, and the moment of feeling completely in the control of another person as we plunged beneath it. It is a common place we share with Christians around the world and Christians who have all gone before us. Jesus gave us a connecting experience that would forever unite us on this amazing journey. Why on earth would I resist being a part of something so incredible?

Do I know for certain whether or not a person can only be submerged in order for his baptism to “Count”? No. Absolutely not.

But I do know this.

Because I looked past the justifications and excuses and actually did what God was calling me to do, I will forever be a part of the single experience that connects an entire Body of Believers.

Because Saturday morning, after 31 years of excuses, I finally took the plunge.