I was baptized as an infant in the Catholic Church. To be honest, at only a few weeks old, I don’t really remember it all too well.
I was baptized again when I was 21… and I will never forget that day. I was baptized at Hope Church in Wilton, CT. I
I was baptized in a hot tub. They called it a ‘Baptistery’ – but this ‘Baptistery’ certainly looked a lot like a hot tub. It would have been nice to have been baptized in the Ocean, but getting baptized in 90degree water – well let’s just say I didn’t complain.
I got baptized in front of a lot of people. I knew some of them, but not all of them. I had a lot of my family and friends present, but I got drenched mostly in front of a crowd I did not know.
I’ll never forget the day I got baptized, but more than that – I will NEVER forget WHY I got baptized.
I was a follower of Jesus – I was a Christian.
I did not get baptized to get something – say salvation.
I did not get baptized to impress God or people – not all that impressive.
I did not get baptized in hopes to get a spiritual high – doesn't really work like that.
I did not get baptized because I was pressured by people to do it – I was invited to take that step.
Why I got baptized? Simply put, I was a follower of Jesus – I was a Christian… and I wanted everyone to know that.
It did not matter whether I knew them or not – I wanted to make a public declaration about something that I had kept private for years. Yes, there were many who knew already that I was a Christian, but after living for so many years with so many different masks, I wanted to take off ALL of my masks and just let people know that I was with Jesus.
I had all sorts of reasons as to why I should not get baptized.
I was scared – not sure of what, but I was.
I felt like a hypocrite – wasn't always acting like a Christian.
I was embarrassed – not sure why, but I was.
I didn’t feel ready – meaning, I was still sinning more than I'd care to admit.
I was scared – did I already mention that one?
But at the end of the day – none of those were good enough reasons to keep me out of the hot tub – I mean Baptistery. None of those reasons
In essence – that’s what baptism is all about. It’s about telling others that you are with Jesus. It’s about going public… outing yourself as it were. Outing yourself is not easy, especially when I knew that post-baptism, my friends would be watching me more carefully. Specifically watching to see if I was really with Jesus, or if I just said I was with Jesus. In many ways, getting baptized helped hold me accountable to living publicly what had been more of a private thing.
Being a Christian is a personal-public thing. Meaning, I have a personal relationship with Jesus, but that personal relationship with Jesus is lived out in the context of community. Baptism makes public a personal decision.
I got baptized. I’m thankful I did.
What about you – have you made public what is personal? Have you let others know that you are with Jesus?
If you’ve never been baptized before and you are with Jesus – I’d invite you to make public your personal relationship with Jesus.
You can do that on Sunday, January 27th... learn more here: getDRENCHED
Enjoy watching past
