On your baptism

My wife and I have a tradition of writing a letter to our children when they are baptized. Here is the letter we wrote for our daughter Lois on her baptism, June 28, 2009.










Dearest Lois,

You are sleeping quietly in your bassinet as I write this. Tomorrow you will be baptized. Baptism is a holy sacrament. What is a sacrament you ask? A sacrament is a sign. Tomorrow Pastor Joshua Lee will sprinkle water over your head. This water is a sign of your death and resurrection in Christ (Romans 6:4).

Lois, your baptism shows you that you belong to Jesus. He lived the life of perfect obedience, devotion to God, and love for his neighbors that you could never live because you have a sinful nature. You were born guilty. You are your father's and mother's daughter. We are guilty sinners too. We come from a long line of guilty sinners say back to the first father and mother. But God rescued us by sending us Jesus. When Jesus died for our sins, he died not only as the perfect human being. He died also as God. In his one death, he paid for all the sins of his people: past, present, and future. When Jesus rose from the dead, he rose not only as God, but also as our Savior to give us eternal life.

Your baptism shows you that because Jesus died for you on the cross, you have already died with him. It has only been sixty days since you were born, but death has no power over you now. The sting of death is gone. Your death is in the past, nailed to a cross over 2,000 years ago. You have been buried with Christ. You can not die again.

Your baptism also shows you that because Jesus was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, you have also risen with him in his resurrection. You are only two months old, but you can already taste the benefits of eternal life. Your life is hidden with Christ in God. You have been seated with Christ in the heavenlies.

A sacrament is also a pledge of God's Covenant of Grace. The water sprinkled over your head is God's promise that he will truly save you from all the guilt you ever feel, all the mistakes you ever make, all the misery you ever experience, all the troubles of this passing evil age, all for the sake of Jesus Christ. God's salvation is a free gift. He promises through baptism that it is yours only by believing in Jesus and turning away from your sins.

Some people only receive baptism after they have already come to fully understand and believe that Jesus is their Lord and Savior. God has come to you in this baptism before you could clearly understand or believe. It is a powerful reminder that you will not find your greatest hope within yourself, but outside yourself in God. God has been pleased to bring you up in a Christian home with two Christian parents who are deeply flawed and sinful but saved by his grace. Lois we pledge to love and nurture you as a precious daughter of the King of kings and Lord of lords. We will pray for you and with you. We will teach you from the Bible. We will share our faith in Christ with you through all of life's joys and sorrows. Today, you are also joining the Body of Christ. From this day forward you will always have a spiritual family in the Church. Beloved Lois, our greatest dream for you is that one day we will worship Jesus together with you in full sincerity and faith through all eternity.

Love,
Daddy and Mommy

Church Planting

I've been away from this blog for the past month helping my wife care for my newborn daughter and preparing to lead the birth of a new church in Fremont, a suburb of the San Francisco Bay Area. I've been asked many times about whether Fremont really needs another church.

We live in a culture that values individualism. We cheer for the person who is able to defy the naysayers and succeed by digging deep within. We celebrate those who challenge the establishment and stand against the majority. We distrust the authority of popes and princes.

A recent study shows that 71% of American adults say that they are "more likely to develop my religious beliefs on my own, rather than to accept an entire set of beliefs that a particular church teaches."

The problem with individualistic religion is that while it may feel more "authentic" it can not possibly be more true. Everyone can not possibly be equally right, especially when they hold contrary views about matters of ultimate importance like God, morality, meaning, and purpose.

Even while breaking away from the Roman Catholic Church, the protestant reformer, John Calvin understood how indispensable the church is to the spiritual well-being of believers. He did not make the mistake of rejecting the human authority of a pope for an individualistic religion where each person is his/her own pope. Calvin wrote,

"For there is no other way to enter into life unless this mother conceive us in her womb, give us birth, nourish us at her breast, and lastly unless she keep us under her care and guidance until, putting off mortal flesh, we become like angels. Our weakness does not allow us to be dismissed from her school until we have been pupils all of our lives...By these words God's fatherly favor and the especial witness of spiritual life are limited to his flock, so that it is always disastrous to leave the church."

At one point in Jesus' ministry, he asked his disciples who they thought he was. Simon Peter brazenly answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God!" Peter was convinced that Jesus was not merely the messenger of salvation, but the Savior. To this, Jesus responded, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven." Then Jesus declared, "...on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." (Matthew 16:18).

Some have interpreted this to mean that Jesus was establishing Peter to be the first pope (after all Peter comes from petros, Greek for rock). Notice, however that Jesus did not give Peter the credit for his profession of faith. Jesus gave credit to his "Father who is in heaven." The church would not stand on human authority, but on God's authority.

If the church is just another human institution, there are way too many churches in the world today and I don't want to have anything to do with it. But I believe Jesus when he says that he will build his church. Like Peter, the church's authority does not come from within (its human leadership), but rests on God's Word and Spirit. I can disagree with other believers about which church is interpreting and applying the Bible most faithfully, but I can not imagine life as a believer apart from the church.

In an age of individualistic religion, I believe in one holy catholic [universal] and apostolic church. That is why I am taking my family and leaving a secure pastorate at a church that we love to establish a new church in Fremont. You can read more about this church planting project at my other blog.

How have you resolved the tension between the authority of the church with the fallibility of the people leading them?