I question my baptsim

Do you know what baptism is? When I was a young baby, my parents carried me down the aisle of to a smiling and expectant pastor. He eagerly took me, said some words over me, and sprinkled water on my head. Then, just as happy as can be, he held me up for the congregation to see...like Simba in the movie, The Lion King. And the people cheered...or at least they smiled and oohed and ahhed. Another right of passage in an otherwise pretty dull and regular church service. It's a tradition complete with relatives from out of town, the choosing of God-parents, and sometimes fun parties and receptions. But, if you read the words that we recite during this otherwise cutesy little ceremony, you might get a little scarred about what we are actually committing to here.

I mean when is the last time you "renounced the spiritual forces of wickedness" or "rejected the evil powers of this world" or "resisted evil, injustice and oppression in whatever form they present themselves?" It's almost comical how serious all of this sounds. I mean, I was a baby for goodness sakes, and my parents...I mean they weren't like superheroes going around resiting evil and spiritual forces of wickedness...were they? And us today. When we renew our vows, are we going to do that? Are we going to seriously leave this place today and go fight some kind of holy spiritual war? What does all this really mean to us...today and in our every day lives? What does baptism really mean...and how does it change us or affect who we are?

When I was in middle school I started to notice certain brands. First came the alligator... If you didn't wear a shirt, a jacket, or a shoe with an alligator on it, then you just weren't cool. You weren't hip, you didn't fit in. Next came the polo player on a horse...Polo. Same thing. If you didn't wear those or didn't have a closet full of those clothes, then you just weren't right. You didn't fit in. Not only that...but we want to look like those models on TV who are so happy, so rich, so together...all because they not only wear the Polo clothes...but they live the Polo lifestyle...whatever that is. They sail yachts...they ride horses...they drive expensive cars...they are good looking... We want that and we think that if we put on that shirt...we can put on the Polo life.

We wear Crimson and white or blue and orange so we can brand ourselves as an Alabama or an Auburn fan. We are a citizen of BAMA nation...we have BAMA values... We shout WAR Eagle to perfect strangers...and they shout it back to us. We fit in...we're a part of a community! We want to fit in to a larger group. We crave acceptance. We need to know who we are...we are Alabama Fans...we are Auburn Fans.

Our kids need the latest cell phone, ipod touch, or PDA so that they can show they are indeed smart, hip, and a trend setter. We think that if we have whatever is new, whatever is cool, whatever is stylish...we will be looked up to, we will fit in, we will be accepted by the people who do the accepting in this society. But in fact, we're all just trying desperately to fit in, to be loved, and to follow whoever or whatever is making the rules up about who is cool/worthy/respected.

And here we are today...Baptism Sunday...remembering a day when we put on a Spiritual identity. Sure its not polo or Izod or the latest fashion...it's a 2000 year old tradition of taking on the Spiritual mark...the Spiritual brand of our creator, our Lord, and our Saviour. We are saying that we take on His values, His culture, His world view. But we are also accepting that God is putting His mark on us. He is accepting us as His children. We no longer have to worry about fitting in to some group and adopting someone else's values...we are a part of God's family, God's Kingdom, and we can know who we are by remembering who He says we are.

And who are we according to God? Adopted sons and daughters, loved and accepted. We are loved enough for Him to pursue us...not when we get our lives straight, or fix ourselves up to look presentable. We are acceptable and loved just as we are today. For "while we were yet sinners...Christ died for us..."