Brandon Thompson
Seminary Student
One of my most favorite classes I have ever taken was “Southern Baptist Heritage and Mission”. Perhaps, I found the class so fascinating because I didn’t grow up in a Southern Baptist Church, but regardless of the reason for my interest, I was hooked. The class was taught by a guy named Gregory A. Wills. He literally wrote the book on Southern Baptist history.
All of the lectures were recorded from old, beautiful, and historic Baptist Churches throughout the South. It was quite a class. I learned so much about Baptist’s history, the downfalls and the triumphs. However, the thing I found most interesting was the tradition of baptisms in the church.
This past week, we all had the opportunity to watch students stand in front of the congregation and take part in one of the most beautiful ceremonies in the world, a baptism. As a youngster, I was baptized and I knew that the act of baptism didn’t save me. Maybe it was knowing that, that caused me to minimize the beauty of the tradition even Christ took part in. It was not until this class that I began to love baptisms.
One of things that made the class so interesting was reading old church documents about business meetings and occurrences at the church. The church has done an excellent job of keeping records. My favorite readings were about baptisms. There was one story about a baptism that stuck with me forever. A young girl, known for her free-willed spirit, had went to a revival and accepted Christ. The following week in sub-freezing temperatures almost 3,000 people attended her baptism. Her friends were begging her not to do it. They cried as she walked out into the freezing river.
After her baptism, she was never the same again. She had made a commitment and her friends knew she was a new person in Christ. A few weeks later her friends submitted to Christ as well and were baptized.
While I was reading this story, I couldn’t help but picture 3,000 people in this small town standing outside in freezing temperatures. I could imagine her friends crying as she walked away from her other life. I could imagine the sound of cheering from all the people as she came up out of the water. What a sight.
As I watched the students Sunday, I thought about the miraculous thing that had happened in their lives earlier this week. They went from death to life in an instant. Baptism is an outward expression of what has already happened inside a person and I can’t imagine something more monumental or beautiful to witness. I then realized it is our job as a church family to support and help these students in their walk with Christ. My challenge to the church is to pray for these students, congratulate them, encourage them, and show them how to walk with Christ in everyday life. What happened this week was a big deal! A big beautiful deal!