BLOG 6/1/16. CHRISTIAN BAPTISM … AND POLITICS

One of the classical adult baptism formulae of the Christian community contains implications that are political through and through. In this campaign season when religious affiliation is so recklessly claimed, one needs to stop and consider what one vows:

• Do you renounce Satan and all the spiritual forces of wickedness that rebel against God? (To which candidate responds: “I do renounce them.” [And, just what might those forces of wickedness look like in June of 2016?]
• Do you renounce the evil powers of this world which corrupt and destroy the creatures of God? — “I do.” renounce them.” [What, specifically, am I renouncing?]
• Do you renounce all sinful desires that draw you from the love of God? — “I renounce them.”
• Do you turn to Jesus Christ and accept him as your Savior? — “I do.”
• Do you put your whole trust in his grace and love? —” I do.”
• Do you promise to follow and obey him as your Lord? — “I do.”

Does that sound innocently ‘religious’ and a-political? Look again. It is an ultimate affirmation that allows no other lords or loyalties that super-cede that of Jesus Christ: political, economic, social, familial, ethnically, or nationally. This is underscored in the baptismal creed  (the Apostles’ Creed) adopted by the church it its earliest and very perilous days: “I believe in God the Father almighty, and in Jesus Christ his only Son, our Lord.” Christians all over the world still embrace these liturgical practices, … but often very mindlessly.

Just think of the moral and ethical components of such vows of repentance (renunciation) and faith. Contemplate how such an overarching loyalty forms our character as children of the light in this global dominion of darkness. Internalize how such vows of ultimate loyalty to the teachings of Jesus Christ make of us agents of peace and order and of justice, … in contrast to the enormous forces of deception and greed, of injustice, of insensitivity to to the helpless, to poverty, to the homeless (a million refugees in today’s world).

It is not difficult to be cynical. Of course, every candidate for office comes with imperfections, … but the question who comes closest to being an instrument of righteousness? (One witty observer noted that one of the difficulties even inside the church is discerning between dirty sheep and well-scrubbed wolves!)

There are always mixed motives and often questionable agendas … at the same time some candidates are closer to seeking the common welfare than others. Still, in our baptismal vows we have renounced all the forces of evil. (I am unashamedly here benefitting from insights from Professor Jamie Smith of Calvin College). Professor Smith reminds me in his book: Desiring the Kingdom that we are part of a new polis, of the Kingdom of our God and of his Christ. We are affirming a foreign king: Jesus who is Lord of all each time we witness our baptismal vows and quote the Apostle’s Creed.

And does that make life easier for us? Not at all. Such an ultimate loyalty as we affirm in baptism very often puts us into a battle with other lords and loyalties in this fractured cultures—but it also commits us to that calling of not being ashamed of the One to whom we have vowed ultimately loyalty.

Our baptism as citizens of God’s new polis engages us inescapably in the politics of this present setting within the kingdoms of this world, … makes life interesting.

http://wipfandstock.com/what-on-earth-is-the-church-13883.html