Jeremy L. Berg

Our son Isaak will be baptized this August. This has me asking: When is the right time, age, and maturity for baptizing a child?

This is a moot question for those who were baptized as infants like me. The Evangelical Covenant is a safe place to be a bit muddled and still in process about our baptismal theology. We respect both dominant views practiced through church history as derived from Scripture. Covenant pastors vow to serve and honor the preference of the family over personal convictions.

Eschewing my Lutheran heritage, we chose to “dedicate” our children as infants and let them decide when to be baptized. My view has shifted back and forth over the years, from more Baptist theology at times (all my education has been at Baptist institutions) to more Lutheran theology at other times.

Over my years of ministry, I have become convinced that the popular sentiment of “Baptism should be MY decision, not my parents” is often rooted more in a spirit of Western individualism than any serious understanding of the sacraments or grappling with Scripture.

To oversimplify a very long and complex debate, the two dominant views differ primarily on who is the main actor in the waters. A Sacramental View believes God is active in the waters, cleansing us, cloaking us with grace, sealing us with the Spirit, welcoming us into the Body of Christ, etc. I reject the belief that God is “saving” us in the waters, i.e., baptismal regeneration.

Believer’s Baptism, on the other hand, emphasizes the individual’s decision and intention to follow Christ. The waters are more a symbol of one’s decision to die to self and live for Christ. Both are beautiful and communicate important biblical truths.

Our oldest son, Peter, seemed ready to be baptized at age 10. That is, he showed interest in the Bible, and could articulate a desire to follow Jesus. Drawing upon Peter’s pirate and sailing obsession, we talked about baptism as Peter’s decision to become Jesus’ “first mate” and setting sail on the high seas of faith.

I wasn’t as sure about Isaak’s motives at first when he began asking about baptism. Did he grasp its meaning? Did he want to keep up with his brother? Was he trying to please his pastor dad? So I hesitated initially, and delayed it a year so we could do some prep and have monthly baptism chats…which have sort of, kind of happened as planned.

Last September, I pulled Isaak out of school for our first special baptism lunch chat at Carbone’s over pizza. Each monthly chat I planned to discuss a different biblical image of baptism (e.g., dying and rising with Christ, being washed clean, etc). Our first chat was all about the image of being wrapped or clothed with Christ in baptism like a protective blanket. The following month (October) our chat never happened. Isaak was at Children’s Hospital.

Watching Isaak fight for his life for 30 gut-wrenching days, my perspective on baptism shifted again. Daily I would wrap a prayer shawl, or “Jesus blanket” as he called it, around his embattled body lying in bed and ask God to infuse him with His healing grace. We didn’t have him recite the Apostles’ Creed first, or fuss about his motives. We simply and desperately trusted God to clothe Isaak with Christ like a warm blanket.

Later this summer, Isaak will publicly ask God to clothe him forevermore with Christ’s love, grace, and protection in the waters of baptism. Plenty of catechizing remains to be done. But I believe Isaak truly desires to be enveloped by God’s grace and I know God wants to forever clothe Isaak with His love and protection.

That’s enough for me.

Let’s do our best to honor the unique contours of each child’s faith, as well as the mysterious interplay between God’s activity and our response in the sacrament of baptism.