Ashley's Arabian Adventure

Here is something I wrote a while back and felt like sharing.

18 Jan 2008

As I come across differences in the culture here, sometimes I find things that I don’t like as much. At other times I find things that are truly done better than they are in America. Last week I was able to attend a baptism service at my local church. The three candidates were all in their 30s and 40s and they had come to know Christ about two or three years before the service. Each one gave his or her testimony with passion and complete transparency. It brought a tear to my eye as each told the story of his or her journey.

After the testimonies, each was baptized. There were no white robes or rubber waders for the pastor. Everyone stepped into the pool in their clothes. They came to be baptized as they were, just like we come to Christ as we are when we ask for forgiveness and salvation. When each settled into the pool he declared that he was in fact, a follower of Christ. The pastor then dipped him into the water and baptized him “in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.” When he emerged from the water, instead of getting right out of the pool, a previously chosen song of choice was played as the pastor prayed over him.

The whole ceremony had so much more meaning than it does in America. While an American baptism takes place very soon after salvation and more often than not, the baptizee is a child. It’s not that I don’t believe that children understand what they are doing when they accept Christ, but I really like the British tradition of waiting until people have been Christians a while before baptizing them. Once they have received some discipleship and come to know God more, I think the ceremony is more meaningful to them. This is one of the things I think the British do better than Americans.