Baptism

Last night was one of the more memorable nights in the almost nine years that I have been doing youth ministry full time at Calvary Christian Church. It was my first water baptism service... one where I did all the water baptisms and everyone baptized was a student. Going into the night I did not have this huge super spiritual idea of what was going to happen. I did not glamorize, in my head or to anyone else, this event. I was really focused on all the details leading up to the dunking. I was so caught up in being sure that everyone knew what they were doing, why they were doing it, how they were going to do it, I really had not thought too much about how the night would impact me, or how it should impact me.

It did not start to hit me until I put that first kid under. In slow motion I could see the water rush over their face. I could see them - their eyes closed and holding their breath, and in that very moment they are practicing obedience and they are identifying with Christ and I get to hold them in that moment. I get to be with them as they so closely identify with Christ.

I did not get goose bumps, I did not fall out in the Spirit, I did not have a vision of the cross or see God's plan for my life mapped out in front of me. I simply smiled. When it was over, I smiled because I felt a deep sense of satisfaction. I felt a deep sense of contentment. I was with these students as they came up out of the water into new life. A symbolic declaration of their new life in Christ.
It was one of the most rewarding experiences I have had in ministry. Performing baptisms for the first time was not what I was expecting it to be. It was better.