Aaron's Baptism

This past weekend, we got around to doing something we'd been meaning to do for quite some time, which was to have Aaron baptized. I'll skip the hard-core theological aspects of this rite, except to say that I personally do believe in infant baptism although I do not begrudge those who believe that only those who can themselves profess faith should be baptized.

What I want to talk about is what baptizing Aaron means for me and my family. As Amy and I discussed with him the night before, infant baptism is not the child's choice, but the parent's or parents'. Many consider something like the profession of faith to be private and individual, something someone decides by one's self for one's self. But we believe that the profession of faith is public and communal, something parents decide for their children until they are old enough to decide for themselves.

Indeed, during Aaron's baptism ceremony, even though Aaron is old enough to understand and answer questions, there were no questions for him. Instead, the questions were to Amy and me (whether we were ready to commit to raising Aaron in the Christian faith) and to the congregation as a whole (whether they were willing to assist us in that task).

Just to be clear, while Jada professes to believe in Jesus, Aaron professes to not believe. And that's OK for now. There will be time for his own decisions to be made about his own life. For now, he is under our care, physical and spiritual, and this past weekend we stated publicly what we committed to privately some time ago, which is that we intend to do what we can to raise Aaron to follow Jesus.