Ready or Not

It never ceases to amaze me how wildly different some beliefs are across denominations.  On the surface, many of us do many of the same things, but some subtle differences, if looked at a bit more deeply, can reveal HUGE differences in the underlying beliefs.

My sister-in-law is a born and raised Baptist.  In the Baptist church, you are baptized when you accept Jesus into your life (or something like that).  I don't understand the theological details there because I'm a born and raised Lutheran and darn proud of it.  In the Lutheran church, more often than not, baptism is done as an infant.  That's not a rule, it's just how it typically takes place.  Whether she remembers them or not, we have had a few discussions about these differences.

I always understood baptism for Baptists to be very similar to confirmation for Lutherans.  In a lot of ways, this isn't a bad parallel.  Both, in their respective denominations, seem to signify a point where you are taking responsibility for your own faith.  However, there is still a large difference there that cuts right to the root of the differences in our views on baptism.  This difference was pointed out to me by a simple question from my sister-in-law:

"Why don't y'all do confirmation whenever the person is ready?"

 I'm sure I gave some snarky answer at the time (because when don't I?), but I've spent time thinking about it since then.  The idea was brought before me once again on Sunday when our WONDERFUL pastor gave her sermon about baptism.  She got the following story from somewhere, but I can't remember where.  Sorry if you're reading this and I stole it from you.  My bad.  It's just such a GREAT illustration.

In cattle country, occasionally, there are cattle that are wild and unmarked.  These cattle are referred to as mavericks.  (No.  I'm not talking about Sarah Palin.  But for those still playing the drinking game, I think this counts.)  Whichever rancher catches a maverick and puts their brand on it first is considered to be its owner.

There was a little girl who grew up on a ranch.  She had spent enough of her life out with her father dealing with their herd that she knew the lingo as well as she knew how to spell her name.  She was in school one day and for whatever reason, the discussion turned to religion.  The little girl proudly declared that she had been baptized and was a child of God (and darn proud of it!).  One little boy in her class didn't understand this.  He asked her what it meant to be baptized, and she explained it as clear as day.  "Well, you see, I was just a little maverick runnin' around the plains.  Then God snatched me up and put his brand on me, so everyone would know I'm his forever!"

In this simple statement from the mouth of a little girl comes what I consider to be the fundamental difference between a Lutheran understanding of God and a Baptist understanding of God.  Is God waiting for us, or is God hunting us down?

If you've ever seen a cow being branded, then you know that that cow has no interest in having a mark burned into its flesh.  They kick and whine and it usually takes several people to keep them down just long enough to get that mark on them.  That cow has no choice in the matter.  If you've ever watched an infant baptism, it's not so different.  I don't think I've ever seen an infant baptism where the child didn't start crying and screaming at some point.  The child has no choice in the matter.  If you've ever heard someone going through confirmation classes, it's not so different.  They whine and complain, and if it weren't for their parents, they probably would never go.

I don't want people to get the wrong idea. I'm not saying that there are not at least pieces of this in Baptist theology (for all I honestly know, this idea could be exactly the same in both). I'm also not saying that all Baptists believe this. My point is coming from a completely stereotypical version. But from what I've seen with things like altar calls, "be saved", and choosing when to enter God's family, the burden is on you. This image is God the Inviter. He sent out his invitations, and now it's up to you to come to him. This is a beautiful image of God.  If this is the version of God that you believe in, great!  The idea of being an invited guest to a King's banquet . . . how could anyone think that is bad?

It's just not the version of God that I see.

To me, a fundamental aspect of Lutheran theology is God the Hunter.  The God of Lutheran theology isn't sitting back waiting for you to come to him.  He's in your face, pinning you down, and branding you as his.  He isn't sitting in Heaven hoping that you will make the right choices and someday get to be with him.  He's with you right now whether you want him to be or not.  This is God the Hound, chasing Adam and Eve through Eden.  This is God the Seeker, trapping Jonah in a whale so he can't get away.  This is God the Cowboy, tackling you to the ground kicking and screaming, so that he can leave his mark on you, and everyone will know you're his forever.

The question here was not about which is the true identity of God.  God is all these things and more.  The question at hand was (if you'll recall), "Why don't y'all do confirmation whenever the person is ready?"  The answer to that question, with everything you've just read in mind, is relatively simple:

"God isn't waiting for you to be ready.  He's coming for you when HE is ready."

 I can't help but wonder what the world would be like if God had waited for anyone in the Bible (including Jesus) to realize they were ready before he thrust their task in front of them.