"Who has the authority to baptize new members in our church?"
- Dr. John Brock
- Jun 22, 2009
- Series: Questions?
Thank you for your response to the first installment of the “Questions” series and the first blog. I’m sorry to be so late in the week posting this second installment, but with Vacation Bible School and some other distractions last week, it was difficult to get everything done. Well, here is the question of the day exactly as it was submitted (with minor corrections – I can’t help myself – I’m married to an English teacher).
"Christ is the head of the Church. Our pastor is the head of the local church. Who has the authority to baptize new members in our church?"
Since I have no idea who submitted this question, I don’t know whether or not it has a hidden agenda, but it is interesting how some people worded their questions. I think that if they were asked that way in court, one attorney might object on the grounds that his opponent was “leading the witness”. One of them even began like this, “Don’t you think…” as if to imply, “of course you do, I can’t imagine you disagreeing with me.”
When I went to pastor my first church, I accepted their call as an unordained, twenty-two year old, seminary student. And you just thought I didn’t know what I was doing when I got here. My first Sunday was in early November, but my ordination was not scheduled until late December. The church would not allow me to baptize during those first weeks. They were adamant that I had to be ordained and so I waited.
Although it is an appropriate practice for the church, the New Testament does not speak directly to the issue of ordination. We are never directly instructed to ordain anyone. There is precedent, but no specific direction. In the Old Testament, the priests were called out and placed in their positions with much ceremony. The group of men we believe to have been the first deacons were launched into their new work after “they laid their hands on them.” Paul and Barnabas were “set apart” by the church at Antioch for the work to which God had called them and Paul references in his letter to Timothy the “laying on of my hands.”
The Bible does not speak directly to the issue of who is allowed to baptize and ordination is certainly not given as an ironclad criteria. If you say that someone has to be ordained to baptize a new believer, you have just declared the baptism of John the Baptist to be invalid and ruled out the possibility of Jesus being qualified. Some would argue – and certainly not without merit – that the approval of the Heavenly Father Himself would have rendered both to be imminently qualified.
Now, let’s go back to the question. Whoever submitted the question is exactly right in the first sentence. Christ is absolutely the head of all of the church, but He is also head of the local church. Make no mistake about it. I am not “head” of Highland nor is any other pastor “head” of the congregation he serves. The pastor does have a God-given, Biblically-mandated position of functional authority affirmed by the church when they call him to serve. Every organization has to have someone in that position of leadership or chaos ensues. The writer of Hebrews reminds us that those in such a position of leadership will “give an account” for the stewardship of those placed under their influence. That functional authority is to be fulfilled under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
So, before I give you my conviction, let me say that some might disagree with me about this and I certainly think the Bible’s silence on the issue gives us that freedom. Here’s the conclusion I’ve come to. Certainly the pastor may baptize new believers and since other staff members are essentially extensions of the pastor’s ministry they may as well. It is also appropriate at times for deacons to baptize. In the book of Acts, Philip – one of the first deacons selected in Acts 6 – baptized the Ethiopian he had just led to Christ. I also believe that there are times when it is appropriate for Godly Christ-followers to baptize those they are used by the Holy Spirit to reach for Christ. It is a good thing to see a Godly father baptize a child he has led to Christ.
Baptism is an ordinance Christ gave His church. That significance is not diminished when someone other than the pastor does the baptizing as long as it is done under the functional authority of the pastor God has also given to that church.
