My first contention is that providing amusement for the people is nowhere spoken of in the Scriptures as a function of the Church. If it is a Christian work why did not Christ speak of it? ‘Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.’ That is clear enough. So it would have been if He has added, ‘and provide amusement for those who do not relish the gospel’ No such words, however, are to be found. It did not seem to occur to Him. Then again, ‘He gave some apostles, some prophets, some pastors and teachers, for the work of the ministry.’ Where do entertainers come in? The Holy Spirit is silent concerning them. Were the prophets persecuted because they amused the people or because they refused? The concert has no martyr roll.

Again, providing amusement is in direct antagonism to the teaching and life of Christ and all His apostles. What was the attitude of the Church to the world? ‘Ye are the salt,’ not sugar candy—something the world will spit out, not swallow. Short and sharp was the utterance, ‘Let the dead bury their dead.’ He was in awful earnestness!

Had Christ introduced more of the bright and pleasant elements into His mission, He would have been more popular when they went back, because of the searching nature of His teaching. I do not hear Him say, ‘Run after these people, Peter, and tell them we will have a different style of service tomorrow, something short and attractive with little preaching. We will have a pleasant evening for the people. Tell them they will be sure to enjoy it. Be quick, Peter, we must get the people somehow!’ Jesus pitied sinners, sighed and wept over them, but never sought to amuse them. In vain will the Epistles be searched to find any trace of the gospel amusement. Their message is, ‘Come out, keep out, keep clean out!’ Anything approaching fooling is conspicuous by its absence. They had boundless confidence in the gospel and employed no other weapon. After Peter and John were locked up for preaching, the Church had a prayer meeting, but they did not pray, ‘Lord grant Thy servants that by a wise and discriminating use of innocent recreation we may show these people how happy we are.’ If they ceased not for preaching Christ, they had not time for arranging entertainments. Scattered by persecution, they went everywhere preaching the gospel. They ‘turned the world upside down.’ That is the difference! Lord, clear the Church of all the rot and rubbish the devil has imposed on her and bring us back to apostolic methods. Lastly, the mission of amusement fails to affect the end desired. It works havoc among young converts. Let the careless and scoffers, who thank God because the Church met them halfway, speak and testify. Let the heavy-laden who found peace through the concert not keep silent! Let the drunkard to whom the dramatic entertainment has been God’s link in the chain of their conversion, stand up! There are none to answer. The mission of amusement produces no converts. The need of the hour for today’s ministry is believing scholarship joined with earnest spirituality, the one springing from the other as fruit from the root. The need is biblical doctrine, so understood and felt, that it sets men on fire.

Charles H. Spurgeon

“Charles Haddon (C.H.) Spurgeon (June 19, 1834 – January 31, 1892) was a British Particular Baptist preacher who remains highly influential among Christians of different denominations, among whom he is still known as the “Prince of Preachers”. This despite the fact that he was a strong figure in the Reformed Baptist tradition, defending the Church in agreement with the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith understanding, against liberalism and pragmatic theological tendencies even in his day.” -  Wikipedia

Would we know whether we are really converted? Would we know the test by which we must try ourselves? The surest mark of true conversion is humility. If we have really received the Holy Spirit, we shall show it by a meek and childlike spirit. Like children, we shall think humbly of our own strength and wisdom, and be very dependent on our Father in heaven. Like children, we shall not seek great things in this world; and having food and clothing and a Father’s love, we shall be content. Truly this is a heart-searching test! It exposes the unsoundness of many a so-called conversion. 

~ J.C. Ryle Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Matthew, [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1986], 220.

In the previous two posts we have covered the fact that outdoor baptisms are quickly vanishing from the evangelical landscape and the three reasons for this trend. Today I would like to give us seven reasons we should consider outdoor baptisms and the added benefit that can be derived from performing this ordinance out-of-doors. This list is not extensive but it may give way to some other considerations about the subject.

1. Let’s face it most people in our communities don’t associate the word “church” with real people, they associate “church” with a building. Outdoor baptisms allow the public to actually see a physical manifestation of a group of people who call themselves Christians outside of the confines of the four walls of a “church building” and gathered as a body.

2. “A picture is worth a thousand words”- performing baptism outdoors allows the public to see a physical manifestation of the gospel pictured in baptism. An outdoor baptism brings the gospel to focus and clearly sets forth the picture of the death, burial and resurrection. It attests to Christ work for us and also His work in us as believers. It opens doors for questions and opportunity to share the gospel of Christ.

3. Baptizing outdoors allows people to see that the church is not ashamed of the gospel it says it believes and that it places an emphasis on following Christ in baptism. I have been to many churches where baptism was hurried through or pushed to the end of the service. For those people who are submitting themselves to be baptised it is a very important day and should serve as a milepost in their walk with Christ. As a church we should make it an important issue as well.

4. Baptizing out-of-doors sends a message that being a Christian necessitates a public identification with Christ, the gospel and the local assembly. Many people have the idea that just going to church makes them a Christian, a baptism done in a public place reveals that to follow Christ is more than simply warming a pew.

5. Those people submitting to baptism in this way have an opportunity to publicly profess Christ before the church and before the world. They can invite friends and relatives who would not normally attend a church service.

6. Performing baptisms in this way enables the church to take their Christianity out in the open and publicly open the Scriptures, sing hymns, pray and administer baptism outside of the confines of the church building. This may give some of your members a whole new perspective on what it means to be a Christian in the midst of an unbelieving world.

7. When a church participates corporately in an act of public obedience to Christ and His Word it allows them to bear the reproach of Christ and the gospel as a corporate body. This creates a special kind of unity and fellowship in a different light . This kind of “fellowship in the gospel” allows them to understand in a more vivid way that they are called out of this world and the reality that this calling creates.

Although I am aware that there are certain drawbacks to public baptisms, I am equally sure that there are benefits as well.

“Outdoor baptisms are rapidly disappearing in America. Once prevalent in the rivers and deltas of the South, the ritual has been nearly extinguished by indoor pools, mega-churches and modernization, researchers and ministers say. Only a handful of churches keep it alive.  “It’s a feature of American Protestantism that is vanishing,” says David Daniels, professor of church history at McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago.”

The article continues by saying:

“No one keeps statistics on outdoor baptisms, which are performed predominately by Baptists and Pentecostals. But officials at the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest grouping of Baptist churches in the USA, say of the 342,000 baptisms performed last year by its member churches, the majority were done indoors. “Most churches, even small ones, have indoor baptisteries,” says Rob Phillips, a spokesman for LifeWay Christian Resources, the SBC’s publishing and research arm. “That’s culturally the way folks do it these days.“

Gradually those little gatherings, that I spoke of in my first post, began to vanish almost unnoticed and as the article in USA Today states they have been “nearly extinguished by indoor pools, mega-churches and modernization“. The reasons for this shift in trends is summed up very well in one paragraph.

“In the 1950s, churches modernized to draw more parishioners and began constructing indoor pools for baptisms, Lee says. Later, as thousand-seat mega-churches began replacing smaller, rural churches, outdoor baptisms further dwindled, he says. “We now have a whole generation of churchgoers who grew up in mega-churches, where indoor baptisms are the norm,” Lee says. “Outdoor baptisms just don’t resonate anymore.” According to the article Shayne Lee is the assistant professor of Sociology and African Diaspora Studies at Tulane University.

So, supposing the article is correct, the churches 50 to 60 years ago saw modernization as a means of gaining a larger congregation and consequently began building indoor baptistries to accomodate their swelling numbers. Thus the smaller congregations who could not afford modernization began to diminish and along with it the practice of outdoor baptisms.

Outdoor baptisms are readily seen in the opening chapters of the Gospels and the Book of Acts and referenced throughout the New Testament. Nevertheless, I am not particularly aware of any merit of performing baptisms outdoors or indoors and I am not condemning the indoor practice, in over 25 years of ministry I have done them both. I realize that baptizing in streams, rivers, lakes and ponds was done primarily out of necessity in earlier times and that now we have become accustomed to more modern facilities. However, that facet of church life has all but fallen out of vogue in one generation within contemporary American evangelicalism. In the next several posts I hope to identify some of the reasons why this has happened, why it matters and some things for us to consider.

We honor the men who, subsisting on scanty and humble fare, battling with adversity, and living down prejudice, are seeking to the best of their ability to plant new churches in apparently unhopeful districts. With the accent of conviction on their lips, the truth of God in their hearts, and undying perseverance leading them on, they must succeed in breaking the dreary monotony of a sinful village life. Their preaching may not please the highly cultured; their methods of working may not suit this decorous age; their unambitious lives may fall flat upon the feverish world; but their faithfulness to God, and persistency in his service, shall be rewarded with the divine “Well done, good and faithful.” We know no greater heroes than these sufferers of contumely and hatred, who so gloriously bear up and strike dismay into the enemy’s camp. Their imperfections are not worthy to be weighed with their virtues. If England is to be evangelized, it must be by such men. Fit them, train them to as great a degree of perfection as mortal man can bear–no standard is too high for God’s ministers but let not culture destroy Christian simplicity (it does not in the truly great); let not learning quench earnestness and enthusiasm; let not supercilious affectation snub them, or selfishness despise them.

7. Passion and courage are no excuses for a harsh spirit. Like all heroes (save one), Frelinghuysen had his weaknesses. In fact, he probably had more than most. He was a hothead and seldom irenic. He was harsh toward his opponents and judgmental at times toward his congregation. His demand for a heart-experience kept from the Table some Christians who made a solid profession and were not living in immorality, but could not live up to Frelinghuysen’s subjective standards. Later in life, he became more aware of his character flaws and realized that some of the “persecution” was owing to his own prophetic bullheadedness. Likewise, he was sorry he had labeled so many of his colleagues “unconverted.”

I agree with DeYoung’s observation, but one wonders how Frelinghysen would have dealt with today’s atmosphere of undisciplined,  easily offended church goers and the wholesale disregard for the truth of the Scriptures. We certainly must use caution in dealing with individuals and seek to balance grace and truth, and we must speak the truth but in love. At the same time we must be careful not to become so concerned about becoming offensive that we never confront real issues and become afraid to speak boldly about them from the Scriptures.