Sincerely committed

Our family had an interesting experience this past Sunday.

The story actually begins more than a year ago when my son Marlon (then five) announced to us that he wanted to be baptized.  The church we attend is not normally in the practise of baptizing five-year olds, so we put him off, but he insisted.  We suggested that he speak to the pastor, and he did.  She suggested that he read some material on the subject, and he did.  She asked him to watch a baptism first to see what it was about, and he did. So this past Sunday, she baptized him.

As a parent who wants my kids to make sincere faith choices rather than just to jump through the hoops that the church expects of them, I had reservations, but the day turned out to be quite special.  It was wonderful to see his sincerity, free of any theological preconceptions or entanglements.  His understanding of the event certainly wasn’t complete, but no one’s ever is.  That’s the nature of faith.  His sincerity, however, was absolutely complete.  And that should be the nature of faith also.