ESSAY
And He Gave Some To Be Parents
POSTED
February 17, 2015

Standing in the narthex at the font, parents joyfully approach with their newborn child. The pastor asks the parents a series of questions that may include their renunciation of the devil and all his works, their faith in God the Father, Son, and Spirit as explained in the Apostles’ Creed, and their commitment to rear this child in the Faith. When the renunciations and professions are stated, the pastor takes the child in his arms and pours water over his head in the name of the Father, Son, and Spirit. After this the child is then returned to the parents’ care.

What just happened? Whenever we ask that question, we are typically concerned with what happened to the child. The questions range from, “Is this a legitimate baptism?” to “What does this mean for the child’s relationship with God?” The theological spotlight is narrowly focused on the child while, it seems, everything else that goes on around him is merely a pragmatic or aesthetic accoutrement.

The questions about the effects of baptism for the child are important ones, but they are not the only important ones. The child is being baptized into and becoming a part of the church (just as every baptizand). Through his baptism the child receives a calling–an ordination–to be a member of Christ’s church with all the rights, responsibilities and privileges attached thereto. But this being a communal event means that more than the child is affected. A new relationship is created with the church as a whole and with the parents as members of Christ’s church.

The only action prescribed in Scripture for baptism is the application of water in the Triune name. None of the other actions surrounding this event are specifically commanded in Scripture. However, the parents’ involvement in the baptism reflects what the Scriptures teach about these new relationships. The parents take on a new responsibility, not only in relation to the child, but also on behalf of the church. The child is not the only one being ordained. The parents also receive a special ordination in the baptism of their children.

“Ordination” is a weighty word. Whenever someone is ordained to an office, he receives a burden to be borne. It may be a joyful burden, but it is a burden nonetheless, a responsibility for which he will give an account. Some may think that ordination is reserved for only those offices in the church that we deem as “really important.”  A particular type of ordination is reserved for particular offices, but any time someone receives a responsibility, he is being ordained. It is not some sort of magic that is reserved only for those who are called to be pastors, teachers, elders, deacons, and evangelists in the church. Ordination is the giving of an office with its commensurate responsibilities. It is a gift of God’s grace that comes with a stewardship. God puts something in your care and expects you to take care of it.

What distinguishes ordinations is the task to which you are being ordained, the area of His church that God is putting under your care. When, for instance, Aaron and his sons were ordained as priests in Leviticus 8, among the other rites that were associated with their office of priesthood, Aaron and his sons had their hands filled meat and bread (cf. Leviticus 8:25-27). These were the substances for which they would be responsible in their ministry in the house of YHWH. What filled their hands defined for them their calling: they had responsibilities to present offerings to YHWH on behalf of the people. Just as God did with Aaron and his sons, so he does with the rest of his people for different responsibilities in his church. The Lord “fills the hands” of His people with various gifts, calling them to be faithful stewards, developing and using those gifts in the service of His church and the glory of his name (cf. e.g., 1Corinthians 12; Romans 12; Ephesians 4:1-16).

So it is with the vocation of Christian parenthood. Children are gifts of God’s grace (cf. e.g., Psalm 127:3). Becoming a parent is a gift of the Spirit of life given to you by the birth of your child. This gift is not for you to take and consume upon yourself or train up as you please. Just as with all gifts of the Spirit, this is a gift given to you for the edification of the church. As a Christian parent your relationship with your child is now defined within the context of the church. Paul makes it clear in Ephesians 6 that the family structures are a part of the new humanity created in Christ Jesus and operate “in the Lord” (Ephesians 6.1). In baptism this relationship within the new humanity of parent and child “in the Lord” is established as the child is now being united to Christ’s body and is, therefore, “in the Lord.”

The Christian parent-child relationship is not a “natural” relationship over against a “spiritual” relationship. Through baptism parents and children are put to death to the old creation family in Adam and become a family in the Lord as the new Adam. As such they are to function as a family in accordance with their covenant obligations. Cultivating these gifts given to us so that they may be fruitful for the church is a ministry in and for Christ’s church and not merely for the family with whom we share a surname.

The family in the Lord does not exist for itself or as an end in itself. We live and move and have our being for the sake of the family that bears the name “Christian.” Consequently, what we call the “biological” family exists for the purpose of serving Christ’s church and kingdom. Its purpose is beyond itself and has an eschatological end. Like Israel of old whose mission reached a termination point and gave way to something greater, once the mission of the family is complete, it will give way to something more glorious in the resurrection (cf. e.g., Matthew 22:30). The family is working its way out of a job!

As a parent you must see your relationship to your child in this light. What you do as a parent with your child must serve the building up of the church. The calling of a Christian parent is to bring his child up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord (Ephesians 6.4).

This does not supplant any other office in the church. For example, the parent has not been ordained to serve the Supper to his children. The bread and wine were given into the hands of the pastor. That was the nature of his ordination. The parent’s calling is different, but he is, nevertheless, a minister in Christ’s church with a special ministry to this child. When the Christian parent fulfills this responsibility, he is being faithful to his stewardship; that office to which he was ordained when God took His child and filled the hands of his parents at baptism.


Bill Smith is pastor of Cornerstone Reformed Church in Carbondale, IL. 

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