Why Tiny's baptism was a big deal

Pastor Rob served a tiny church in North Carolina that had a big problem with Tiny. “Tiny” was the nickname of a very large man who had harassed his Christian neighbor for years, but through the quiet testimony of this neighbor, Tiny had been converted to faith in Christ, and wanted to be baptized.

The little country church building did not have a baptismal pool, so a deacon had dug a hole in his backyard, and lined it in concrete. He told the preacher they could use his backyard baptistery, so they took a garden hose and filled it with water. Pastor Rob told Tiny that when they got into the water, that he would need to bend his legs, and then the pastor could lean him back and bring him back up. However, the little hole in the yard was only about four feet wide, and Pastor Rob was a big man himself, so when big Tiny got in the water with him, the water rose almost to the level of the grass in the yard. Pastor Rob leaned him back, and Tiny's heavy weight pulled Pastor Rob down with him, sinking underwater until their large frames got wedged together between the concrete! Pastor Rob held his fingers above the water’s surface to signal for help, and his deacon grabbed a water hose, cut off an end, and lowered it into the water so they could breathe. Then they got a pump and pumped the water out. Finally, Pastor Rob and Tiny got themselves loose from the tight space in the backyard baptistery, and climbed out, exhausted. Tiny looked at Pastor Rob and asked, “Well, am I baptized?” Pastor Rob said, “You sure are!”

Tiny and Pastor Rob almost drowned in that baptistery. But God doesn’t want dead sacrifices. God is looking for living sacrifices. Romans 12:1 says, "Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice-- holy and pleasing to God..." (Romans 12:1, NIV) Since Jesus died for us, let's live for Him. Let's rise from the waters of baptism and offer ourselves in service to God.

A cold baptism in Hot Coffee

When I was a pastor in the community of Hot Coffee, Mississippi, I did one of the coldest baptisms of my life.

A young couple had accepted Christ. It was a cold February day when they came to be baptized, and the baptistry heater was broken. Back then, I didn't wear waders in the baptistry. I had two pair of brown Hagar slacks, and after I got wet baptizing, I dried off and put on the other pair. So I knew I was going to get cold, too. I asked them if they wanted to wait until the heater was fixed. They said, "Naw, we've been swimmin' in a cold creek before."

So at the end of the service, we got ready. I descended into the water, and wow! it was cold, but I acted like there was no problem. After reading scripture, I turned to the man, who slowly stepped into the water from my right side. He, too, acted like the water was fine.

Since this was my first baptism in this church, I was not familiar with the faucet sticking out on my left side. As I brought the man up out of the icy water, I scraped his head on the faucet! Yet he joyfully arose from the baptistry, revealing no pain.

Next, his wife stepped into the water. When her feet touched the near-freezing water, she froze, too. I tugged at her hand to come. Reluctantly, and shivering from the cold, she came into the water. I baptized her, this time being careful not to rip open her forehead on the faucet. When she came up out of the water, she slung her long hair back and forth, opened her mouth as wide as possible, and shouted at the top of her lungs, "GOD! IT'S COLD!"

People were rolling in the aisles laughiung. I could see the tonsils of half of the congregation. That day I was glad we had baptism at the end of the service, because church was over!

I suppose somebody might say I shouldn't tell that story, because somebody is going to be afraid to be baptized after reading this (especially if I'm the one doing the baptizing!). Although baptisms are rarely as painful as that one, if you think about it, this story reminds us of what baptism is all about. Baptism is a symbol of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. Jesus died on the cross for our sins, and going under the water symbolizes our repentance from sin and our acceptance of Jesus' complete payment for sin. Jesus even asked his disciples, "Can you... be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?" (Mark 10:38, NIV) He was using baptism as a symbol of death, asking them if they were ready to follow him to death, if need be. So although I don't want to make it as painful as my two friends experienced that day, the fact remains that whatever baptism we have can never compare with what Jesus experienced for us on the cross.

Copyright 2010 by Bob Rogers.

The Methodist who tried to be a Baptist

A Methodist pastor in Dalton, Georgia, asked a Baptist pastor if he could borrow his baptistry for a baptism by immersion. While Methodists commonly baptize by sprinkling, they also may immerse, and this Methodist pastor had a couple who had trusted Christ and wanted to go all the way under.
The Baptist pastor kindly agreed, and prepared his baptistry for the Methodists to use. He went back to check on things after they had used it, and he noticed water had splashed all over the place, in the changing area and even into the choir loft. So he asked the Methodist preacher, "What happened?"
His Methodist brother said, "Well, it was the first time I had done an immersion, and when I got in there to baptize the lady, I couldn't figure out where to grab her to put her under. I didn't want to touch her in an inappropriate place, so I grabbed her by the neck. She resisted, splashing water, but I got her under, and then I lost her in the water, and had to dive in to pull her up. In the process, water filled up my waders, so I had to climb out of the waders and leave them in the bottom of the baptismal pool, and I had to climb out dripping wet. I left the waders in the baptismal pool, so you can get them out when you want them. I'm not going back in there."
If you are wondering what great spiritual truth could possibly come out of that experience, here it is: you can't please everybody, so do your best to be who God made you, and don't worry about it. Whether you're a preacher or a parishioner, you don't need to try to be something you're not. God made you with your unique spiritual gifts. "A spiritual gift is given to each of us as a means of helping the entire church" (1 Corinthians 12:7, NLT). Find out what those are, and be your best at being you. If you're a Methodist, be the best Methodist you can be. If you're a Baptist, be the best Baptist you can be. Most importantly, be the best Christian you can be. And if somebody doesn't like who you are, that's their problem. Just don't grab them around the neck.
Copyright 2010 by Bob Rogers.