Many children who are baptized in Lutheran congregations are never confirmed. Many of those do not continue within the church in adulthood. We would do well to consider why this is and how it relates to the act of baptism.
Wollenberg observes that baptism is a consecration for life as a believer and thus a "king and priest" (Rev. 1.5, 5.10). Those who are priests before God take on the righteousenss of Christ and live in that righteousness.
Baptism is a seal, a sign of eternal service to God. We cannot become unbaptized. Our only appropriate response is to serve the Lord.
In Lutheran practice parents, sponsors, and those being baptized are told to live in the ten commandments, the Apostles' Creed, and the Lord's Prayer. These give structure and specificity to our concepts of the Christian life. Maybe we fail to emphasize these foundational elements. Wollenberg aptly asks if we do an adequate job of nurturing whole families in their Christian faith. He points out that if only 50% of those baptized are confirmed, we seem to do badly in nurturing the faith in the early formative years. Then, if only 13% of those baptized remain active Christians as adults, we are apparently able to lose a whopping 74% of those we confirm. Somewhere we manage not to inculcate Jesus' words of life into people. It happens when they are young.
Is it a coincidence that only about 13% of those baptized continue in the faith and only about 13% of Lutheran families read the Scripture and pray together? I think not. Common sense says that if we wish to pass this Christian faith on to our children we will pray and read the Scripture together regularly. It sure can't hurt!
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Dave Spotts
blogging at http://capnsaltyslongvoyage.blogspot.com and http://alex-kirk.blogspot.com
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Dave Spotts
blogging at http://capnsaltyslongvoyage.blogspot.com and http://alex-kirk.blogspot.com
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