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Canada HC Jesse Marsch reacts on the sideline

These two things—spontaneous baptism and rigorous baptismal examination—do not have to be opposed. Summit Church regularly does spontaneous baptisms; we also require baptismal candidates to go through a comprehensive interview with a trained counselor on the spot before they can get in the tub. We end up turning a number of people way—or at least slowing them down to make sure they properly understand what they’re doing. I’m so glad we do it that way—many people come to genuine faith in Christ during those on the spot interviews. It’s arguably our church’s most effective evangelistic strategy. My bigger concern here is that this approach, while well-intended, offers a pragmatic solution to a perceived problem rather than relying on the biblical model, which is ironic given that it comes from our friends at 9 Marks. The simple fact, as others have pointed out, is that EVERY single baptism we see in the New Testament is spontaneous. Every. Single. One. Without exception. Of course, the concern to not give false assurance is legitimate and pastorally wise. The question is whether we will pursue a biblical solution to this challenge or a pragmatic one… If we want to follow the biblical model, we will use spontaneous baptism calls AND instill a process that seeks to validate whether a profession of faith is real. Will we make mistakes? Of course. I’m pretty sure it’s unavoidable. In Acts 2 Peter gave an invitation for a spontaneous baptism and 3000 responded. The total membership of the church at that point was 120, so with 3000 respondees that means each believer had to counsel no less than 25 people that day. That’s >6 candidates per person every hour for 4 hours straight. You can’t tell me a few people didn’t slip into the baptismal that day that “weren’t ready to be baptized” — people like Simon the sorcerer (Acts 8), who had to be rebuked post-baptism and called again to repentance. We work especially hard to vet confessions of faith, but there’s simply no way to avoid all mistakes. And any conscientious pastor will tell you that happens, no matter how long you take in the baptism catechumen process. I appreciate the concern raised here, but let’s embrace the sufficiency of Scripture and practice baptism the biblical way!