Through My Toddler's Eyes

Pete will be three years old in December, at which time he will no longer be "welcome" in the nursery at church. In anticipation of this change in his life, he has been joining us in "Big Church," at least through the songs at the beginning. This week we kept him a little longer so he could witness a baptism.

Pete and Elsie will be baptized on September 3rd. This is a decision that has been in the making for quite some time, and I hope to address my thoughts on the issue here before too long. Anyway, Pete was really interested to see what Pastor Stu was doing with the little baby at the front of the church.

Stu always addresses the adults of the congregation first, and then brings the kids up front and tells them what's going on as well before he conducts the baptism. Pete was too nervous to go forward, but he sat with us and listened intently as Pastor Stu told the kids that it was sort of like a bath. He explained how our hearts are dirty because we don't listen to what God says, and that baptism is a sign of how Jesus washes our hearts clean.

I whispered and asked Pete if he understood what Pastor Stu had said. In Thomas the Tank Engine vernacular, Pete told me that "Him's heart needs a washdown." A. A. Hodge may not have used exactly those terms, but Pete is essentially right.

Then, at lunch, Pete told Grandma Joan all about church that morning. He told her a man poured water on a baby, and also that we sang some songs. She asked him what songs we sang, and I triend to prompt him to tell her, "Be Thou My Vision." His version? "We sing 'Be… My… Engine!"

Pete continues to remind me of how our perceptions and basic understanding of the world shape our comprehension of the world around us. His worldview has been shaped by Thomas and Friends, and so his theology is, in some sense, filtered through what he already knows. When I get around to my paedobaptism post, this concept is likely where I will start.

I had always approached the subject as a separate, individual issue. "Just show me the verse that proves it and I'll agree," I thought. It turns out that my understanding of the purpose of baptism has greatly changed because the foundational bulding blocks underneath it have been rearranged by God's Word. Infant baptism didn't make any sense on top of the blocks I had put together. But, as God continues to re-shape my doctrine and theology according to his Word, paedobaptism suddenly makes much more sense.

But, like I said, that will have to wait for a future post.