Is My Child Ready to Be Baptized?
Baptism is an important — essential, in fact — part of the Christian life. As children see baptisms occur and begin expressing their love for Jesus and asking about being baptized, parents must work through the question, Is my child ready to be baptized?
There’s two pitfalls we hope to avoid in this process. The first extreme would be to deny all children the rite of baptism because they are “too young” and so squelch their budding faith in Christ. The second extreme would be to baptize every child who admits of the least interest in Jesus and so give false hope of salvation. (The unfortunate number of youth and young adults who walk away from Christianity, having been baptized as children, warn us against this.)
Instead, the elders of TPC, as those entrusted with guarding and nurturing this flock of Christ, hope to use charitable discernment when choosing to baptize children within our faith family.
What is baptism?
This question must be answered first of all. Baptism is not simply a cultural or family tradition. It is not an act of self-expression, something we do purely because we feel like it. And it does not save anyone in itself. Rather, it is the proper response to saving faith in Jesus Christ that welcomes us into the covenantal community. The TPC Statement of Faith puts it this way:
Because entrance into God’s covenant community (i.e., the church) is now based on faith in Jesus and repentance, and not on birth as it was for the Old Testament people of God, baptism is open only to those who confess that Jesus is their Lord and Savior and pledge their loyalty to the triune God alone.
When exercised in faith, God uses baptism to unite us to Christ in his death and resurrection and to seal us as his own, welcoming us into his family.
How can I tell if my child is ready?
First, does your child demonstrate faith? Saving faith is a gift of the Holy Spirit, founded on the promises of God, by which we come to know, commit to, and rest in the goodness and faithfulness of God towards us in Jesus Christ. You can ask your child these kinds of open-ended questions:
Check for gospel understanding: What is the gospel? Why did Jesus have to die on the cross and rise again? What does that mean for you?
Check for gospel commitment: What does it mean to confess that Jesus is Lord? How are you submitting your whole life to him?
Check for resting in the gospel: How do you respond when you are afraid or worried, frustrated or angry? How do you respond when you sin or mess up?
Second, has your child shown a willingness to repent? In your estimation, are they actively putting off sin and growing in the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-23)?
Third, what is your child’s motivation? It is unfortunately true that children sometimes want to be baptized for less-than-biblical reasons (adults too, for that matter). Perhaps they feel pressured by you or someone else or simply feel that they are “supposed” to. Again, asking open-ended questions can be helpful:
Why do you want to be baptized?
What does baptism do?
Are you willing to publicly share your story of grace?
What are the next steps?
Step 1:
If you believe that your child is ready to take the next steps of faith and be baptized, OR if you’re unsure if they’re ready but would like some resources to help teach them about the gospel and baptism, we’d like to give you two workbooks to walk through together with your child.
What about Baptism?: A Guide for Kids (and their Parents) by Duane S. Montague
Baptism Guide: TPC Kids Version
Fill out this form to let us know that you’d like to pick up these two free resources.
Step 2:
If, after you’ve gone through these workbooks, you believe that your child is ready to be baptized, email our Bigs and Students Minister Andrew Prahl. He’ll schedule a time to chat with you and your child to ask a few questions about your child’s faith, repentance, and motivation; hear your child’s story of grace; and chat about Step 3.
Step 3:
Because we are called to share what God has done for us, we invite all who are baptized to share their testimony at the baptism service. This is an amazing opportunity to share the gospel with those who have not placed their faith in Jesus, either in the audience or those passing by. We find that for the sake of nerves and clarity, recording a video testimony to play at the baptism service is extremely beneficial. We invite your child to schedule a time to record their story of grace.
Step 4:
You, a TPC minister, or a baptized Christian who helped lead your child to faith in Jesus will baptized your child at the next Spring or Fall Baptism Service!
