Baptism makes you a member of Christ’s body
A Child is baptised by retired Nyahururu Catholic Bishop Luigi Paiaro at Nyahururu Mary Immaculate Catholic Church recently. Photo/FILE
Perhaps you have heard the word ‘INC’ because of the cartoon “Monsters Inc”. It’s is an abbreviation for “incorporated.”.
The title makes it sound like a bunch of monsters getting together to start a business. Some of the big names – Apple, Facebook, Toyota – are businesses that came into being by a legal act called “incorporation”.
St Paul also used the word “incorporation.” He was not encouraging us to turn the Church of Christ into a business. In fact, he warned pastors to avoid that temptation. Instead, we are “incorporated” because we are the “body of Christ.”
The word comes from corpus, which means “body” in Latin. St Paul wrote in the First Corinthians: “Though there are many of us, we form a single body”.
Here lies the mystery of baptism and the reason why every man and woman needs to be baptised if they want to enter God’s kingdom. As St Paul explains, baptism defines the way we get “incorporated”.
Baptism is the way we become members of Christ’ body, which is the Church. This explains why Jesus told Nicodemus: “I tell you most solemnly, unless a man is born again through water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”
This explains why Jesus told his apostles, “Go out to the whole world and proclaim the Good News to all creation. He who believes and is baptised will be saved. He who does not believe will be condemned.”
Perhaps, once again, an analogy between the “incorporated” Church and some company like Samsung is useful.
There’s an enormous difference between being “in” or “out” when it comes to business. If you’re “in” the corporation, you get paid. If you are “out” you get paid nothing.
Getting sacked is devastating. Instantly, that employee changes from “in” to “out”, with all its consequences.
Jesus used the same logic. He talked about the “least person” in God’s kingdom being better off than anyone outside.
As he told the Pharisees: “Then there will be weeping and grinding of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves thrown out. And people from east and west, from north and south, will come and sit down at the feast in the kingdom of God.”
If you are one of those who has not yet been baptised, do not delay any longer. As St Peter told the first ones to hear him preach the Gospel: “Every one of you must be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
