Q. There is a young couple in our church who, though they are relatively new believers, both have great leadership abilities. We are consistently looking to disciple new leaders. However, while he has been baptized, she has not. She does not plan to be baptized, and he supports her in this. The main reason seems to be that she is fearful of most public speaking, and when our church baptizes people, it asks them to give a public testimony. We have explained that a baptism can be done more privately, for example, in the summer when lakes, beaches, and pools are available for gatherings of smaller groups, instead of in a huge church service. But after nearly a year, she still chooses not to be baptized. We are hard pressed to find any scripture that says that to be a leader, one must first be baptized. We have gone through both the 1 Timothy qualifications for leadership and the scriptures that speak to baptism itself, and none state directly that baptism is a qualification for church leadership. So can we begin to disciple this couple with a view toward bringing them both into leadership roles, even if she chooses not to be baptized?
It is true that the Scriptures do not state directly that anyone in a leadership role in the church needs to have been baptized. However, the Scriptures do teach as a general principle that leaders must set a good example and lead by that example. It would not be appropriate for a leader to tell a young Christian, for example, “You don’t need to be baptized. I haven’t been baptized myself.” Jesus chose baptism as the means by which he wanted people to declare publicly that they were his followers. So when any of us becomes a follower of Jesus, it is a matter of obedience to our Lord to make a public declaration of our allegiance to him in the way that he has specified. Personally I believe that every leader in the church should set an example of obeying Jesus in this way. (And since Jesus told his apostles to go and make disciples and baptize them, and since those instructions apply in a continuing way to church leaders today, every leader in the church should also be eager to see others baptized.)
And personally it’s hard for me to imagine someone being baptized only as a matter of obedience. I have baptized many people as a pastor, and in every case, the person was eager to be baptized. For them, it was a joyous moment in which they were able to express their devotion to their Lord publicly, in front of family and friends. So in the case of the woman you are describing, I would want to ask her what specific concerns she has that are keeping her from being baptized. I think one very important question would be, “If you could be baptized without having to do any public speaking, would you be baptized?” If the answer is still no, then there are further concerns to address as a matter of discipleship. Ultimately it is the Holy Spirit who brings us to the realization that we should honor Christ in baptism—and that, in fact, we are eager to do so. Perhaps further growth as a believer, with the help of appropriate counsel and encouragement, will help this woman make that realization, if there are in fact other concerns present.
But if the answer is yes, then, as you have already noted, there are many ways in which a person can be baptized without having to speak at length in front of a large group. You have mentioned one of them, a small-group setting. There are many others. In the churches where I was a pastor, we typically did ask baptismal candidates to give a public testimony. But sometimes, when we had many candidates and when we had time constraints, we would have them write out their testimonies, and we would print those in our bulletin for people to read. That might be a possibility in this case. I have also used an interview format in front of a congregation with people who didn’t feel comfortable speaking on their own. I had learned their story, and so I would prompt them with questions to allow them to tell the story one step at a time. They could respond directly to me, so they didn’t feel as if they were speaking to a large group. These are just some of the many alternatives that could be pursued. I’m sure that your church would not insist on a public speech if that stood in the way of someone being baptized.
However, it is a reasonable expectation that a candidate for baptism will say at least something publicly. All Christian traditions have baptismal vows that candidates take. This is part of what makes baptism a sacrament, a public confession of faith in Jesus and a commitment to follow him. The specific vows vary in length and detail from tradition to tradition. When I have baptized people, I have only asked them two questions:
Officiant: Do you confess Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior?
Candidate: I do.
Officiant: Will you live from now on in obedience to him?
Candidate: God helping me, I will.
I would hope that even a person who was not generally comfortable speaking in public would be able to give such answers in front of a group of believers, large or small, who had come to witness their baptism. (Once again, as a rule, I have never found candidates to be reluctant to answer these questions. Some have spoken out their answers so loudly and with such commitment that people could probably have heard them on the next block!)
I’m glad to hear that this couple have become believers and that they have leadership gifts that will be of service to God’s people. I’m also glad to hear of your sympathetic concern for them and of your commitment to ensuring that you are following the teaching of the Scriptures. May God give you wisdom, grace, and patience to be a good guide, teacher, encourager, and discipler.
Good Question 