*Editorial Note: Miranda Zapor Cruz has written a prophetic, timely, and deeply creative piece for us this week on three concepts I have never seen put together: the unifying nature of the sacrament of baptism, the crisis over immigration and border security, and the nature of belonging to the Church universal. Great writing brings disparate ideas together and wonders, “How do these concepts dialogue with one another?” Miranda’s piece, “Baptism Without Borders,“ does just this, and begs further reflection and dialogue. Here, we continue to do just that. ~CK

MISSIO ALLIANCE (MA): Your observation that we are baptized “into the name of” the Triune God (as opposed to “in the name of”) has so many implications for our witness as Christ-followers, and the nature by which we love our neighbors. Can you tease a few of the most critical ideas out here?

MIRANDA ZAPOR CRUZ (MZC): Christians are invited into union with God. One of the most powerful images illustrating our transition into union with God is the 15^th century Orthodox icon of the Holy Trinity by Andrei Rublev. The image depicts the messengers who visited Abraham (Genesis 18:1-15) as the three persons of the Trinity. They are seated at a table which has space for others to join the feast and the hand of the Holy Spirit is extended toward the viewer in invitation. We aren’t being invited to merely observe or mimic; we are invited to participate in the relationship of perfect love shared among the persons of the Trinity.  It’s an image of what Jesus himself prays for all believers: “…just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us” (from John 17:21 NIV).Baptism is the beginning of that union.

In baptism we aren’t only claimed by God or committing to try harder to be Christlike. We are brought into fellowship with God along with whole Body of Christ. Participating in the mutual love that binds the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit means that we are bound to one another as well. The more we live into that mutual love, the more winsome our Christian witness. I believe Christianity is suffering from a crisis of credibility, partly due to public failure to demonstrate love of neighbor. Christians truly embracing our baptism into triune love and living it out faithfully is essential for Christian mission and witness. 

MISSIO ALLIANCE (MA): The section of your piece excerpted below absolutely undid me, in the best of ways. How can the sacrament of baptism–and the other central sacraments of the faith that the Church universal/historic has instituted (Communion, etc.) become a bridge towards loving one another more deeply and sacrificially?

“Wherever we participate in or make excuses for physical or verbal violence against brothers and sisters across cultural and national borders, we violate our baptismal covenant. When we attempt to justify material or psychological harm on the grounds of self-protection, we effectively reject the sacrificial love of Christ in his death and resurrection. We enter the water, but refuse to be cleansed. We leave the water only to return to the boundary lands from which we came, refusing to believe that the borders are no more.” (Miranda Zapor Cruz, “Baptism Without Borders“)

MIRANDA ZAPOR CRUZ (MZC): Throughout Christian history, baptismal liturgies have included a renunciation of Satan and a commitment to resist evil in ourselves and in the world. The third century Apostolic Tradition instructed believers to say, “I renounce you Satan, and all your service and all your works” before entering the water. Renouncing evil and committing to turn from it was a prerequisite for baptism. What are we renouncing, exactly? Satan’s work has always been to turn people against each other. From Adam blaming Eve to Cain murdering Abel, scapegoating and violence have been endemic to sin-sick humanity interpersonally, interculturally, and internationally. For Christians to be a bridge toward sacrificial love, we need to reclaim the renunciation of evil as an essential part of our baptismal covenant.That requires us to recognize the sin in ourselves that leads to violence, dehumanization, racial bias, ethnocentrism–any action or attitude in which we recognize Satan’s work of sowing blame, suspicion, jealousy, or fear.If we are baptized yet refuse to see and repent of these evils, then we are refusing what the Holy Spirit offers in baptism: a complete transformation of our whole being into the likeness of Christ.

God mercifully gives us the opportunity to recommit to our baptism whenever we participate in Holy Communion. Communion liturgies include confession and repentance and exhort people to be reconciled to their neighbor before partaking of the elements. We can take this opportunity to pray, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts.  See if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:24 NRSVUE). The Holy Spirit will be faithful to reveal the ways evil alienates us from our fellow image bearers and to cleanse us of unrighteousness. I encourage pastors who don’t typically use liturgies for Baptism and Communion to incorporate renunciation and repentance in ways that fit their worship context.

Christianity is suffering from a crisis of credibility, partly due to public failure to demonstrate love of neighbor. Christians truly embracing our baptism into triune love and living it out faithfully is essential. Share on X

MISSIO ALLIANCE (MA): You argue compellingly and prophetically that baptism into the name of God binds us together. In other words, another human’s suffering becomes my own. Why have we failed to heed this central call towards empathetic witness and compassionate suffering (“com-passion” = to suffer with/alongside)?

MIRANDA ZAPOR CRUZ (MZC): Saint Augustine in The City of God talked about the nature of sin as our hearts being turned away from loving God and toward loving self above all. Martin Luther expanded on that, describing the fallen human as “turned inward on himself.” I find this an apt description of human nature. We fail to be empathetic and compassionate because we are so focused on our own needs and desires that we neglect others. Instead of neighbors, we see threats to our comfort, safety, or resources. Or we see our neighbor but turn away when compassion becomes costly. Then we often justify our lack of empathy by naming reasons the suffering person is just getting what they deserve. I see this most frequently right now in the way some people talk about immigrants who are being rounded up for mass deportation in the United States. Other times and places have their own examples. 

Some Christians go so far as to reject empathy as “toxic” for fear that empathy is a slippery slope to accommodating sin. How ironic, to lean into sinfulness for fear of tolerating sin! Others twist the Gospel message into a promise of comfort, safety, and prosperity as the evidence of God’s love and a reward for faith. Again, the irony of distorting God’s word to justify keeping the heart turned inward! The nature of redemption is the Holy Spirit untwisting our hearts, turning us toward to love of God and neighbor and away from love of self. Sin in us resists this transformation. When we recognize resistance in ourselves, we must continue to trust the Holy Spirit to set us free from sin and death. We live into our freedom in Christ by loving courageously and sacrificially. Without such a transformation, baptism becomes a mere transaction, like a coat that that I purchase without wearing. It is really mine, but I do not experience its benefits.

For Christians to be a bridge toward sacrificial love, we need to reclaim the renunciation of evil as an essential part of our baptismal covenant. That requires us to recognize the sin in ourselves that leads to violence. Share on X

MISSIO ALLIANCE (MA): Where do you see any signs of prophetic resistance or ‘upside-down,’ counter-cultural living as Christ followers, particularly as a counter-witness to the prevalence of Christian nationalism in our land?

MIRANDA ZAPOR CRUZ (MZC): As a historian, I find prophetic resistance is easier to identify in retrospect. Counter-witness is often in the day-to-day refusal to succumb to scapegoating and verbal or physical violence. Resistance requires ongoing discernment of when and how to speak and act. I do see Christians taking prophetic stands and acting courageously in fellowship with the marginalized and dehumanized. I’m hesitant to identify specific people or actions because the nature of current events prevents me from knowing the whole story. But we can recognize them by their cross-shaped lives that embody humility, sacrifice, and confidence in God’s final victory.  

In the United States and many other places around the world we are witnessing a rejection of ethnic and cultural diversity in favor of isolation and ethnonationalism. Christian nationalism is one example of that, and much of my academic work is focused on helping Christians understand that there’s nothing Christian about Christian nationalism and providing faithful alternatives. I wrote a book on this very subject this past year. Xenophobia isn’t new or unique. “There is nothing new under the sun” especially when it comes to humanity rejecting the command to “love the stranger” (Deuteronomy 10:19, Leviticus 19:34). The vast majority of people in the world do not have the power to affect dramatic change in policy or to redirect institutions, but that should not be an excuse for passivity or indifference. Prophetic resistance and counter-witness takes the form of daily acts of hospitality and advocacy. Paul’s admonition to “not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2 NIV) resonates as the pattern of the world seems increasingly at odds with foundational Christian commitments.  In this context, living with the mind of Christ looks like radical and costly love of neighbor and courageous public witness in whatever sphere of influence we may have.

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The nature of redemption is the Holy Spirit untwisting our hearts, turning us toward to love of God and neighbor and away from love of self. Wemust continue to trust the Holy Spirit to set us free from sin and death. Share on X