Baptism and Banquette Fellowship

In his book Violence, Hospitality, and the Cross[i] (which Kevin Vanhoozer calls “generous evangelicalism at its best”), Hans Boersma offers some wise words concerning baptism as an “objective bond of fellowship.”

“Baptism is the sacrament through which one enters into the Church and is united to Jesus Christ. As the prime sacrament of initiation, baptism does not simply signify the universal call or promise of the gospel, but it actually incorporates one into Christ and at the same time into the eschatological community of hospitality. We might be tempted to make fine logical distinctions here, in the hope of establishing the correct order pf things. But the Scriptures do not seem concerned about which comes first: our personal union with Christ or our membership in the church (cf. Acts 2:41; 1 Cor. 12:13). Karl Rahner has rightly cautioned against an individualized understanding of Baptism. It is the individual person who is baptized, but this person is baptized into the people of God. To belong to Christ means to belong to his Church and vice versa. Since Christ is the representation of Israel, who recapitulates her life, death, and resurrection, faith and baptism unite us to Christ and lead us into the Church.

We should resist the temptation, therefore, to prioritize between being united to Christ and joining his Church. Doing so leads too easily to a denigration of the significance of the Church as the visible communion of believers. Baptism, as the primary sacrament of initiation, rebuffs such attempts to play out faith in Christ against fellowship with the Church of Christ. Danish theologian Peder Nørgaard-Højen rightly comments that there exists ‘an essential relationship between being a Christian and the community of believers (the communio sanctorum) as the place in which the faith becomes concrete and the implications of baptism become visible.’  It is impossible to belong to Christ without at the same time belonging to the Church of Christ. Believing is never an isolated activity. To accept the invitation of the host implies that one is willing to share in the feast together with everyone who has accepted the same invitation. Baptismal hospitality is by definition corporate in character.

Baptism into Christ and into his Church implies a bond of unity with everyone who likewise has been baptized into Christ and his Church. We can only deny this objective bond of fellowship (koinonia) if we radically limit the implications of baptism to the local Church. Such a limitation hardly seems justified. To be sure, the local congregation and the baptized person’s life in and participation with it are of supreme importance. But to be incorporated into the local Church means to be incorporated into Christ and so to become part of his universal body as well.”