A few months back, I mentioned in church that the people who take Lord’s Supper ought to be baptized people. It was an unplanned statement, that I only mentioned in one of the two services, so not everyone heard it. Therefore, I figured I would write an article about it as a reminder for those who were there, and as information to those who attended the other service or weren’t there that Sunday. 

Here is the basic argument: 

The reason I mentioned it in the service is that it dawned on my that there may be people at Good News Church (perhaps people who were not followers of Jesus when they first started attending but who are now) who participate in Lord’s Supper but haven’t been baptized.

It makes sense to me why these people would take the Lord’s Supper. I’m sure it is because we say: “If you believe in Jesus and want to proclaim that He died for your sins, come on up and partake.” So, they do. That’s good.

However, there may be multiple reasons (some better than others) that they haven’t been baptized yet. One reason could be ignorance; someone could come to know Jesus and not yet know that they ought to be baptized. Another reason could be that they don’t want to get wet in public (something I would strongly encourage them to get over.) Another reason could be that they intend to get baptized soon, but they want to wait for their mom to be in town to witness it. And I’m sure there’s more.

Well, on the particular Sunday that I brought this topic up, I mentioned that there are some churches that try to limit Lord’s Supper to baptized people only. I also said that Good News is not one of those churches. But it's not because we don’t believe that the people who take Lord’s Supper don’t need to be baptized. We do. It’s just that we don’t think it’s necessarily a sin to do these ceremonies out of order.

Here’s an example: Imagine someone becomes a Christian on a Saturday, then shows up at church the next day and takes Lord’s Supper (because they are now a Christian and it’s being served) and then that same day they tell the pastor that they are now a Christian and then they schedule their baptism for the following Sunday… that is no big deal, and in fact, it’s great. Yes, it’s out of the normal chronological order (because baptism is an initiatory event, and Lord’s Supper is an ongoing one) but no harm was done. It just worked out that way – that their first opportunity for Lord’s Supper happened to occur before their baptism.

But here is my thought: there is no reason for that to go on for a long time. I can’t think of any good reason that someone should take Lord’s Supper over and over again for months and yet not ever take upon themselves the sign of baptism.

I guess another way of saying it is: If you are spiritually ready to take the Lord’s Supper, you are spiritually ready for baptism. And if you are someone who ought not be baptized, you are someone who ought not take the Lord’s Supper. They are for the same group: Christians.

I thought you should know. If you’ve never been baptized and would like to be, please ​visit our website​ to get more information and schedule a time.