The Soap Opera Gospel

You can learn a lot about how our culture in general views religion by seeing how it is portrayed in Soap Operas. After all, anytime there is a death, a wedding, sometimes a baptism and always when someone is dying there is some token chapel/church scene. Last week I caught an episode of General Hospital (please don't ask why, let's just move on) in which a family was preparing for the baptism of their new baby girl. There was an absolutely great line when the babies older brother (who is about 10 I guess) declares that a baptism is like a "free pass to heaven." It was amazing because, in the mouth of a 10 year old, the writers could blatantly express what is a common notion of spirituality. Although many might not express it so outright, there is a common belief that eternal life is somehow attained or guaranteed by some religious ritual, often baptism. If we look to the words of Jesus himself, however, it is clear that there is no ritual that can achieve such a state, but only belief in Jesus. Jesus himself stated in John 3...(I know many of you are expecting 3:16 so how about 3:18 for a change) 18: "Whoever believes in him (Jesus) is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son." The name Jesus is a combination of the short form for God's divine name and the word saves in Hebrew and thus literally means "Yah Saves" (God saves). To reject Jesus is to thus reject the means for salvation provided by God himself. That salvation is accomplished through the sacrificial death of Jesus, which Jesus had alluded to earlier in John 3:14 and is clearly in view here. Thus salvation according to Jesus is by faith alone - a faith in who Jesus is and what he has done for us. Salvation is not accomplished by performing any ritual, no matter how meaningful and significant, including baptism.
We do read about baptism in the New Testament and it is certainly a significant and important ritual. It is important to note that in each case that we read about baptism it is a ritual that closely follows an individual coming to faith in Jesus. One comes to faith in Christ and then follows that by being baptized which then becomes a visual symbol which helps to express and make public ones faith and commitment to Jesus. That to me is when and how rituals can be powerful, when they help point us towards truth. Sadly, there is the danger that rituals become the thing we focus on and miss the truth to which they are supposed to point. It reminds me of my two dogs. To the elder dog I can throw something, point and yell "whats that" at which point he turns around, looks and runs to retrieve the reward. When I do the same for my younger dog, as soon as I point she becomes transfixed upon my finger and never does recognize that there is something beyond my finger. Often it seems that our rituals are much the same, failing to point us to the deeper truth and reality toward which they are supposed to lead our attention.
In response to the young character's declaration about baptism being a "free pass into heaven" I would respond that there is in fact a "pass" to be had, but it is by no means free. It cost Jesus his life. As Paul writes "For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures..." (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). It is this reality that our baptism helps to symbolize and express. Again Paul states "We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life." (Romans 6:4)