"I Baptize You, My Brother, Maximus, In the Name of ..."

In an article in the December issue of Men's Journal, Oscar-winning actor Russell Crowe talks about his intention to be baptized along with his son.

“I’d like to do it this year,” says Crowe, 43,“My mom and dad decided to let my brother and me make our own decisions about God when we got to the right age. I started thinking recently, ‘If I believe it is important to baptize my kids, why not me?’”

Crowe says the baptism will take place in the Byzantine chapel he built at his country ranch in Australia for his wedding to Danielle Spencer in 2003. The couple have two sons, 3-year-old Charlie and 1-year-old Tennyson.

“It is consecrated and everything,” Crowe says in the magazine’s December issue, now on newsstands. “Charlie was baptized there. And when Tennyson gets baptized there, I will, too.”

Crowe — a reformed Aussie bad boy with a reputation for throwing temper tantrums — is more spiritual than people may think. “I do believe there are more important things than what is in the mind of a man,” he says. “There is something much bigger that drives us all. I’m willing to take that leap of faith.”

I appreciate these sentiments and I can only hope and pray that this "leap of faith" is the genuine article. There are a few things, however, that bother me about this story and similar stories. I have read many stories of describing how people with money, power and influence approach spiritual things. Most of the time, it seems that everything is done on their own terms. I often miss the brokenness, the giving up of self, the repentance, and the sacrificial aspects of the conversion. The desire to be baptized is great, but the real power in baptism is in the public profession, the testimony of the Lordship of Christ and the identification in His death, burial and resurrection.

An actor knows the importance of location and, in my opinion, the ideal scene would not take place in a private chapel in the middle of your 1000 acre ranch. Shouldn't it be done in public where others can be motivated and challenged by your testimony and your brothers and sisters in Christ can be on hand to begin to nurture you and accountability relationships can be fostered?

I am not trying to be judgmental for the sake of argument. I want to use this story to make a point. Too many people believe in "something bigger that drives us all," in other words, some ethereal power "up there" that controls us. That realization forces some to perform acts of reverence or oblation, and make public statements which have the appearance of trying to appease an unseen god. The truth is we serve a very personal God who has revealed Himself in general and specific ways, and who wants to have an abiding relationship with us. The sacrifice was made, but He made it on our behalf, not vice versa. We don't have to do good works to appease Him. We do good works in response to Him.

Heavenly Father, help us all to go beyond the mere acknowledgment of Your existence to the place where we abide in You and You in us. Help us also to live lives according to Your will and Your word, demonstrating the faith of which we speak. For Your grace, love and mercy, we are forever grateful.

Amen.