When I was one of the boys
I needed to make a choice
Scared of Hell, I didn’t want to burn
I made the choice, said yes to the Savior
Got my ticket out and felt much safer
So did others and the pastor assembled us to learn
He said we should be baptized the Biblical way
Be assured immersion doesn’t save
But shows we believe Jesus is the way
The rite expresses doing right, following the order
Advised, authorized, mesmerized I was baptized
I was just a kid, pint-sized, undersized
So I was baptized in shallow water
I heard there is a current powerfully flowing
Deep, wide, sound, profound
Prophet Zeke at the temple
Saw the river flowing, growing
Trickle swelling to a mighty stream ungentle
Where that river courses life abounds
Messiah Jesus teaching in a boat
Rocking gently in the shoal
He commanded put out into the deep
Caught so many fish the net began to breach
His followers astounded, feeling drowned
You’ll do more – in the deep life abounds
Big river, deep lake, my faith so much smaller
Minimized, capsulized, bite-sized
My understanding was strictly standardized
Like I was baptized in shallow water
Now I must tell you what I mean
This I’ve heard, not sure I’ve seen
There were some people, first to believe
When Jesus invited, come follow me
Baptism was more, deeper within
Repent, forgiven
Holy Spirit, Kingdom
Healed, new like the wineskin
Wider than a rite
Deeper than a sign
Diving into the undertow of Christ’s dying
Buried, buried, pulled to the bottom with him
Rising, rising, emerging into new life in him
Wholly, totally engulfed in Christ, self-denying
Wider than following a regulation
Deeper than keeping an obligation
Calling, faith, surrender, hope
Immersed in God the one…
…Over all
…Through all
…In all
Plunged into his completeness
Carried down the river to their wholeness
Transformed into his image, identifying
This they lived, taught, lay on the altar
Spiritized, revolutionized
Their souls inwardly radicalized
Like they were baptized in deeper water
Their Teacher spoke with authority and depth
Realities from God astonishingly epic
Then he said the Spirit will come to you
He’ll guide you into all the truth
It happened, beyond anything they had imagined
The Spirit flooded in like a fiery tidal wave
Hearts and minds filled with Holy God, inundated
Not incinerated
Irrigated, invigorated, generated
With Living Water rushing to their stifled brains
Willing to hear, adjusting, coming wide awake
In years following truth emerged in a deluge
Refining, replacing things they knew
Doctrines, prophecies, and commands
Breaking through temporary dams
They studied Scripture and prayed
Listened to the Spirit and obeyed
Truth, knowledge, wisdom cascade
Revelation, explanation, comprehension
Out of the shadows into reality
Living daily in God’s certainty
Knowing the Kingdom has made its entrance
Seeing clearly his eternal intention
They learned to live by a power intense
Compassion for enemies and friends
Love deep as the Mariana Trench
Believing was not a little matter
Everything by the Master reordered
Till they had the mind of Christ
Vitalized, energized, synergized
They were baptized in deeper water
Heard something and think it may be true
“Most people have not escaped high school”
Thirty, ninety years alive
Saying “teens were the best years of life”
I get it, I know what’s up
Teen fun, teen dreams, teen lust, teen schemes
Teen angst, teen screams, teen fear, teen memes
Never growing up
I look around – out there, in here
We Christians cruise in the same gear
Not hearing the words of the apostle
He didn’t pour syrup, didn’t waffle
He said it clear
“You’re slow to learn” –
Still sucking on a bottle
Understanding nursery terms
Can’t take solid food
Still babies in a wading pool
Playing on a teeter-totter
Minimized, infantized, moisturized
Like you got baptized in shallow water
Ignoring millennia of God’s oceanic operation
Like the Bible was written four days ago
And a few miles down the road
What it says brings relaxation
Promises heavenly destination
Sticks with my denomination
Sunday School stories
Quick Bible inventories
Repetition, affirmation
Of previous information
Vaccination, inoculation
Preventing serious revelation
Pause a few precious moments
On the verse of the day
Got a spiritual quotient
Going out to play
Wading the shallows couldn’t be nicer
Things go wrong, turn to specializers
Master plumbers, expert crafters
Consultants, technicians, finance advisors
But if it’s divine and holy truth –
God’s mystery shown in history
Greek, Aramaic, Hebrew
Eden, Israel, New Creation, Kingdom
ANE cultures, Egypt, Babylon, Rome
Angels, gods, forces in the heavenly realm
Creation, Corruption, Incarnation, Redemption
Anthropology, Christology, Pneumatology
Deny self, take up your cross, follow
God’s images, his progeny, generating synergy
Yet the world’s burning in abuse, suffering, death –
Plain, simple, easy to swallow
I know this stuff all by myself
Don’t need historian, theologian, scholar
Childlike faith, pure and simple
Smooth religion without a wrinkle
Bible sayings for inspiration
Scripture is my magic incantation
“Growing in the knowledge of God” – don’t bother
Trivialized, sentimentalized, emotionalized
We got baptized in shallow water
Please don’t take what I’ve said as put down
I don’t mean it to be a knockdown
Well, maybe I’m throwing cold water
In your face, just hoping we all awake
And feel our desert squalor
Because there’s a lot at stake
We’re happy with wading-pool lifeguards
Making discipleship safe and secure
In place of scuba instructors
Taking us on deep-water adventure
We’ve been told not to leave known water
If you do you’re gonna falter
Sharks, rays, ocean predator
Hunting for you in the deep water
So stay here where we know for sure
Reformers distilled our doctrine pure
End-timers charted our final grand tour
And God’s children stay immature
Don’t make waves, God will get you through
But, teachers, recall James’ principle:
You are accountable, responsible,
What you say when you instruct
Will be carefully, strictly judged
And Paul reveals your mission possible:
Prepare the people, build them up
In faith and knowledge fill them up
They must attain the fullness of Christ
So search and uncover the unfathomed truth
More than slogans picked up in youth
Infants need to grow up
To be full-fledged adults in Christ
So here’s my challenge to all of us:
Receive the Spirit’s offer to us
He reveals what God is giving us
Shows us the depth of life with our Father
Maximized, full-sized, God-sized
Maybe surprised and scandalized
Push out of the shallow water
Dive right out of the boat
It’s okay if you can’t float
Be a disciple, apprentice, explorer
Discover knowledge and wisdom broader
In hearts and spirits and minds
Let’s get baptized in deeper water
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