It’s one thing to let someone immerse you in water. To let them lay you down and hold you under—at least for a brief few seconds—as a tangible enactment on the outside of a cleansing that has happened on the inside.
It’s another thing to let Jesus immerse you in his Spirit. To let let him overwhelm you from the inside out with his power and presence.
We call both of these baptism.
I once had a friend who, in preparation for baptism, asked me to hold him under for a solid minute. He wanted it to really take. He didn’t want something quick and easy. He wanted the soaking to go deep.
Sometimes I think our inclination is to hope that Jesus doesn’t hold us under his Spirit for too long. After all, it might get uncomfortable. Perhaps a bit out of control or messy. Just enough to get the job done will be just fine, thank you very much.
All theological quibbles aside, I think this is usually for one basic reason: We’re afraid of getting weird.
While in water baptism we can anticipate how we’ll look to other people afterward (wet!), in Spirit baptism there’s no telling. Sometimes it’s dramatic; sometimes it’s subtle. Sometimes it’s quite normal; sometimes it’s weird.
But maybe there are worse things than getting weird. Maybe it’s better to ask Jesus to hold us under a little longer than most.
