The Ugliest Part of "Re-Baptism"

 

I was part of a church called the International Church of Christ [ICOC] for 11 years. On my you tube channel I talk about my experience in the ICOC. I also talk about spiritual abuse and cult abuse and recovery. The ICOC and it's sister church, the ICC [International Christian Church] is a church cult. 

FYI: Cults are not churches, cults can be any kind of group. This concept of re-baptism and restoration is one of the cult aspects of the church. 

First, let me say that if someone wants to be baptized again to symbolize their re-commitment to God, that is fine. The problem is that this decision does not come from the individual. It almost always comes from the church. Someone sits the person down and informs them that they MUST do the restoration studies and be re-baptized to be reinstated into the church. 

Adding to this problem is the fact that the ICOC/ICC members withhold their affection from the person they deem to need being rebaptized until they agree to submit themselves to the restoration studies. This withholding of affection can be very subtle but the person on the receiving end can sense it. Church members act aloof or treat the person like a stranger [or even worse, like an outsider, such as a person who is going to hell]. 

Even members who were close friends or discipling partners can act estranged from you if you're considered to need getting restored. They don't call you to talk; they call you to schedule a bible study - a kind of clinical interaction. It feels like you're getting the cold shoulder... and that is on purpose. 

Getting restored in the ICOC and ICC churches means a walk of shame. The person who agrees to go through the restoration studies is submitting themselves to being humiliated, shamed, and demoralized. The church members studying with you are your "handlers", taking you through the re-indoctrination process. 

This thing they call getting re-baptized is really getting re-indoctrinated. 

For whatever reason, the initial programming of the first series of studies  (Word study, Cross study, Discipleship study, Sin + Repentance study, Kingdom study, etc) one must do to be a member of the church is weakening. The hold of the mind-control the church has on the person is breaking and crumbling away. The re-baptism and restoration studies are meant to re-install the initial programming. 

Two types of people get told they must do the restoration studies and get rebaptized:

a). People considered "fall-aways" [former members who left the church]

b). People considered "weak spiritually" including people who were baptized but haven't "repented" from their previous lifestyle

The person who has left the church is perceived to have lost their salvation and must start the salvation process of the bible studies and baptism all over again. The church holds all the power in this situation. They are the ones who hold the key to the person getting back right with God. They see the ICOC and ICC as God, so if you leave the church you leave God. If you rejoin the church, then you have come back to God. 

See how that works? When you submit to the restoration process, you are agreeing to this belief that the church = God. This is very toxic and very dangerous.

Getting so-called restored and re-baptized is something that is not found in the bible. Nowhere in the bible were christians getting baptized more than once for the same purpose. In fact, it says there is one baptism, not two. The pressure of the church to get rebaptized is so strong that one does not even think to challenge it. For one, the person knows that if they don't do the restoration studies and get rebaptized, then they will never be accepted into the church again. They will lose people they consider friends and the spiritual family the church indoctrinates one to believe that they are. 

Getting restored/rebaptized is never presented as an option. It is always an ultimatum. It may be said in a soft way, but one cannot be a church member without getting restored. 

This process of restoration and re-baptism is not only manipulative and controlling, but it puts the person's relationship with their higher power in the hands of ICOC/ICC members. Other people are now determining what should be a sacred aspect of one's being. 

A person's relationship with "God" is theirs alone. Other people have no rightful place in that. Everyone has to walk their own spiritual path. Agreeing to the restoration studies says that the church has control of your relationship with God.  They determine whether you are right with God. This is a violation to the soul and the reason I am writing about this. No person should subject themselves to such spiritual abuse and trauma. 

Most people say that the restoration studies are more traumatizing than the first set of studies. This makes sense. The restoration studies is the "walk of shame" for people being re-initiated into the church. Restoration is a word that has a positive meaning and in the bible being restored holds an essence of hope and redemption. 

However, the ICOC/ICC's version of restoration is one of shame, humiliation, demoralization, and trauma. One being restored has to prove to the ICOC/ICC that they are worthy of being "saved" again. [Being "Saved" = being a member of the church in good standing]. 

By agreeing to the restoration studies and re-baptism, the individual is pledging their vows to "seek the kingdom first" and to discipleship. They are promising to do whatever it takes to become a church member again. A church member, remember, is a member of the ICOC/ICC. This matters because the church membership = salvation is what motivates the person to endure the grueling restoration process.

Once the restoration studies are done, and the church members approve you to be baptized after counting the costs, you are re-baptized. 

Yes, I said RE-baptized. 

Can someone please tell me where it says in the bible that a person needs to be baptized a second time? Where, o where, in the new testament does Peter or Paul write letters telling Christians that their sin has made their salvation and baptism null and void and they must start all over again? This is a church that boasts that they are the ONE TRUE CHURCH who adheres to the bible as it is intended. They claim to follow God, not men. So where is this re-baptism stuff coming from?  

It's coming from a place of CONTROL. It's a toxic dynamic of  CO-DEPENDENCY. You have to be co-dependent on the ICOC/ICC to have a relationship with God. They need you to need them so you'll jump through any hoops they put in your path to jump through. Without this co-dependency, they can't control you. The church fosters this unhealthy, disempowering need of "one another" relationships they call discipleship to exert this power over people. 

NOTE: 

The ICOC and the ICC [International Christian Church]  do not view water baptism as symbolic, i.e. "an outer symbol of an inward grace". Rather, they see the water baptism as a literal point of salvation. They believe that one must be completely immersed under water for the salvation to be valid. When I was there, it was so extreme to where if someone's pinky was sticking up [or their knee cap didn't make it all the way under], then that person wasn't saved. It was pretty cringy. 

Getting baptized again makes the first baptism irrelevant in their estimation. For some people, this is chalked up to the individual being a weak member who did the first bible studies in a way that wasn't viewed as "legit". This also happens when a member relocates to a different ministry and the new ministry feels the person isn't "sold out". In other words, some church leaders feel certain people need to be re-baptized under their leadership. If you do the studies with someone, they are acclimated to your style of leadership. I truly believe that if left up to some leaders in the church, every time a leader took over a new ministry they would have all the members they didn't know go through the studies again and get re-baptized. Oh, yeah, they already do this. It was called "pruning" back in the day. I did a video on it here. 

This all shows that the ICOC/ICC doesn't really honor baptism as much as they say they do. To do a baptism twice illustrates the church's narcissism and abuse of members. It also shows they are about works and performance. "Working out your salvation" is the church's bread and butter. They make sure you never feel safe with God and your salvation. Even after being "saved" they believe you can never rest on your laurels. With them, salvation can be lost. Grace is conditional with their God. Their God wants to know what have you done for him lately. Their God is never satisfied and what you do is never enough. This mentality keeps members on edge, always anxious, striving to "stay right" with God through being a faithful obedient member of the church. This gives the church all the power, and that's where the abuse of that power comes in.