Baptism Statement: Kamran Mirza

Tell us your faith story. 

I got interested in Christianity for admittedly silly reasons. But as I became more interested and would search online to see what the Bible said about this or that topic, I had someone close to me say, “Why don’t you just read the Bible?” Shortly after that, we started a “read the Bible in a year” plan (I did not complete this plan, but I sure was close). This was a confusing experience. Before this, my OCD had gone largely undiagnosed and untreated for a significant amount of time and was beginning to impact me more and more. Once I adopted Christianity, my OCD quickly latched on, and I started thinking I needed to read four Bible chapters a day, feeling like I needed to pray for 20 minutes or longer a day until it felt just right, and doubting that any action I took was the righteous one. This was an extremely difficult period that truly took a lot out of me, but even after receiving treatment and putting up with absurdly draining compulsions 24/7, the faith stayed.

Even after treatment, it was quite difficult to break away from this mindset of never being good enough, of always needing to do more, and always trying to find clear-cut “biblical” answers to every question. Luckily, the community here at Pres House met me where I was at spiritually and encouraged me – not to abandon Christianity or to suppress doubts, but to embrace the messiness of faith. For example, when I brought up that I didn’t like sitting and praying in silence, Erica pushed me to recognize that I can be prayerful through acting on the principles of loving thy neighbor; or when I went to Nii Addo after signing up for baptism, worried that my interpretation of faith wasn’t in-line enough, he talked me through it and taught me to embrace the way I understand Christ’s sacrifice and death on the cross, rather than encouraging me to return to a more common understanding. These are just two instances of transformative conversations that helped me grow into a confident person of faith.

Now, I can be fully comfortable with a faith that is between me and God. I can now proudly say that I believe Christ’s love and promise are universal, that I think our job is to work to bring the kingdom of God to Earth, and that it is not only okay but good practice to wrestle with Scripture’s meaning and how we put it into practice.

Why have you chosen to be baptized?

A God who chose to be born into a family of oppressed people in the Roman Empire, who chose to die a martyr for His beliefs, and who stood up to abusive systems that held millions in bondage is one I wish to follow. My baptism is a covenant between me, God, and my community that I will work toward making things on Earth as they are in Heaven. I will work to get those who are hungry food, I will work to protect the foreigner, and I will work toward a beautiful land where everyone has what they need and no one is above another. I believe it is the duty of all followers of Christ within and outside the church to follow in his footsteps and stand up for the oppressed and downtrodden; so for me, baptism is a public and communal commitment to struggle to fulfill our duty to follow in Christ’s footsteps and to serve oppressed and marginalized peoples.

Christ is also a God who has proclaimed the forgiveness of sins, renewal for all people in his name, and exemplified our duty to try our best to live in right relationship with our body, community, and God. So, for me, baptism is a reminder of the renewal we get from God’s grace and forgiveness of sins, and a covenant that I will always work to return to God’s path no matter how far I wander. This is how I want to live my life. No matter how much I falter, I want to strive to reject isolation and the abuse or exploitation of others, and instead embrace grace and the duty set before us to always seek right relationship with God, community, and myself.”

Christians use a variety of images and metaphors to describe the sacrament of baptism. Which is most meaningful to you, and why?

Baptism, to me, is a covenant between community, God, and me to live as Christ lived and to struggle to build the kingdom of Heaven on Earth today. Because of this view of baptism, the most meaningful image to describe baptism to me is communal. These are enormous tasks that, for me, are most impactful when done communally. If I am committing to living as Christ-like as I can, I need a community in my corner to help me wrestle with doubts, understand why I need to love my enemies, and how to move forward with my life in forgiveness and grace. Whether working to free myself from sin and error, move toward justice, or grow in faith, I need the help of God and community. Community is not only what I want but what I need in all aspects of my life. So if I am to make this commitment, it ought to be communal.

Baptism is also a reminder of God’s grace and forgiveness of our sins. It can be easy to take this for granted – I know I have – but it is amazing to have a God who is always willing to forgive and push us back toward right relations no matter how much we stray. During God’s time on Earth, He sat with tax collectors and Roman imperial guards to push them toward right relationship with others and Himself. He also sat with sex workers, lepers, and the outcast to forgive them of their sins, publicly demonstrating that not only are they forgiven, but WE must move into right relationships with those who are suffering and must take steps to free the marginalized from OUR sins as a people. Baptism is a reminder that we must embrace and continue Christ’s work within ourselves and our community.

Kamran Mirza (he/him) is a law student in the class of 2027.