Should I Baptize Them… Now?

“Ethical decisions are easy to make here in the living room, if they are made abstractly,” Harold said. “But when they have to be made in the context of real life and in regard to real people, decision-making can be an ambiguous, agonizing experience.”

Harold Cummins had just finished describing his two-year attempt to establish a relationship with a Maasai enkang or village and the decision he would have to make the next day. He and his wife Betty had worked in Kenya as Church of Christ missionaries for more than sixteen years, principally in the Machakos area with the Kamba tribal people. Then a series of circumstances had given the Cummins an opportunity to relate in several ways to a large group of Maasai people who, because of government pressure, had begun to settle in a barren area known as “El Mamin,” some 120 km southwest of Nairobi.

During the twenty-eight months since Harold and Betty had first visited El Mamin, they had made regular safaris there to help in the construction of a rather large school building as well as a small, rustic outbuilding designated for worship. They had also conducted Bible studies and some simple worship services with the hope of establishing a church among the Maasai. No missionary from Churches of Christ had thus far been successful in evangelizing the Maasai, and no Church of Christ existed among them in Kenya.

“No one thus far has been able to ‘plant’ a Church of Christ among the Maasai,” Harold remarked. “Twenty-five to thirty women and a larger number of younger and older children have participated in the studies and worship services. The Maasai men, however—with the exception of the school director, Michael Mbiti, himself half Maasai and half Kikuyu—haven’t shown any interest.

“Two months ago,” Harold continued, “more than ten of the women told us that they wanted to be baptized. Betty and I were pleased, because if they are baptized they can be the nucleus of a Maasai church. But we were also surprised, because the Maasai have been very resistant to the gospel, and because we have not given a great deal of emphasis to baptism—only when the subject appeared in the Bible studies such as the passages regarding the Ethiopian eunuch and the Philippian jailer.”

The Maasai

Harold continued by giving some background information about the people to whom he and his wife were ministering. “The Maasai are a nomadic people, descendants of the Nilotes, a tall, slender Negroid sub-race who migrated across eastern and central Africa from the southern regions of the Nile basin. Some of the ancestors of the Maasai who settled around Lake Victoria attempted to cultivate the soil. But repeated failures prompted them to turn to the less difficult and less problematical raising of cattle sometime between the 9th and 6th centuries B.C. Following their herds in a perpetual search for grassland and water, the Maasai became pastoral nomads. Until the middle of the present century, they led simple, uncluttered lives wandering freely across Kenya and northern Tanzania. The continual encroachment of civilization, however, has led the governments of these two countries to restrict the movement of the Maasai. Official efforts are now being made to tie them to certain land areas.

“The Maasai are a simple handsome people, devoid of complex political organizations. The only societal strata are determined by age. Their diet consists of meat, blood, and milk, the blood obtained from living animals with a small arrow stuck into the jugular vein. Their dwellings are small, low, loaf-shaped huts made of a frame of branches plastered on the outside with cow dung. Circumcision of boys and clitoridectomy of girls are rites of passage. Polygamy is customary, and corporate decisions are usually made in a thoroughly democratic gathering of the elders of the enkang. Theirs is clearly, however, a man’s society, though remarkably egalitarian and without overt manifestations of coercive authority. Wealth consists in the number of cows one possesses and the number of sons his wives produce.

“Until the coming of Europeans, the Maasai had no chiefs or headmen as such. Questions then, as now, were settled in a gathering of the elders. The concept of individualism is absolutely alien to the Maasai, and as a whole they have been wedded to their traditions and are highly resistant to change.

“Religious concepts are, as one might expect, uncomplicated. Enkai—variously translated as god, the sky, or the sky god, was once, it is believed, one with the earth. Eventually there came a separation, and Enkai benevolently sent cattle to the Maasai, who were favored above all men. This central religious myth is interpreted quite literally, and for a Maasai to abandon his cattle is not only demeaning to himself, but is an insult to the mercy and blessing of Enkai. There are some Maasai groups—especially in Tanzania—who have been forced to abandon their nomadic ways and to settle into designated areas. But most of the Maasai here in Kenya are strongly linked to their traditional ways, refer pejoratively to farming as ‘scratching in the earth like a chicken,’ and remain completely dependent on their cattle. All of life revolves around their cattle as can be observed in the everyday greeting, ‘I hope your cattle are well,’ as well as in the high ceremonial slaughter of a bullock.

“Today there are approximately 120,000 Maasai living in Kenya and Tanzania—some feeling the full impact of change, while others attempt to retain the simplicity and purity of their past.”

The Decision

“Tomorrow we will go to El Mamin,” Harold continued. “I indicated to the women several weeks ago that we would make a decision about their baptism before our next visit. But I don’t know what I should do.

“I have asked for a meeting with the men, but if I tell them that their wives want to be baptized, they could react negatively and prohibit my continuing to come to the village. Or they could agree to their baptism, and I would face a more difficult dilemma.

“If I baptize the women now, I may fix in the minds of all the villagers that Christianity is a faith for women and not for men. Also if I baptize the women now, I will be accepting de factopolygamy. Betty and I have not faced the polygamy question before, except in isolated instances, but among the Maasai polygamy is commonplace. To accept a polygamist for baptism is something of a problem for me,” Harold said, “and also it is an issue for many of the Kenyan ministers and lay leaders. Protestant churches here in East Africa have their own set of traditions, and the traditions regarding polygamists are long-standing and deeply ingrained.

“Furthermore, there is no uniform position on polygamy among Christian groups in East Africa. In fact, there are varying ideas and practices. But generally and historically, Protestants have refused baptism to any man who is a polygamist unless and until he puts away all but one of his wives. Some denominations insist that all of the wives except his first wife must be put away, while others allow the husband to keep the wife of his choice. Theoretically, the man continues to be responsible for all his wives, but he lives conjugally with only one.

“Some Protestant churches have been willing to baptize only the first wife. But there are other ministers who will baptize all the wives but not the husband. If I baptize any of these Maasai women, I am running the risk of alienating a sizable number of ministers and lay leaders in East Africa. Also I’m not certain at all how the Maasai men will feel about Christianity if it begins only with women. The Maasai is a strictly patriarchal culture. I’m afraid to baptize the women without the approval of the men; but if they agree, I still don’t know which is the wisest course.

“Do you have any suggestions?” Harold asked.

 

 

Biblical Texts

Consider the following biblical texts as you prepare your written brief. Although you may choose to employ other passages of scripture in your response to the case, you must engage the prescribed passages. Demonstrate your exegetical handling of key texts and clearly indicate your understanding of how the prescribed texts should be related to the situation of the case.

Genesis 1:27; 2:18–25

1 Corinthians 7:10–24

Colossians 2:6–23

Questions

Consider the following questions as you prepare your written brief. Organize your response as seems most appropriate to you. Feel free to address issues beyond these questions. But all of these questions should be addressed in your response.

1)    How do you evaluate the role of cultural expectations in the process of theological reflection and pastoral decision-making? Articulate your convictions, demonstrating and justifying the guidelines you use. What are the specific factors associated with the context of this case?

2)    How does an interpreter and practical theologian responsibly negotiate and apply biblical texts that appear to have different priorities or allow for different practices? Describe the theological commitments that you bring to your reading of the text, indicating which ones are most important and why. What role does the Old Testament play in Christian theological discernment?

3)    What is the appropriate theological discernment process to arrive at a position regarding the critical African issues of this case—e.g. Christian marriage, polygyny, the gender expectations of the Maasai, eating blood, etc.? What is the minister’s proper role in the process and what would constitute a proper exercise of ministerial authority? What role should local and extended communities play in processes of discernment?

4)    What constitutes a proper candidate for catechism and baptism? What is the place of baptism in the catechetical process, conversion, and in the life of the church? What role should culturally-shaped community norms play in the practice of such things as baptism? Connect your conclusions to the circumstances of the case.

5)    What advice do you give Harold and Betty? Construct a biblically grounded and pastorally appropriate response to the situation. What short- and long-term concerns need to be taken into account? What role should tactical issues play? Include specific pastoral interventions, detailing strategies, contents, and intended functions.