my confirmation

My background

I come from a family of Christians who has been attending a Methodist church in Singapore.

I was baptised as an infant of 3 months at a Methodist church and has since pretty much grown up in a Methodist environment which involves weekly Sunday school i.e. catechism for kids, church camps and further supplemented with chapel and devotion at the Methodist school i attended for 10 years.

I was confirmed at the age of 19, just after the 'A's levels, also at Wesley Methodist church. Prior to confirmation, all candidates whether or not we have been attending Sunday school, have to go through a 10 week programme of baptism/confirmation classes and at the end of it submit an essay on why we truly want to be baptised/confirmed. the nicene creed is the basis of my confirmation.

it is not an exam where we can be failed, rather the exercise is for us to gain clarity on our position, readiness and motives.

So that did confirmation/baptism do for me?

I don't consider myself a believer just because I was baptized as an infant, rather infant baptism is my parent's act of dedication and commitment to God. I accepted Christ in primary school and I have been a believer since; that was a personal and deliberate choice. Confirmation doesn't make me more Christ like just because I get a certificate at the end of it. What confirmation does is that it renews my covenant with God.

There are 2 levels at which baptism/confirmation works.

Firstly, confirmation is a personal and deliberate choice when we come of age to understand the significance and expectations of our decision. Secondly, the public declaration of this confirmation puts us forth as a witness for our faith in God. At once, we become both accountable to God and to the community of believers.

Confirmation is not the start of my walk with God, instead, it is a milestone in my journey because prior to the stage of confirmation, the Holy Spirit would have been guiding and prompting me towards that direction. Confirmation didn't automatically make me a holier Christian, on the contrary it makes me realise how much i fall short. Confirmation holds me accountable for my faith not just what I believe in, but what I do about it and in doing so, I become more conscious about the spiritual dimension of everything I say and do.

At confirmation, I didn't see the heavens part and a ray of light descend upon my head like in the opening sequence of Mr. Bean. But I believed that took place on a spiritual level because in confirming my faith in God, I am increasing making myself available for Him to work in me.

This kind of understanding takes place at the intellectual level and it is the working of the Holy Spirit that transcends these abstract ideas into meaningful moments.

I had one such moment in the primary school that I was teaching in. I noticed that just outside the side gate where most students enter and leave school, is a huge graffiti of the satanic symbol. No one made any fuss about it because although it faced my school, it wasn't painted on school property and vandalism is just that, vandalism. I tried to ignore it but I felt very uneasy about it. Already, there is a spirit of oppression and defeat in the neighborhood. Subsequently, during one of the sermons in church about spiritual warfare, I felt moved to pray over the vandalism. i prayed that somehow it would go away. and the following day, what I saw, was a fresh coat of brick coloured paint applied over the vandalism.

I can't say that my prayer was more effective just because I’m a confirmed Christian, or that my prayer wouldn't work before confirmation, rather the process of being spiritually sensitive to our surroundings and consciously allowing God to work in my life is made more acute by constantly confirming my faith in God.

I often thought of accepting Christ as a spiritual wedding. The ceremony is significant in itself, but what's more important comes after in how you manage the marriage. Like wise, confirmation is a process, not a one off ceremony and being formally welcomed into the community of believers; confirmation holds us accountable but also supplies us with that network of support.