90 Dimensions of Baptism
household, demonstrates the incontrovertible geosocial progress of the
mission.
- Conclusion
Because of the pervasive expectation that the household would follow its
head in religious matters, that Luke elected to record any household bap-
tisms is the puzzle. Why mention household baptism at all? Why these
three instances only? One indicator is the consistent pattern we have
observed of the collocation of household baptism with hospitality. Another
is the status of those baptized as marginal to the Jewish community as this
is defined by Jerusalem (Cornelius and his household) or according to both
Roman and Jewish conventions (Lydia, the jailor, and their households).
Another still is the strategic location of these episodes at crucial junctures
in the spread of the Gentile mission. It is not enough to mark the geo-
graphical progress of the mission, though this is not without interest in the
Lukan narrative. More is at stake with the movement of the Christian mes-
sage than might be signified by crossing Roman mile markers. Geography
is socially defined space, so that genuine progress entails theological
conversion manifest in transformed allegiances and behaviors.
The three episodes Luke recounts appear on the missionary frontier,
where the crossing of ideological/theological borders is a prerequisite of
missionary advance. At these junctures, Luke takes special pains (1) to
demonstrate the hand and choreography of God in the events that unfold,
(2) to indicate that the gospel is proclaimed, (3) to validate the authentic
reception of the gospel by Gentiles, (4) to show how, in baptism, God's
emissaries embrace these Gentile households as God's people, and (5) to
posit their homes as world-defining centers at odds with the dominant
ideology (whether Jerusalem temple—or Rome-based). The baptism of
households entails the unequivocal embrace of the household as the new
culture center for the people of God, an active center of social order that
embodies and radiates a world-order within which Jesus is Lord of all,
hospitality is shared across socio-ethnic lines, and hierarchical lines that
define the empire are erased.