Baptism and the Whole-life Disciple

When do we become a whole-life disciple? What fuels our discipleship? I'd like to suggest that our identity and comissioning as a disciple is firmly rooted in our baptism. There is much more to say about this and hopefully we will explore it further elsewhere, but I recently came across this quote by the Swiss theologian Hans-Ruedi Weber from his article The Ministry of the Laity - Reconsidered from an Old Testament Perspective that helpfully encapsulates this idea. He writes:

a) Baptism is the ordination of the laity which authorises them to participate in Christ’s ministry in and for the world. Baptism is therefore the starting point for a theology on the laity.

b) Baptism introduces each church member into a basic apostolic succession. Just as each apostle is called, so each member of the apostolic Church is called to discipleship and mission.

c) In baptism each Christian becomes the responsible steward of the gifts of grace, the ‘charismata’ which have been given to him. These ‘charismata’ have to be used both for the up-building of the Church and for Christian service in and through the ‘secular’ jobs of the church members.

d) In baptism, each member of the Church is introduced into the dying and uprising with Christ, who, as the eternal High Priest, offered himself to become the victim for the salvation of the world.

From their baptism onwards, all Christians are therefore called to share in Christ’s priestly work by offering themselves in love and obedience to God and in love and service of men.