Jesus sent his disciples out to make disciples, baptizing them and teaching them (Mt 28:18-20).  Peter said to receive Jesus, one must repent and be baptized (Acts 2:38).  And Paul himself just assumed that people would be baptized (Romans 6:1-4).  And yet, Paul says something strange.

For background, the church was quarreling with one another over who they followed.  The person they followed was most often the person that baptized them.  Paul was telling them to stop their fighting.

Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul?  I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius,  so no one can say that you were baptized in my name.  (Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t remember if I baptized anyone else.)  For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

Paul is glad he didn’t baptize anyone?  And that his job was to preach the gospel, not so much to baptize?

Paul taught baptism as he assumed it.  So why did he say the things he did here?

Oftentimes it was the students or those around the leader that did the baptizing.  We saw this with Jesus.

John 4:1–2: “Now Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples.”

It looked like the same thing happened here.  Paul preached.  But others baptized.  Paul said he was glad he didn’t baptize many, not because he didn’t believe in baptism, but because they were wrongly idolizing the person that baptized him.  He didn’t want that and was glad that didn’t happen.

Then he says something interesting.  He remarks that God did not send him to baptize, but to preach the gospel.  Was he saying that baptism wasn’t important?  Not at all.

He is just saying that baptism isn’t the central part of the Christian faith.  Then he goes on to say what is the central message of Christianity, and that is the cross of Christ.  As he will say a few verses later,

“For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Cor 2:2). 

Baptism is important.  It is a command and to be expected.  But baptism is what unites ourselves with Christ’s death and resurrection which happened on the cross.  As Paul taught in Romans 6:3-4,

“Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?  We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life” (Rom 6:3-4). 

It’s like a couple.  The entirety of their relationship is not defined by their wedding ceremony, but rather by the relationship and marriage they build together.

Paul was not saying he didn’t believe baptism was important.  We know this because he taught baptism.  What he is saying here is that he is glad he wasn’t the one who baptized individuals who were now idolizing those who baptized them.  He was glad he wasn’t part of that.