new lights, logos and baptism

There's a new light in the church. Well, in fact, there are several new lights. And we are very grateful for them. If you worship with us regularly, you may have already seen them. If not, have a look out next time you are here.
But there is one in particular that is noticeable, and intended to be so. It is on when others are not. It highlights the Bloomsbury symbol at the back of the foyer, the one that can be seen from the street through the main doors. By keeping it lit when other lights are off, we are making the whole place more visible to those who pass by.
It is wonderful that we have such an attractive logo that shows well when it is lit up. I'm sure most people know the meaning and the story of our Bloomsbury B. (If not, look on the website, under "Who we are"). The logo has a clear interpretation. But as is so often the way, we did not start with a description and then find a symbol to match it; our symbol came first, and then we worked out what it said to us about who we are, who we strive to be and what our longing is. And yes - I have moved deliberately from the word logo to the word symbol. A logo represents who we have defined ourselves to be andw we want people to know us; a symbol reveals us to ourselves, and incidentally to others, as we think about it, explore it and let it speak to us. And it goes on revealing.
There are various symbols deep in Christian identity. One of the clearest for us as a Baptist church is baptism by immersion. Baptism has this quality of being a symbol. When we are baptised, there are several meanings visible; the death of the alienated self and the birth of the new self in Jesus; the cleansing of our beings from sin; the integration into the living body of Christ in time and space. And there are many more. Like our B, but even more so, baptism goes on and on showing us who we are, who we aspire to be, who we are being transformed into. As a living and productive symbol, baptism is not something that happens once and then is over. It is a symbolic event which goes on informing, shaping and revealing to us who we are in God.
But another thing about baptism is that it is strange - it looks strange, and people find it intriguing. There is a temptation in thinking about, and practicing, baptism of believers by immersion as a logo; making it something to look at and to define, rather than letting it reveal us to ourselves and others.
There are always dangers in treating symbols as logos - of using something that is noticeable and distinctive about us as a way of raising our profile to other people; achieving brand recognition. There is nothing wrong with that if what we have is a logo. But if we make our symbols into logos, we will lose something very important in discovering the truth that God is bringing to birth in our living and in the world.