Now as for how little God cares about water baptism — comparatively — it is easy to see. Of course baptism is important, because all the things of God are important, but religious tradition puts baptism much higher than God does.
When John the Baptist said that a greater man would come, he did not say that someone else would come to baptize with water, only that this person would be greater. Rather, he said that someone greater would come, and he would baptize with something entirely different — something far greater than water, the Holy Spirit (Matthew 3:11). Some person that is far greater would baptize with some substance that is far greater, not water at all. This was the parallel John made. Water was left out of the equation for this greater person.
The Gospels say that Jesus himself did not even baptize people with water, but he made his disciples do it (John 3:22, 4:1-2). On the other hand, he would sometimes preach for long periods and lay his hands on individuals to heal them, one by one, for hours. But about the only reference to him baptizing people with water is that he did not do it at all. In terms of direct involvement, based on what we can tell from biblical evidence, Jesus devoted no time and effort to water baptism.
As for Paul, he often did not do it either. He said that he baptized no one among the Corinthians except for a few (1 Corinthians 1:14-16). He even said, “For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel” (1 Corinthians 1:17). He was an apostle, and an apostle was supposed to bring the complete package of the Christian faith — all its doctrines and practices — yet he could speak as if preaching the gospel did not have to include performing water baptism, or at least he could let other people do it. Why not the other way around? Why didn’t he perform water baptism only, and make his companions do the preaching or the healing and miracles?
Like Jesus, he would preach for long periods (Acts 20:7-9) and heal the sick for hours (Acts 28:8-9), but he would avoid performing baptism. We cannot be sure how often he abstained, but with the Corinthians, he said he did almost zero. He sounded like he wished he had baptized no one there at all, given the sectarianism of the Corinthians. But that was not the reason he avoided baptism, because he said this in hindsight. Moreover, he did not say this about other things he did with the Corinthians. He did not say that he regretted laying hands on them to heal the sick, to ordain elders, and so on.
He took time to heal the sick, cast out demons, and even sent out handkerchiefs and aprons to make these things happen (Acts 19:12), but he only baptized a few people here and there? When he first encountered the Ephesians and assumed that they were disciples, he asked them if they had received the Holy Spirit, not whether they had received water baptism or what baptism they received. Only when they appeared confused did he ask them about water baptism to identify the misunderstanding.
When he established a church, he would ordain elders as soon as he could, and when he could not, he would leave a companion he trusted to do it. But he did not baptize? When he ordained elders, he would lay hands on them and impart spiritual gifts, and prophesy over them. But he did not baptize? He even had time to earn part of his income with his trade. But he did not baptize? Obviously he had time to do other things, but in comparison, as far as we can tell from biblical evidence, he devoted almost no time and effort to water baptism.
I can see the accusations flying. So again, all of this is relative. If the ministry of Jesus baptized more than the ministry of John, then of course the Lord did not regard water baptism as a waste of time. However, the curious fact remains that he did not do it himself. Perhaps he watched on the side as he snacked on figs. Or maybe he slept while the disciples labored, as he did on the boat. Or maybe he turned to teach the people, healed the sick, or talked to some children instead. We do not know. What we know is that he would tire himself preaching and healing, but not baptizing. And Paul was the same way.
I would never dare to belittle anything that God has established, but God himself has established the relative priority of the various items in his commandments, thus to disregard this order is to belittle what he has established, and I would never dare to do that. Thus I must uphold the relative unimportance of water baptism. I could, of course, instead say that I uphold the relative importance of things like preaching and healing, and I do, but I ought to say it both ways, so as to target those who regard their ritualized version of the commandments of God as more weighty than faith, justice, and mercy (Matthew 23:23).
Shouldn’t the otaku of water baptism acknowledge these things about Jesus and Paul? You might wrangle out some explanations, but the fact that you need to make up reasons for this is admission that they gave other things more prominence. There is no struggle when one tries to demonstrate the importance of preaching and healing in the lives of Jesus and the apostles. None of your reasons prevented them from doing these other things.
Pastors would preach multiple series on water baptism in their lifetimes, covering the means and the modes, the histories and the controversies, the creeds and the bylaws, and almost the pH levels of the water, but not mention healing the sick even once. The only time they would mention healing the sick by faith in the name of Jesus is to mock it and condemn it. When they teach about water baptism, they offer it from the perspective of studying something that God requires. They wish you would see their reverence in their excruciating precision. But if they care so much about what God requires, they would teach on healing the sick more than water baptism, or communion, or the sabbath.
As Jesus said, “The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath.” But it is not really God or man that these religionists care about, is it? Baptism fanatics do not emphasize this doctrine due to their obedience, but they do it to camouflage their disobedience toward the weightier matters of God’s commandments. A man condemns himself if he fights for what he considers important, but then fights against what God considers even more important. This is the religion of the Pharisees, and it is a road that leads to hell.