Commitment?
How deep is your commitment? How many times have we asked a similar question? Almost all preachers have a sermon on this subject in their files. One of our responsibilities as a preacher is to continue to build commitment in the lives of fellow Christians. I feel confident we agree on this point. Great churches need hearts filled with deep-seated determination.
The questions that continue to trouble this preacher are simple. What or to whom should we dedicate our lives? What are the standards? How do we measure this dedication?
Which standards will we use to measure commitment? Some measure the depth of intentions by the number of times we attend worship in a given week. Others measure the depth of our commitment by our ability to defend the accepted doctrine. At other times we consider true dedication to be tied with our ability to give. Almost always we bind our dedication to being part of the right church. I am convinced we are using incorrect standards. If we begin with the wrong foundation we will never develop into the mature Christian God wants us to be.
Our dedication must be to Christ. If we miss this point nothing else matters. If our relationship with Jesus is lacking, everything else pales in comparison. None of the above standards matter. Without Christ it isn’t important what we do in formal worship, which church we choose, or the doctrine we believe.
When we make a decision to become a disciple we dedicate ourselves to following in the footsteps of the master. With many in our fellowship this is misunderstood. We have been taught either directly or indirectly that our commitment is to the church. When we are discussing someone’s lack of faithfulness we make statements similar to these. We say, “He has become unfaithful to the church.” Or we might say, “She needs to come back to the church.” Can the church save? Since when does the church cover our sins? Our commitment is to Christ rather than the church. Could it be that we have placed so much interest in restoring the first century church we have missed the deeper matters? Our commitment must be to Christ.
The questions that continue to trouble this preacher are simple. What or to whom should we dedicate our lives? What are the standards? How do we measure this dedication?
Which standards will we use to measure commitment? Some measure the depth of intentions by the number of times we attend worship in a given week. Others measure the depth of our commitment by our ability to defend the accepted doctrine. At other times we consider true dedication to be tied with our ability to give. Almost always we bind our dedication to being part of the right church. I am convinced we are using incorrect standards. If we begin with the wrong foundation we will never develop into the mature Christian God wants us to be.
Our dedication must be to Christ. If we miss this point nothing else matters. If our relationship with Jesus is lacking, everything else pales in comparison. None of the above standards matter. Without Christ it isn’t important what we do in formal worship, which church we choose, or the doctrine we believe.
When we make a decision to become a disciple we dedicate ourselves to following in the footsteps of the master. With many in our fellowship this is misunderstood. We have been taught either directly or indirectly that our commitment is to the church. When we are discussing someone’s lack of faithfulness we make statements similar to these. We say, “He has become unfaithful to the church.” Or we might say, “She needs to come back to the church.” Can the church save? Since when does the church cover our sins? Our commitment is to Christ rather than the church. Could it be that we have placed so much interest in restoring the first century church we have missed the deeper matters? Our commitment must be to Christ.
Posted by in 02:36:36
Amen, Amen, Amen!! The time has come to preach Christ and Him crucified. Too little emphasis on Jesus!
This may be your best post yet. I have more to say but my candle is just about out of wax. Back later. Brother
I’m baaack!!! I’ve re-read this post several times. It is so right on and to the point. Thank you for writing it. But I must say it unsettles me to some degree—not because I don’t agree, but because I do.
Because of our tendency to be dedicated to “the church” and to “the truth” instead of to Jesus and living for him, and because of our tendency to measure people’s spirituality and commitment by their dedication to those things, it seems like it would be incredibly difficult for anyone who is a preacher to keep from being drawn in to that legalistic mindset, as well. After all, the preacher’s effectiveness is usually judged on the basis of his ability to advance and defend those crocks. Even if he could avoid being dragged into that mindset personally, how in the name of Jesus could he not be frustrated out of his gourd at the seemingly insurmountable task of actually getting that message implanted into the gray matter of more than the few discriminating and perceptive individuals under his charge????? Personally, I don’t have a clue. And that’s one of the reason’s I opted out of preaching after I temporarily opted in to the possibility. My main opt out reason was because I could see that the response I was going to be getting from the members was going to be so bland that I had doubts that I would even be a Christian five years later if I entered into the preaching ministry. I take my hat off to those who preach and enjoy it and are effective and make a difference in the lives of their members. But I put it back on when I go out the door. God Bless you my friend. I have a feeling that you are one of the exceptions to the rule. Keep on keeping on.
Brother, I disagree. How can you be dedicated to Christ without getting all doctrine correct? How can you be dedicated to Christ without first being dedicated to the church God adds you to. We in the church are blessed to be part of the “true church” and have complete and perfect knowledge of “true doctrine”. I would be willing to say that you would probably fellowship those outside the coc.
Anonymous,
Would you be willing to have a serious discussion about this? If so, please make up a name and sign your comments with that name so that I’ll know it is you that I’m talking to. I don’t mind if others join in with their own pseudo-names but I would like to at least know it’s you I’m responding to adn that it is you that is responding to me. (You do this by clicking on “other” instead of “Anonymous”, typing in your email (which no one will see), and typing in your pseudo-name.
Also, I would want your commitment that you would be willing to answer each of my questions. The problem I’ve had with many others who have taken the type of positions you have stated is that they are unwilling to answer very basic questions because it backs them into a corner where they have to admit they are wrong. I would prefer that we both enter into the discussion with an open mind and willing to be persuaded if the other person makes valid points that render our own point of view flawed. Let me know if you are willing to accept these terms and I will start the discussion with you. Thanks
We obviously have a responsibilty to be dedicated to “the church”. I don’t know whether we have a responsibilty to “a church”. Your love for Christ should move you to dedication to the church, not the other way around.
We often look at our Christianity as a list that we must check off every week. I went to church, took the Lord’s Supper, sang to God and so on. This is part of our Christianity and is very important, but not the only thing we are asked to do. This almost sounds like the Old Law. Everything has to be done to the letter or you are in trouble. I think the way we live our daily life and our personal relationship with God is just as important as our list of Sunday morning worship duties. Our number one responsibilty is to save souls. Somehow our style of worship and other topics tend to take precident over this main idea of saving souls. The anonymous writer earlier asked “How can you be dedicated to christ without getting all the doctrine correct”? I ask how you can get all the doctrine correct without first being dedicated to christ. Which do you consider more important, getting all the doctrine correct or a life dedicated to Christ. I think there is only one right answer in this case. I hope God’s grace will cover the mistakes we make, even if they are concerning doctrine. Do we have this grace if we are not dedicated to him?
Great post!
The church is a body of believers. When we are added to the church by God we are included in this body of believers. This body should help us on our way to heaven. The church is where we worship, study, sing, pray and observe the Lord’s Supper together. We are to help each other. However, salvation is an individual matter—-a matter of the heart between the individual and God. We are Christ’s and our formost objective is to tell others the “good news” of Christ. Thank you so much for your articles. You are truly allowing Christ to speak through you. We need the meat of the Word. Keep up the good work and keep us thinking.
jc from Slackland
You asked, “How can you be dedicated to Christ without getting all doctrine correct?” I would ask you, “Can a new born Christian be dedicated to Christ?” Certainly he can. Our dedication is not directly correlated to the degree of our understanding of God’s total word or doctrine. As we study and grow, new understandings come to us, but we don’t have to wait until we have all understanding before we can be dedicated to Christ. In fact we can’t come to the true understanding unless we have the dedication first.
You also asked, “How can you be dedicated to Christ without first being dedicated to the church God adds you to.” I was under the impression that Jesus asked us to come unto him and then he added people to his church. I don’t recall him ever saying “come unto my church.” As the original post points out, we often have the cart before the horse.
Finally, you said, “We in the church are blessed to be part of the “true church” and have complete and perfect knowledge of “true doctrine”.” The pharisee said something very similar when he said something to the effect of, “Thank you God that I’m not like all those inferior people.”
I have a strong desire to be 100% accurate in my understanding of God’s word. There are those who believe that since I disagree with them doctrinally that I have less desire to follow God’s word. They believe that because I am focused on the Grace of God that I am throwing doctrinal purity out the window. In fact, preaching grace IS doctrinal purity. They believe that because I am unwilling to condemn spiritually minded people who believe differently than I do, that I am accepting error. My job is to Love and to encourage. I also realize that we all have error. We don’t always know what it is, but we should know that we have error and always keep an open mind so that we can grow in knowledge in wisdom. Many years ago, I had the same mindset that you portrayed with your comment so I know where you are coming from. But I have come to believe that it is a destructive mindset. You can look around and see how many young people are totally turned off by this “holier than thou” stance. It doesn’t meet needs. It doesn’t reach the lost. It drives people away from Christ because they don’t see the love but they feel the judgment. I hope you will reconsider your position for the sake of the lost. I’m not saying violate your principals, but focus more on the love and less on the regulations.
The old law had many chapters that stated “these are the regulations”. The new testament has none of that. But somebody before us decided that we need to write our own (unwritten) regulations and condemn anyone who doesn’t adhere to them. And that’s just wrong. God bless you as you consider these thoughts. Brother
I like the content, but that your articles have so many spaces should be modified I think, and epically the end.