Saturday, August 15, 2009

Commitment

Commit yourselves to the LORD (1 Samuel 7:3).

We live in an age where people are terrified of making commitments. Many would rather lease a car than buy one. Many prefer to live together instead of getting married. Many attend church services but never take the step of officially becoming members.

Why are we afraid of commitment? In part, it’s because we live in a consumerist society, where new products are always coming out and old things lose their value. How many people have vinyl records or 8 track tapes with no way to play them, because the technology of today has left them behind? Why make the commitment to buy a car, when they depreciate so quickly and a newer model might catch your eye next year? Being saddled with a commitment can keep you from sampling things that are new and exciting.

Another reason that we fear commitment is that we don’t trust our judgment. What if I make a commitment, and it turns out that it was a mistake? If that happens, I’ll be stuck with the consequences of my bad decision. Sure we’re in love now; but what if this person turns out to be a jerk? Why get tied down to one partner when you can’t be sure how long love will last? Better to live together than to make a commitment that might result in a painful divorce.

But ultimately we fear commitment because we fear the loss of freedom. Americans prize personal freedom, the privilege to live your life as you see fit. So why join a church, when church membership makes demands on you, limiting your freedom? Why should you have to go through time-consuming instruction in order to join? Why put yourself in a situation where the other members will expect you to contribute some of your time and money to the organization?

It is not in our nature to want to be alone. God created us to have a relationship with Him, and He designed us to need relationships with each other. Mere hours after creating Adam, God said: it is not good for the man to be alone (Genesis 2:18)—and following those words, God created family and, by extension, human society. We come into this life helpless, completely dependent on the love and care of others; while the years of our growing up gradually lesson this dependence, there is never a time when it becomes good for us to be alone. By God’s design, we need relationships.

But because of our fear of commitment, we try to develop relationships that are commitment-free--and the whole idea is ridiculous. How can a relationship exist without commitment? The basis for all relationships is trust. If you can’t trust your car to start, you sell it; if you can’t trust your spouse to stay faithful to you, you get a divorce. Trust is essential for relationships; trust means that you can rely on someone to be there when you need them. Trust arises from a commitment to be there when it counts.

People enter relationships because they want commitment. Would you willingly buy a car that is untrustworthy? Would you willingly live with a person who cheats on you? We want security from our relationships; we want the peace of mind that comes from a commitment you can put your trust in.

The real problem is that we want to have it both ways. We want commitment from others, but freedom for ourselves to walk away. However, if you insist on relationships that allow the freedom to leave whenever you want, sooner or later you will be badly hurt when someone else walks out on you. Without commitment, no relationship can be counted upon to be there when you need it most.

Thankfully, our God is a God of commitments. In 2nd Timothy chapter two we read: If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself. God does not go back on His promises—it is not in His nature to do so. When God makes a commitment, it is an everlasting promise that can always be relied upon.

Jesus is committed to you; the blood of God dripped from His hands because of His desire to hold you forever. Because of your life as a sinner, you were unworthy of God’s favor; you had no relationship with the perfect Father of All. Because of your sins, you had no place in His home, nowhere to go when the grave finally calls except to the prison created for the devil and everyone who dies separated from God’s family. But such an end is not what Jesus wanted for you; our Savior…wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:3). So the Son of God made a commitment to you—He left His wonderful home in heaven to come to earth and die, die so that you and I might never face God’s terrifying wrath for all the many ways in which we have angered Him. Jesus did this without hesitation or regret; His only concern was to remove the guilt of sin which prevented us from having a relationship with our heavenly Father. Jesus’ commitment to us resulted in the horrifying spectacle of the cross, and the only time in His existence that the Son of God was separated from the love of His eternal Father. Jesus’ commitment to us cost Him more than we can possibly imagine.

Jesus did all this to establish a lasting relationship with you, a relationship that you can trust in. But in order for this relationship to grow and mature, the Savior calls you to make a commitment to Him in return. Our Lord has given you a tremendous gift, the gift of complete freedom from God’s anger at you for disregarding His laws. What is your response to this gift? Are you inclined to say, "Wow…thanks Jesus, that’s great—see You later"? Or is your heart moved to respond: "Lord, I don’t deserve this—how can I show my appreciation?" The apostle John tells us that we ought to do more than just give lip service—he says: Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth (1 John 3:18). If we are truly grateful for what Jesus’ commitment has given us, we ought to make commitments in return.

What kind of commitments should be a part of the Christian life? If you are committed to your heavenly Father, then you would naturally want to spend time with Him regularly. Being able to worship in church is a privilege that you look forward to; the notion of having to miss church would fill you with the regret of a missed opportunity to spend time with a loved one. In Psalm 84 David says, Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere.

If you are committed to the relationship God has established with you, you will want to become closer to your Savior. You would seize every opportunity available to study God’s Word as it is explained in Sunday School, Confirmation, and Bible class; no dust could settle on your Bible, because it would be open in your hands every day. Peter urges us, grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18); the Bible is where God shows you the contents of His heart.

And if you are committed to a relationship with the Lord, you will not only make time to listen to Him, you will also set aside time to speak to Him. Every day you would approach Him in prayer, telling Him of your joys and sorrows, presenting Him with your needs and wants, and thanking Him for all the ways in which He takes care of you. To grow a relationship with the Lord is to commit to quality, two-way communication.

Commitment to a relationship with God includes commitment to everyone else who is a member of His family. Speaking of the fellowship of Christians, Paul shares these words in Ephesians chapter two: you are…fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit. To be a Christian is to make a commitment to the church.

What does commitment to the Church include? It requires involvement—involvement in the work of the Church, involvement in the lives of its members. It involves seeking out a brother or sister in the faith who has stopped coming to church and find out what’s going on in their lives. It involves praying for members who are in need, whether or not you personally like them. It involves supporting the work of the church with your willingness to serve as an Elder or Trustee, a Sunday School teacher or a banner maker, someone who contributes to bake sales or serves at funerals. Commitment to the Church involves digging into your pocket and giving back to God from the money He has blessed you with, so that the Good News of salvation may be proclaimed without the distractions of budgetary problems. Commitment to God’s people means doing what it takes to join a congregation, so the members know that you have pledged to be there for them, just as in Christ, they have pledged themselves to be there for you.

Commitment to a relationship with Christ also affects our lives outside of church. As people committed to long-term relationships, we ought not fear marriage but embrace it as superior in every way to commitment-free cohabitation. As people committed to a relationship with the Lord, we will not permit our children to avoid church, but lovingly insist on frequent time with God in worship, learning and prayer, regardless of any misguided protests on their part. Because the Christian embraces commitment, we conduct ourselves as law-abiding citizens; we respect authority because we want to live in a society where we can trust in and depend on one another even if we are strangers, and it takes government to make this possible. Of course, we can only trust in one another when we are confident we are not being lied to, so relationships hinge on our commitment to always to tell the truth.

This all sounds scary to the part of us that fears commitment. How do we overcome our fear that making a commitment will trap us with something old and boring, while we miss out on what’s new and exciting? Remember that God’s wisdom says, there is nothing new under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:9). Before television, people got their news and entertainment from wandering story tellers; before cars, people traveled by horse; before atomic bombs, people killed each other with swords. In spite of every new thing that comes along, we still use them to do the same old things. The problem with new things is that, by definition, they cannot give lasting satisfaction, because they lose their ‘newness’ almost immediately. True security comes from those things that can be depended upon to not change. So it is a great source of comfort to hear God say, I the LORD do not change (Malachi 3:6).

What about the fear of getting trapped in a commitment because of making a bad decision? First of all, it is critically important that you pray for the Lord for guidance before making any decision, and to proceed slowly with those of greatest importance—first try to discern what God’s will is for you. But even if you make a bad decision—as we all do—remember two things. First, Jesus died to forgive you for making that mistake. Second, although the Lord does not always bail us out from the consequences of our actions, He does promise to support us and give us what we need to make it through life. Paul gave witness of this truth with these words: I can do everything through him who gives me strength (Philippians 4:13).

And what about our fear of losing our freedom by making a commitment? The fact of the matter is, you have never been free—from conception, sin ruled your heart, making you the devil’s plaything. When Jesus set you free from Satan’s domination, you passed from one master to another—from a tyrant who loves to inflict torment to a loving Master who rewards loyalty with eternal life. In 1 Corinthians chapter six Paul writes, You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body. Freedom is an illusion—the true question is the one posed by Joshua: if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve…But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD (Joshua 24:15).

A relationship with the Son of God does require commitment—but it is a relationship that you can always rely upon.

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