Commitment

Pledge

In a world that encourages an insatiable appetite for what is new and fresh we can easily lose our sense of commitment and connection. We see that when we face struggles or difficulties it is easier to just move on to the next opportunity than work through our current problems. As our attention spans become shorter our level of dedication is weakened. This presents a couple of detrimental problems. 

The first problem is that we will develop a genuine phobia of commitment. Pledging ourselves to something or someone in this state of mind feels more like a cage than an adventure. You often hear that many people today are delaying marriage because one or both parties are afraid of the commitment. Even with the legal arrangement of marriage many if not most couples and families still operate like joint partners more than members of an inseparable union. This behavior is not unreasonable because with the high rate of divorce and the culture of serial dating and unwed cohabitation, individuals are training themselves to expect the relationship to fail. One can usually see this phenomenon when people passionately declare their devotion today and by tomorrow they are ready to abandon their relationship. This can also be true of people joining the church with honeymoon expectations that now they have found the right church only to fall away quickly when they realize that those people are real life sinners just like in every other local church.

The second problem is a genuine lack of ability to stay amidst a real hardship. Dedication and devotion are not superpowers that some people are born with. Instead, true commitment is a learned skill. We need to practice staying with the right commitments. I often hear folks argue that this is why their family has to miss church so that their children can learn to be committed to their favorite sport or hobby. RIDICULOUS! If we really want our family and our children to know commitment it will be when we say no to those things because the right worship of God is not just a priority but our highest priority! I believe that we best build this skill of dedicated devotion through simplifying our lives so that the most important priority being Christ and His kingdom can be at the center of everything we do as individuals, families, and local churches. 

Long Haul

Maybe what we really need is to ourselves be devoted to the long haul. It’s easy to begin to covet the lush green grass just beyond the confines of our divinely appointed fences. We must become people who are not always looking to some new place or path but who are ready to settle in and put down roots for the long term. I am a big proponent of covenant membership in the local church. If you are a Christian, you should be a member of a local church. There of course can be seasons when you have moved or some event has necessitated a change in churches but when this happens you should be intentional about seeking out a family of faith. But then you need to join to stay. I believe that one of the problems in the church today is that many pastors are not prepared to devote themselves to the seasons of hardships and the long term life of the local church. Because this is the case they cannot inspire others to plant themselves in the church either.

In any case we all both undershepherds and sheep need to be committed to the flock with which the Chief Shepherd has placed us and seek to follow Him together and do His perfect will!

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