Commitment

“There’s a difference between interest and commitment. When you’re interested in something, you do it only when it’s convenient. When you’re committed to something, you accept no excuses only results.”

  A young man walked into a photography studio with a framed picture of his girlfriend. He wanted to have the picture duplicated. This involved removing it from the frame. In doing this, the studio owner noticed the inscription on the back of the photograph:

  “My dearest Tom, I love you with all my heart. I love you more and more each day. I will love you forever and ever. I am yours for all eternity.”

  It was signed Helen and contained this P.S.: “If we ever break up, I want this picture back.” Apparently, Helen wasn’t completely committed to that relationship and had already planned for the back door. 

  Certain characteristics are so intrinsic to Christianity that to neglect them is to be a walking oxymoron, a Christian without commitment is an aberration. Much of what’s considered committed today in the Church is not what we find in the Bible. Being committed is much more than just showing up for a worship service, giving a few bucks and going home. So, what does it really mean to be committed follower of Christ?

  Several passages in the Bible define commitment. The Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:31: “I die daily.” You’ll never meet a committed Christ-follower who doesn’t die daily to a host of things that would seek to have a grip on him or her—personal ambition, worldly pleasures, people’s applause, greed. This culture ferociously maintains that “you can have it all” but such thinking is foreign to the mind and teaching of Christ. Even though we live in the midst of a very different culture than that of the New Testament, our Lord’s call to commitment hasn’t changed. There are things that we must die to, walk away from, and give up. Jesus’ repeat of the Jewish Shema in Luke 10:27 to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind” means that we need to obey God’s Word and order our lives in such a way that we can live in the constant awareness of His presence.

  Included is to love others (our neighbor). The Apostle John connects the dots with this question: “How can you say you love God yet hate your brother?” (1 John 4:20). Today hate is “normal.” Too frequently, a hateful attitude spills over into the Church. But the Bible makes it clear that devotion to Christ includes being loving and at peace with others, particularly brothers and sisters in Christ. As Christians, we must take Matthew 5:23-24 (the need to be reconciled with our fellow believers before coming to God) very seriously. Relational integrity is to be a priority. It demands that we pro-actively seek reconciliation whenever a problem arises and obediently follow the steps of Matthew 18:15-20.

  Commitment means adhering to Jesus’ teaching on the use of time, talents and treasure. God wants first place not after someone has spent forty plus years devoting their time and talents to the marketplace. Scripture says, “Seek first the kingdom of God” “Always abound in the work of the Lord,” or “What does it profit you to gain the whole world and lose your soul?” It takes a lifetime to develop personal spiritual disciplines—Bible study, prayer, giving and serving. Commitment requires us to invest the time in fellowship and community. It means seeking to advance the Kingdom in practical service and sharing the gospel with family and friends. Those commitments are yardsticks evaluating our devotion to Christ.

  The Christian life is about death to self and allowing the Spirit to live through you. The greatest fulfillment never comes from getting but from giving. There is an immeasurable joy that comes from giving yourself to Christ and sharing your life with others. There’s something about seeing a younger brother or sister grow in grace that gives an un-matchless pleasure but you’ll never discover this apart from commitment.

  I learned commitment by watching my adopted parents (Dave & Mary Cummins) care for his aging mother in their home. I’ve seen it when a family provides hospice for a cancer victim. It’s a custom often forgotten today, when such care is frequently subcontracted out.

  Our world knows very little of commitment. Even the Church has often jettisoned commitment. Yet, by abandoning commitment, our narcissistic culture has lost the one thing it desperately seeks: joy. Without commitment, our lives are barren and sterile. Without commitment they lack meaning and purpose. Because if nothing is worth dying for (the anthem of the ‘60s anti-war protesters), then ultimately, nothing is worth living for. With commitment comes fulfillment and flourishing—of a personal calling, of marriage, of the Church—and our very hearts. It's the paradox Jesus so frequently shared when He urged us to come and die so that we might truly live. 

  James Calvert was a missionary to the cannibals of the Fiji Islands. When he and his fellow missionaries landed on the island, the captain of the ship that brought them attempted to get them to turn back. “You will die, the men with you will die, if you stay here.” he cried. And after a moment Calvert replied simply, “We died before we came here.”

  Our world wrongly says that life comes from living it up and living for self. The evidence of such flawed reasoning surrounds us. Contrary to the conventional wisdom, Jesus urges us to trust Him and come, and die. It’s only as we take up our cross and die to self that we begin to live in His resurrection power. It’s total commitment. It’s what Paul meant when he wrote, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21). It’s only by first dying with Christ that we live in that “gain” of the fulfillment of His resurrected life now. Commitment is the first step to real life.   

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