Commitment : Is it a bad word? (2 Corinthians 11:23-28)

Snippet of Sermon by Mr Charles Loh

In the passage, we are told how Paul endured dangers, betrayals for the gospel for Christ. He was committed to a cause he believed in.  Today, commitment is not something that is upheld as we see divorce rates rising, where the turnover in just about every other company is an issue and worshipers taking membership seriously is an issue. What is commitment? It is a strong whole-hearted belief in a system demanding our support in terms of time and energy. If someone is committed, it's clearly visible in his actions. How does our commitment to church measure up? How do we view the announcements which are outside the scope of our participation? What can we say about our commitment and relationship with the church?

CAUSES FOR LACK OF COMMITMENT TO THE CHURCH

One’s diluting commitment is a gradual process of wandering away. No one is blatant enough to disappear suddenly.

1.      A faltering relationship with God: In Rev 2:4, Paul chided the Ephesians with having left their first love. Many of us go through the up’s and down’s in our Christian life. When we come down, we give up serving and detach ourselves from community of faith. We allow our spiritual life to be like a yoyo. We need to guard our spiritual lives and have an accountability partner to keep us on track. Commit ourselves to be godly, find someone to walk the journey with us. Let us constantly ask ourselves the question that Jesus asks Peter, “Do you love me?” Make it a habit to read the bible daily.

2.      Priority of the church is low in our lists of priorities.  Engaging in sports, keeping fit, supporting our favorite football club, catching up with In-laws, we are often carried along with so many activities. When the competition for time becomes more intense, that prayer meeting will be dropped, but that golf game will remain. Let us review our priority list. What comes first? Where do I place God and that attentiveness to events that are related to Him?

3.      Technology has hastened our pace of life and we commit ourselves to more activities than ever before. Social media brings many people to our attention even more than before. Are we slaves to technology? Among the 7 things we always have by our side is our ipad, handphone etc. We feel lost without them as want to stay in touch and we want to be reachable. We can be giving one or two hours a day in these online activities. We must not underestimate the impact of technology in our lives as it saps away sour energy to do anything else. Many of us have grown up with it and we may not be able to imagine a world without them. Let us learn to be conscious how technology can impact our lives. Let us jealously guard our time for activities with the church.

4.      Concept of church is changing: Apparently, Singaporeans move 3 times on average. More Christians are moving from church to church as well because the praise time is not good, we are not getting much from sermons. Moving from church to church is not what it used to be. This phenomenon was rare just a few years ago. While we complain that many things done in church are not the way we like it, it's normal. Running away does not help. I would encourage you to step right in.

In Charis, we want to think connectedness. We have 3 congregations but we still have a long way to go to think one church. We still have a long way to go t, reach out and deliberately get to know each other. W2 is much younger their energy will have positive impact on the others. Can we partner them to reach out to a relatives and friends? We want to work at establishing that spiritual and emotional tie with the church. This year, we will be promoting the idea of one big extended family.  Let it become the focal point of our family.

5.      Breakdown of values: increasing young adults are unwillingly to commit to marriage. In 2010 two in seven marriages end in divorce.  This is also a serious problem among Christians. When we accept worldly values our spiritual values become diluted, our commitment will then diminished. We want to strengthen spiritual values in Church. We want to choose to lead godly lives based on the Bible.  How can we express our willingness? Sign up for membership and baptism and be willing to be identified with the church, make known your desire to live daily as a disciple of Jesus. Uphold the church by presence, prayers, gifts and service. Choose not to attend because it is boring or that church has nothing to do with you.

Baptismal/membership questions touched on: 

·      Loyalty to God: Among the top 3 concerns and priorities highlighted by our LCEC members, discipleship topped the list. God desires to see us grow in our discipleship, growing deeper in the word. Can we continue to believe God's plans for us when we encounter difficulties? Let us participate in the church’s program to build our own relationship with God.

·      Loyal to the church by our presence, prayers, gifts and service body life: joining  the family in its various get-togethers. Make effort to befriend those who are shy. Take the challenge to know everyone in the congregation. It’s about making effort to join cell. Let us not stay in comfort zone, especially the new ones from other congregations.

·      Commitment to the Great Commission: church mission. It is our responsibility to evangelize those in our midst. We have 3 evangelism Sundays where we can bring our friends. Make our church a hospital for those who are unwell. Don't turn it into a museum. Seize every opportunity to share the gospel, we want to serve the church financially. Our offering has been flat in the last 2 years and our giving per person is declining. $1.94 million was our target last year but we received much less, lower by $200,000. We want to grow in missions and social concerns, but how do we do that if our offering does not grow in tandem. Tithing is not old testament law, it is part of our worship today. From 2011 years to 2015 be strengthened and reach out, we will hear about how to reach out. Identify with the theme for ourselves. Bishop Solomon said last week, "church is not a spectator sport, we need to be active participants."

We need to start by centering around our relationship with Christ.
Commitment is a good thing when we commit ourselves to things that are important to us:

·      Relationship with God and Relationship with his body, the Church
Remember our call to share the gospel with others. Evaluate how you are keeping our membership vows. Make firm commitment to the Lord in 2012.