Especially for New Christian (3): COMMITMENT AND COST

Thu, 12 Dec 1996

Clergy/Leaders' Mail-list No. 327 

     Here's the latest offering on our list. My homepage has the full
     version. It originally appeared in GROW! a book for new Christians


     Shalom!  Rowland Croucher

     Director, John Mark Ministries - resources for pastors/leaders.
       (Bookroom, library, and worldwide F.W.Boreham Trading Post)
                 Home Page: http://www.pastornet.net.au/jmm

     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

                              COMMITMENT AND COST


1 Peter 1:2; John 14:15; John 8:31-32; Matthew 7:24; Matthew 16:24-26;
Deuteronomy 13:4; Psalm 119:30,32-36,40,44,56; Psalm 86:11; Psalm 19:8;
Ezekiel 11:19-20; Romans 6:16-17; 1 Peter 1: 22; 1 Peter 1:14-15;
2 Corinthians 10:5; 2 Corinthians 5:14,15.

.....

Christians throughout history have ranged in commitment from cold to
hot. (Even Jesus was tempted - he really was - to be other than a
suffering Messiah). The earliest of his followers were generally
(though not exclusively) at the warmer end of the temperature scale.
Some went around with Jesus to watch his amazing miracles or get some
free food. Others were prepared to risk their lives and reputations
for him.

And post-Easter Christians followed someone who had been executed: the
prospect of an early or violent death does something to your
commitment-level!

A young first-century church, at Antioch, was visited by one of the
most committed Christian leaders in first century, Barnabas. In his
first preaching to these new converts he urged them to 'be faithful
and true to the Lord with all your hearts' (Acts 11:23). As Australians
would say, 'Get fair-dinkum!' Don't be a half-hearted Christian! Be
committed!

Commitment involves change, growth, fervour, enthusiasm.  'Enthusiasm'
comes from two Greek words - en (in) theos (God), so the word means
'one possessed by God (or the gods)'. Enthusiasm literally means being
full of God.

Christian enthusiasts are concerned above everything else with what
God wants (Matthew 6:33). Being a Christian is the most exciting thing
in all the world!

Charles Schwab, the American industrialist who rose from poverty to
put the US Steel Corporation together said 'You can succeed at almost
anything for which you have unlimited enthusiasm.' Emerson said,
'Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.' And here's
another quote from my desk calendar: 'Years wrinkle the skin, but lack
of enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.' Which reminds me of Thoreau's 'None
are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm.'

Most people get enthusiastic about something, as you will discover at
a football grand final, or in a disco, or at a political convention.
However, as Billy Graham once said, 'It is very strange that the world
accepts enthusiasm in every realm but the spiritual.' Those who have
achieved great things for God have been people of infectious zeal and
unquenchable enthusiasm.

John the Baptist was one of these.  Jesus said he was a bright and
shining light, a light that blazed and shone. But John the Baptist had
earlier said that Christ would baptize with the Holy Spirit and with
fire.

How do we get on fire for God?

The earliest Christians were people on fire for God. 'We can't help
speaking,' they said, 'of the things we have seen and heard.' Jeremiah
was like that. He could not keep God's message to himself. It was like
a fire burning deep within him. He'd tried to hold it back but could
not (Jeremiah 20:9).

Generally speaking, we get from those who follow us the level of
commitment we expect.  Quintilian laid it down as a first principle of
rhetoric that the orator who wishes to set the people on fire must
himself be burning.  Because church-people are in a sense a pastor's
employers, there's a temptation for the pastor to soften the prophetic
side of ministry, opting to pitch the commitment-level within people's
'comfort zone'.  Where ecclesiastical wineskins are bereft of new
wine, the church becomes stale, lifeless. There may be order, but as
British Anglican David Watson used to say often, it's the orderliness
of the cemetery.  The oyster may be there, but the pearl has gone.

Now there's another side to all this. 'Dead churches are afraid of
enthusiasm': that's true, but enthusiasm has a history that justifies
this fear to some extent. 'Enthusiasts' were sometimes people who had
plenty of heat but not too much light. They got all excited about
minor things.  Fanatics are enthusiastic, but such enthusiasm can
sometimes lead to stupidity or even violence.  Paul said before he was
a Christian he was zealous. But his zeal was misdirected: he persecuted
the church.

W B Yeats in his poem 'The Second Coming' says 'the best lack all
conviction' while 'the worst are full of passionate intensity.' We
must search for the dividing line between enthusiasm and fanaticism -
being inspired by God or the devil.  A person without judgment is like
a car without brakes; but a person without enthusiasm is like a car
without a motor.

The great Presbyterian James Stewart said: 'The supreme need of the
church is the same in the twentieth century as in the first: it is
people on fire for Christ.'

                 O Thou who camest from above
                 The pure celestial fire to impart,
                 Kindle a flame of sacred love,
                 On the mean altar of my heart!

A cold church is like cold butter: it doesn't spread very easily. A
selfish church is like a glee club, existing for the benefit of its
members rather than those outside it. Other churches through their
preaching offer all sorts of goodies like a trouble-free or
sickness-free life - which is foreign to the teaching of the New
Testament.

So it is possible to become a Christian for the wrong reasons.  Faith
in Christ is not an insurance policy against 'the slings and arrows of
outrageous fortune'.  Never forget, Jesus promises you three things:
constant trouble, and constant joy, because of his constant presence
with you!

Certainly, it is worthwhile to be a Christian for the side-benefits,
including eternal life!  This is expressed in the saying 'You are no
fool if you give up what you cannot keep, to gain what you cannot
lose!' The prayer by Cardinal Newman sums up this motivation:  'Teach
me, dear Lord, frequently and attentively to consider this truth: that
if I gain the whole world and lose [you], in the end I have lost
everything. Whereas, if I lose this world and gain [you], in the end I
have lost nothing.'

But the greatest incentive to complete commitment to Jesus Christ is
in response to his love, shown ultimately in his death for us.  'Love
so amazing, so divine demands my soul, my life, my all!.

     .....

Hold my faith steady when I cannot see the road ahead. May I always
know I am loved. Protect me this day from evils seen or unseen. May I
expect little, and so be less prone to be disappointed.

It's a tough decision, Lord. Should I surrender completely to your
will? But what will I have to give up? My commercial culture teaches
me to think like this, Lord. I pay a price - and what do I get in
return? Is the value worth it all?

But then, when I think of your love for me, it's not a question of
giving up anything, but rather of living a truly worthwhile life. Any
relationship involves surrender of some independence, in return for
the great benefits of friendship, a listening ear, a reassuring touch
when things go wrong, the promise of companionship into the future...

Help me Lord to believe the testimony of thousands through the
centuries: once we are really committed to you sacrifice is not an
issue. No one can outgive God. And after all, when I gave myself to
you, I promised you everything. I promised to be yours to the end.

May I see the superficiality of merely being religious. Help me to do
what is right because I love you, not to earn your love. Help me to
serve you from gratitude for all you have given to me, rather than for
any reward. You sacrificed your life for me: may I learn to hate the
things that cost you your life. May I sacrifice whatever will hinder
your grace operating through me.

Save me from the disillusionment of trusting anyone or anything but
you.

     Teach us, good Lord,
     to serve you as you deserve,
     to give and not to count the cost,
     to fight and not to heed the wounds,
     to toil and not to seek for rest,
     to labour and to look for no reward
     save that of knowing
     that we do your will
     through Jesus Christ our Lord.

                         - Ignatius Loyola

     .....

A Benediction: May the Lord bless and strengthen you; may you always
remain faithful to him who gave you life and his life; who loves you.
May you freely choose to offer him everything - your love, your
obedience, your relationships, your time, talents and possessions,
even your own life. For the glory of Jesus Christ our Master. Amen.
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