Commitment, out of Zeal or Love

Question: How do you know if you are functioning in ministry out of ZEAL or LOVE ?

“ A critical look at the attitude of commitment in the work of the church “

Note: A lot of what’s done in the church is out of ZEAL and not LOVE. [ What’s the difference ?]

Zeal — Great energy or enthusiasm in pursuit of a cause or an objective.[ Webster dictionary ]

Zeal — is based on what motives you, How you think, How you feel, How you see things and what interest YOU

Zeal — is based off your OWN information or ( YOUR OWN PERSONAL ) knowledge

Commitment — Should be based on NOTHING but our LOVE for God and our knowledge of God’s WORD ONLY

2 Peter 3:18 (KJV 1900) 18 But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.

3:18 “Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” There cannot be any grace except as we know Christ. And there can be no growth in grace except as we grow in our knowledge of Christ. We may always test whether we are growing by asking this:

Do I know more of Christ today than I did yesterday?

Do I live nearer to Christ today than I did a little while ago?

For increase in the knowledge of Christ is the evidence as well as the cause of true growth in grace.1

Colossians 3:17 (KJV 1900) 17 And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.

3:17 Doing something in the name of … Jesus is like authorizing a contract with his signature. You are to do everything under the authority of Jesus, making sure he approves of your actions. Jesus’s name signed at the bottom of your day means his power is behind your life. You are to do all things with his reputation in mind.

Colossians 3:23 (NIV) 23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters,

3:23–25 Work like it is something done for the Lord (3:23)—because it is. Let your motivation be spiritual. Since you work for God, you are to produce excellence. Since you produce excellence, you should satisfy your earthly employer and your customer. Make no mistake: with God, nothing goes unnoticed. As a result of your faithfulness, you will receive the reward of an inheritance from the Lord (3:24). But if you decide to be a wrongdoer instead, count on being paid back by the Lord for that too (3:25).

Footnote: Sincere, but sincerely WRONG [ Romans 10:1-3 ]

Romans 10:1–3 (KJV 1900) 1 Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. 2 For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. 3 For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.

If St. Mark Baptist Church is to be an EFFECTIVE and ENABLING ( and not hindering ) support of and the conduit through which the PASTOR’S VISION which he has received from God, is to be fully realized he must have working alongside him ( not ahead of him, and certainly not over him ), but alongside him;

Faithful/committed associate ministers

Faithful/committed deacons

Faithful/committed trustees

Faithful/ committed ushers

Faithful/committed choir directors and choir members

Faithful/committed staff

Faithful/committed Pastor support

Faithful/committed mission staff

Faithful/committed families

The great tragedy of this modern day Christian church however, is that the critical component of “ commitment “ is sorely lacking in so many of our churches; so much so in fact that churches who claim to be “ missionary “ and even have “ missionary “ inserted in their names are in reality not only “ stationary “ but are “ stagnant “ as well.

The result of this sad state of affairs, as I have often seen and heard and with much sorrow, I might even add, is that “ the average pastor, particularly the average Black Baptist Pastor will die, go to his grave and have at least 59% if not more, of the vision that God gave to him for that particular church buried with his bones. “ By that I mean, he will never fully accomplish all that God has given to him for that church.

WHY ? Because of a gross lack of commitment from those whom he counts on to help him to carry out his vision, especially from those in critical positions in the church. And for many of those who claim to be committed the sad reality, and for too many instances, is that their commitment is to either the wrong things, the wrong persons or for the wrong reasons or all of the ABOVE . And this, in spite of the clear admonition from God, through the holy Scriptures that his servants be committed servants, and in spite of the clear evidence from the holy Scriptures, as to how extremely dear to the heart of God, all those who possesses a “ committed “ spirit which we will see later.

The Principle of Commitment: Its definition

AED — ( Advanced English Dictionary ) The act of binding oneself intellectually on emotionally to a course of action. The trait or characteristic of sincere, steadfast, fixity of purpose.

EJFSD — ( Eric James Fondal Sr Dictionary ) The Full surrender of one's total self toward the accomplishment of a particular task, which they have embrace, never faltering, nor fumbling until such time as the task has been completed to the maximum of their ability; the unwavering embrace of a particular course of action, the biblical term of which is FAITHFUL! So, throughout the remainder of this lesson, we will be using the term “ faithful “ interchangeably with the term “ committed.”

II. The Pattern of Commitment/Faithfulness

God/Christ is Faithful

1 Corinthians 1:9 (KJV 1900)

9 God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

1 Corinthians 10:13 (KJV 1900)

13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

Revelation 1:5 (KJV 1900)

5 And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,

Revelation 19:11 (KJV 1900)

11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.