How to be Committed
Introduction
Commitment – It’s a big word, a heavy word to many people a scary word. We live in an age when people often find it difficult to be committed. One reason why so many couples live together rather than getting married. Or if people do get married they may be thinking of pre-nuptial agreements in case it doesn’t work out.
I googled “commitment” and discovered a condition called commitment phobia. It can effect men and women, Richard Gere and Julie Roberts made a film based on it; “Runaway Bride”. You know the symptoms, boy meets girl they start going out together, one hears wedding bells, the other hears alarm bells. End of relationship.
I found a site on Google where you can take a commitment readiness test. Don’t worry you don’t have to do it.
But I also found the following quote
"The irony of commitment is that it's deeply liberating -- in work, in play, in love."
Anne Morriss The way I see it #76, Starbucks
Or to put it in Jesus’ words “If you hold to my teaching, you really are my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31-32
In this passage we find what commitment meant for the first believers, what Christian commitment is about.
1 Commitment begins with knowing Jesus Christ as Lord..
Acts2:37 “What shall we do? …..”Repent and be baptised every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.” About 3,000 people did just that on that day. They became committed to Jesus Christ and they did it publicly. But why? Why did they turn away from their old way of life? Why did they change the direction of their lives and put their hope in a man who a few weeks earlier had been condemned to death? Why did they declare this publicly by being baptised?
Let me ask you another question before we answer that? Why is it that people find it so hard to commit to anything today? Have you ever thought that one reason is that every time we say yes to something, every time we commit, then we are saying no to something else. So if I choose one spouse then I am saying no to every other potential spouse. If I say yes to an invite to a meal on a Sunday lunch time then I am saying no to any other potential invites for Sunday lunch. So we want to be sure that it is the right spouse before we commit. We want to be sure it’s the best cooking with good company before we accept the lunch invite.
So why did these people commit themselves to Jesus Christ as Lord when they knew it meant saying no to their old way of life? Why did they say no to all other potential Lords? Because they recognised that Jesus was worthy of their commitment and that there was no-one who could compare with him. They had seen that He was a man with God’s stamp upon him “accredited by God”. They recognised that when He was put to death on the cross it was all part of God’s plan and purpose to rescue them from their sin. They believed that when God raised him from the dead he was declared to be Lord and Christ; God the Son. What else could they do but commit their lives to this one who had died and risen again that they might be forgiven.
What about you? Have you seen Jesus for who he is; Lord and Saviour? The one who died in your place, the one who rose so that you might live? There is no-one else who merits your commitment like he does. Do you want to know how to become a committed Christian then get to know Jesus Christ?
2 Commitment develops as we give time to knowing what God has said to us.
Acts 2:42 “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching”
They had the Apostles with them, teaching them but where can we find the apostles’ teaching today?
So how do we get to know Jesus Christ? We get to know him in the Bible, his word to us. The Bible is about Jesus.
Luke 24:27 “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.”
If like these early Christians in Acts we give time and effort (devote ourselves) to studying the Bible we will be stimulated to be committed to Jesus Christ.
It’s amazing what people will devote time to. There was a woman on radio 4 yesterday morning, Judith Holder, who is devoted to reading shopping catalogues! She rushes home from work every evening to bury herself in a shopping catalogue. Now I think that’s sad but I know that many people will think that spending time studying the Bible is sad. But the Bible revolutionises lives.
I have a friend who is not yet a Christian who I gave a copy of the Message, a modern translation of the Bible. He came to me one day to say that he wasn’t going to read it any more because it was brain washing him. What he meant was that when he read it he could not stop thinking about what he had read. In a sense he was right the Bible does brain wash, or to put it another way it helps us clean up our act. Spending time reading the bible changes us. That’s why the Psalmist could say, “I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path.” Psalm 119:104. And he also said, “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” Psalm 119:11.
You see the Bible is no ordinary book. It is a book that can change our lives because it is God’s living word. It is the way that God speaks to us, the way he shows himself to us. If we read this book each day we shall get to know Jesus Christ more and experience God the Spirit changing our lives. You want to know how to be committed then get your head into the Bible and if you can’t read then get someone to read it to you. It is too important to ignore. Spend time with other Christians discussing the bible together and helping each other to understand. Get in to a small group and learn the bible together. That leads me to the next lesson these early Christians teach us about how to be committed.
3 Our commitment to God grows through our relationship with other Christians.
Acts 2:44-46. “All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts.”
How do we get to know Jesus Christ? We get to know him in the lives of our fellow Christians. The more we get involved with each other the more we get to meet the risen Christ in each other.
These early believers spent time together; they cared for one another, were willing to make sacrifices for each other and worshipped together. The more they shared their lives with each other the more they grew in their commitment to God.
We have to be careful not to misunderstand these verses as some have to their cost. Luke is not advocating here some form of Christian communism, nor is he demanding that all Christians should sell up and hand over all their money to the church. No what we have here is a picture of a people who having found Jesus Christ find also that they have come into a family, a family of fellow believers in Jesus Christ. As they get to know the others in the family so they get to care for each other and if that means selling a bit of land or some other possession to meet the need of another family member they are glad to do it. They showed their commitment to Jesus Christ by sharing with His people and as they shared with His people so they became more committed to Jesus. Do you want to know how to be committed? Then get to know your fellow Christians. As you share your time, your gifts and your life with them so you will find yourself growing more committed to Jesus Christ. A practical way to do this is to be found in this month’s Lansdowne Family News. But it’s not just in our relationship with other Christians that our commitment grows; it is also impacted by our relationships with other people.
4 Our commitment increases as we share the good news of Jesus Christ with others.
How do we get to know Jesus Christ? We get to know Him working with us as we share him with others.
Acts 2:47 “praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”
These people were so excited by what Jesus Christ had done for them; dying on the cross to pay the price for their sin, rescuing them from the consequences of their sin, bringing them into a relationship with the Living God who put His Holy Spirit within them and put them into the family of God. They were so excited that they had to tell others the good news. As a result each day the Lord was adding new believers to their numbers. No wonder their commitment to Christ increased as they saw more people coming to trust in him.
One of the most exciting and stimulating experiences for me in recent years has been the privilege of being involved in Exploring Christianity courses at Lansdowne and seeing the Lord working in peoples lives as they come to know Him; witnessing the changes in people’s lives as they come to know the joy of sin forgiven and the love of God filling their lives. It is the Lord who adds those who are being saved but he wants us to share in the work by sharing our faith.
Others have experienced seeing Jesus work in people’s lives by getting involved with the trips to Romania or the International Student work.
Some of our young people are in Ipswich with Michael Ots this morning sharing the good news.
There are so many opportunities here to get to know Jesus by sharing the good news with others.
New courses starting in April a day time one for women. You can start preparing your friends now.
Conclusion
Do you want to know how to be committed? Get to know Jesus Christ in your life by recognising that on the cross he died in your place, paying the price for your sin. Get to know Jesus Christ in the Bible by reading it each day, speaking to other Christians about it and studying it with others.
Get to know Jesus Christ in other Christians as you share your time, your gifts and your possessions with them.
Get to know Jesus Christ as he works in the lives of those who are not yet Christians by sharing the good news of what God has done for you with your friends, your family, your work colleagues, your fellow students.