Commitment to the Church?

It is true that commitment, or the lack of it, is one of the major concerns facing the evangelical church today. Christians find it relatively easy to commit to that which really interests them, and the church does not always appear far up their list.

Now this situation begs a very important question: Why do evangelical Christians find it so difficult, or even unnecessary, to commit to their local congregation? Why is their local church not as attractive to them as is the local football club? What is there about the local church that is a real 'turn-off' for Christians?

Situations differ, as do the personalities involved in these disparate settings, and while personality ought never to be the deciding factor in whether or not a believer is to commit to the church, it often is. Christians, according to Jesus, are to be 'salt' and 'light' in the world, and in the church they are also to shine as lights.

It must be stated at the outset that belonging to the local Christian (evangelical) church is not an option for the believer. At conversion, he has been united to Christ, and by necessary extension, to other Christians, who form the local congregation of believers. So that is axiomatic.

Now, why do many Christians not commit to their local congregation? Given the wide-scale departure of many congregations and denominations from the biblical faith, it is wrong biblically and totally unjustified for ministers to insist that believers commit to the local church. What exactly are they committing to, and do they not have the right under God to assess what goes on in the church against the Scriptures, and if these do not square up, then the Christian is under no obligation to commit to the local church. To do so would be a sign of disobedience to God's Word. Certainly within Presbyterian circles, every elder (teaching and ruling), and by extension every church member, ought also to bring every conviction under the word of God. If a believer is not convinced from Scripture that a certain course of action, belief or practice is "founded on and agreeable to the word of God," then He is being disobedient to God if he proceeds - just to keep the peace in the church.

If the worship of God in any given congregation is not according to the Scriptures - and this is NOT a discussion on the place of exclusive psalmody in the public worship of God - then every believer is obliged NOT to commit to that form of base worship. If the worship is all about meeting my needs, my experiences, my feelings, ME, then it is not the worship of God. How can any enlightened believer commit to that? If worship is more about drawing attention to the talent that exists within a congregation, then it cannot, at the same time, be directed exclusively to God. If the form of worship is determined by what will appeal to young people, then it is idolatrous worship. If it is merely the evangelical equivalent of 1960's rebellion against all authority - as in the Christian rock culture - then no learned believer is under any obligation to commit to that!

If the church is committed to unbiblical ecumenism, sees all religions as leading to the one living and true God, and treats with contempt the plain teaching of the Scriptures, again no evangelical believer is under any obligation to commit to that local church or denomination. Indeed, it is difficult to see how evangelicals can give any commitment to any ecumenical denomination, regardless of how 'biblical' any local expression of evangelicalism may be!

Again, if a church engages in the deliberate twisting of the plain teaching of Scripture, it is to be abhorred.

What then must evangelical believers commit to? Their first commitment must be to Christ, and to Christ alone as the Saviour of the world. Of course, they cannot commit to Jesus Christ as Saviour without at the same time committing to Him as Lord. This goes without saying. But the Christian's first commitment is to the Lord.

Following on from that, the Christian is to be committed totally to the Gospel that heralded the glorious message of salvation for a lost and dying world. Missionary endeavour must be uppermost in their minds, and support given to that necessary work. Evangelicals must contend for the faith as they speak the truth in love. They are to challenge the church when she fails in her God-given task of preaching that saving Gospel. This will inevitably mean that they make themselves slightly obnoxious at times, and bring upon them the wrath of the church. But so be it.

Then s/he is to be committed to living a life worthy of his Saviour, living as 'salt' and 'light' in a corrupt, putrefying and dark world. Evangelicals must also ensure that the money they give to the church is only going to support the truth. This is a conscience-stirring point especially for Christians within connexional churches that are dominated by theological liberalism, and its illegitimate offspring, ecumenism.

The Lord and the Gospel that reveals His saving grace to lost mankind is to be the highest commitment of every believer. Other things must be secondary to that!