Rev. David Holwick
First Baptist Church
West Lafayette, Ohio
August 23, 1987
Covenant and Commitment
Nehemiah 9:1-3, 38 (NIV)
Why are you here this morning?
Because regular church attendees are only half as likely to have a heart attack? Because of all the churches on West Russell Avenue, this one is the most exciting? [It is the only church on West Russell Avenue]
I am glad you came. Many others have not. It's been said that if absence makes the heart grow fonder, some people must love their churches intensely. I believe attending church is important. The book of Hebrew warns us - "Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing." [Heb 10:25] God wants you to be here today. But is being here enough?
To me, one of the greatest challenges facing the church today is not keeping up attendance but building up commitment. Years ago people showed commitment by joining a church. Membership was taken very seriously. In our own church members had to toe the straight and narrow or they were kicked out. Drinking, causing fights and not tithing were all grounds for dismissal! Since then things have slacked off a lot. Membership can mean very little - a church in California makes it so easy that if you attend three times you are automatically a member. Many churches even have dead people on their rolls. Coshocton Baptist has three times as many members as attendees. Cambridge and Newcomerstown have two-and-a-half times as many. We are a rare church - our average attendance is very close to our membership figure - but it is deceptive. At least a third of our members are not here today. Their seats are filled by those who feel they can't make a full commitment, for one reason or another.
How important is membership, anyway? Jesus doesn't seem to stress it, nor the rest of the Bible. If the Bible stresses anything, it is salvation. Personal salvation will always be the most important possession of a believer. One day the disciples came to Jesus; they were all excited because they had discovered they had a supernatural power. At a simple command demons were leaving possessed people. What did Jesus say? "Do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven." (Luke 10:20) The thief on the cross was never baptized and he never joined a church but he went to heaven because he trusted in Jesus as his Savior. Salvation requires a commitment to God that comes before every other commitment in your life.
Being a member of a church won't save you but some people seem to think so. Coshocton Baptist has been trying to update its membership rolls. So they mailed out letters to people who had not attended for many years asking them to become active again or be dropped from the rolls. One man wrote back and said if they dropped him from membership they would hear from his lawyer. He has lived in Denver for twenty years!
Membership won't get you to heaven but I believe it is a very important matter for a Christian. Salvation is not the only issue in life - it's the starting point. Once we are saved we must learn to be obedient and useful to God, and this is where membership comes in.
Throughout the Bible individual believers do not stand alone. They are always part of a larger group. In the Old Testament this group is known as the people of God or the nation of Israel. In the New Testament it is known as the Body of Christ, the Church. When you belong to God you belong to his people. It's a package deal. Some believers had their doubts. The prophet Elijah thought he was the only believer left but God set him straight: at least seven thousand others were still faithful! (1 Kings 19:14-18)
Being part of the people of God was not a vague, spiritual thing. It was concrete. If a believer turned away from following God, they were kicked out of the group. In 1 Corinthian 6:5 Paul instructs that church to turn a particular sinner over to Satan, so his spirit can be saved. He was still considered a Christian but in a special category. To be outside God's people is to be subjected to Satan.
What about joining a church? Does the Bible talk about meeting deacons, being voted on, having your name added to a list? Not in so many words but the principles are there. The book of Nehemiah is one example. It talks about a handful of Jews who return to rebuild their nation. They are surrounded by enemies but they had a mission and know it. In Nehemiah 9:1-3 says,
On the twenty-fourth day of the same month, the Israelites gathered together, fasting and wearing sackcloth and having dust on their heads.
Those of Israelite descent had separated themselves from all foreigners. They stood in their places and confessed their sins and the wickedness of their fathers.
They stood where they were and read from the Book of the Law of the LORD their God for a quarter of the day, and spent another quarter in confession and in worshiping the LORD their God.
They understood that by assembling with the others in this group, they were separating from everyone else. They were unique. They were also set apart for God by fasting, signs of repentance and worship. Bible study had an important place in this.
Being part of God's people means you realize he has special expectations and requirements for you. A review of how God dealt with them in history follows. There is a lot of emphasis on how disobedient they were (even in the Old Testament, God's people were far from perfect). In verse 38 it concludes,
"In view of all this, we are making a binding agreement, putting it in writing, and our leaders, our Levites and our priests are affixing their seals to it."
Nehemiah 10:29 tells us what this covenant meant:
"All these now join their brothers..., and bind themselves with a curse and an oath to follow the Law of God...."
When Baptists talks about church membership this is what we mean. Membership involves believers who commit themselves first to God and his word, then to each other. This commitment takes the form of a solemn pledge, or covenant. As a matter of fact, this is what our charter is called, a Covenant. Most of you have probably never seen it. It's very simple and spiritual. We pledge to be devoted to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, to read our Bibles and participate in church. Not to gossip or stab in the back but to build one another up, and pray for each other. If members get mad, we are to try to smooth it out. In short, we pledge ourselves to be a loving Christian community, so that others will want to be saved too.
Traditionally this has been a very strong Baptist belief. Our churches are visible examples of God's people. To safeguard it we expect candidates to give a convincing testimony that they are born-again. No testimony, no membership.
Why has this Baptist and Biblical ideal become so meaningless?
• First, we don't take it seriously enough. We are glad that people want to join us and so we don't examine them too closely. (Many have been saved after joining!)
• Second, if members stray away we are afraid to confront them. Many figure, leave them alone and maybe they'll come back in thirty years. As a result, the church as a whole is judged on the basis of the bad apples.
• Third, we don't expect enough of people who are members. Many come once a month - maybe. They probably never read their Bible devotionally. They act like everyone else where they work - no different than non-believers -- no worse maybe but no better either.
• Fourth, people have moved away from commitments in general. No one wants to be tied down too much. Church membership is not the only kind of covenant in the Bible -- so is marriage, and look what's happened to that! People expect perfection and won't settle for less. When imperfection appears, they want to be able to cut out quickly. The perfect solution is living together - right? Baloney! Living together does not prepare you for marriage. Going through the motions is no substitute for commitment. Commitment changes everything, whether in marriage, or in the church.
Now, I want to get personal. Don't think I'm talking about so and so. I'm talking about you. You have come to this church today. If you are not a member, why not?
Are you holding back on making a spiritual commitment to Christ? Is there something you don't want to give up in your life? This is a good reason not to join, but do something about it. "Today is the day of your salvation." (2 Corinthians 6:2) Your selfish excuses will look pretty silly on God's Judgment Day.
Perhaps you are a committed Christian but you are holding back from membership. Some of you have been burned in other churches. Or you don't want to be tied down. Perhaps this church doesn't quite meet your expectations. We're not alone, as the following poem attests...
The Perfect Church
I think that I shall never see
A Church that's all it ought to be.
A Church whose members never stray
Beyond the Strait and Narrow Way.
A Church that has no empty pews,
Whose Pastor never has the blues.
A Church whose Deacons always deak,
And none is proud, and all are meek.
Where gossips never peddle lies,
Or make complaints or criticize;
Where all are always sweet and kind,
And all to other's faults are blind.
Such perfect Churches there may be,
But none of them are known to me.
But still we'll work, and pray and plan,
To make our own the best we can.
Not perfect but we do our best. You'll never really know that special woman or man until you tie the knot. It's the same with church.
And now I have something to say to those who are members. What's it worth to you? Have you been an asset to this church, or a liability? I would hope that you care about this church, that you love Jesus with all your heart and want others to come to him. Membership is far more than coming once a week and putting something in the plate. Pastor James Kennedy wrote this; "Most people think of the church as a Broadway play, with the preacher as the chief actor, God gives the cues, and the congregation is the critic. What is actually the case is that the congregation is the chief actor, the minister gives the cues, and God is the critic."
How are you acting for God? If you belong to him, you'll be committed to his people. Someone once said to me, "My heart will always be in this church but I can never bring myself to go again." At some point, they had been hurt. But they are in error. Your commitment can never be to this building, or to past memories. It can only be to the people of this church here and now.
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Typed on September 24, 2006, by Sharon Lesko of Ledgewood Baptist Church, New Jersey
Copyright © 2024 by Rev. David Holwick
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