Thursday, December 01, 2005

A Call To Commitment

Good morning, Bloggers!!! What a day it is that the Lord has made! Aren't you glad you're still alive and breathing?? It's God's "forever-fresh" air we're breathing!! He's a Great God! I love Him to death!! :)

I would like to forward one of Rick Warren's message on COMMITMENT. I receive his weekly article and found this article that cannot be overlooked.

"If you don't ask people for commitment, you won't get it.
You have not because you ask not."
Rick Warren
One of the ways I believe you can assess whether or not your church is maturing spiritually is this - the standards for leadership keep getting tougher as time passes. You keep turning up the heat every year, requiring a deeper level of commitment to Christ and spiritual growth. For instance, when Saddleback first began, our only requirement for serving in children’s Sunday school was that you had to be a warm body. Over the years, we’ve tightened the requirements considerably! We have done the same thing with our lay pastors, our musicians, and other ministry positions.

Every time you raise the standards for leadership, you bring everyone else in the church along a little bit. A rising tide raises all the boats in the harbor.

Focus on raising the commitment of your leadership, not those who are the least committed in the crowd, nor even the semi-committed in your congregation. Whenever you raise the standard of commitment for those who are in the most visible positions of leadership, it raises the expectations among everyone else.

YOU MUST ASK PEOPLE FOR COMMITMENT
If you don't ask people for commitment, you won't get it. You have not because you ask not. It’s amazing to me that many community organizations require more from participants than the local churches do. If you’ve ever been a Little League parent you know that when your child signed up to play, you were required to make a major commitment in terms of providing refreshments, transportation, trophies, and victory parties in addition to attendance. There was nothing voluntary about it! It was required if you wanted to participate.

One of the most helpful things a church can do for people is:
1. ..to help them clarify what commitments they ought to make.
2. ..and what commitments they ought to decline.
The reason we have so many weak Christians today is because they are half-committed to two dozen causes rather than being totally committed to the things that really matter.

For many people the barrier to spiritual growth is not lack of commitment, but over-commitment to the wrong things. Jesus pointed this out in the Parable of the Sower: “The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life's worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature.” (Luke 8:14) People must be taught to make wise commitments.

ASK CONFIDENTLY FOR A BIG COMMITMENT
Study how Jesus asked for commitment. He was always clear and confident when he asked for it. He was not at all reluctant to ask grown men and women to drop everything and follow him. This is an interesting phenomena: The greater the commitment you request, the greater response you will get.

People want to be committed to something that gives significance to their lives. They respond to responsibilities that gives life meaning. They are attracted by a challenging vision. They want to be a part of something worthwhile.

On the other hand, people are unmoved by weak appeals and pitiful requests for help. Jesus knew this when he said in Luke 14:33, "Any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple." His challenge was total commitment.

Some pastors are afraid to ask for a big commitment, fearing that they will drive people away. But people do not resent being asked for a big commitment if there is a great purpose behind it. People respond to passionate vision, not need.

That’s why most stewardship campaigns don’t work: they focus on the needs of the church rather than the vision of the church. If people were really motivated by organizational needs, then every time a need was presented it would immediately be met.

BE SPECIFIC IN ASKING FOR A COMMITMENT
Another key of developing commitment is being specific. Tell people exactly what is expected of them. At Saddleback we ask people to commit to Christ, be baptized, become a member, develop the habits for maturity, minister, and fulfill their life mission.

We have developed four covenants that spell out exactly what each of these commitments include: (Mark's note: this is what Saddleback church do to help a new believer understand God's expectation of them. This is especially a very good way to help our new members know where they stand and where they should go from the burial (baptism) toward eternity!)

A Membership Covenant;
A Maturity Covenant;
A Ministry Covenant; and
A Missions Covenant.

Each one is very specific about what is expected and required at that level of commitment. Instead of saying, "Be committed to Christ," explain specifically what that involves.
EXPLAIN THE BENEFITS OF COMMITMENT
Another key to developing commitment in people is to identify the benefits of it. God does this. So many of the commands in Scripture have promises attached to them. I once did a study of the promises attached to God’s commands to be generous. We always end up being blessed whenever we’re obedient.

Explain the personal benefits, the family benefits, the benefits to the Body of Christ and society in general, and the eternal benefits of committing to spiritual growth. People really do have an innate desire to learn, to grow, and to improve.
BUILD ON COMMITMENT RATHER THAN TOWARD COMMITMENT
Even though you tell people where you are taking them (by challenging them with a big commitment) you start with whatever commitment they are able to give. Begin with an initial commitment regardless of how weak it may seem.

We challenge people to make a commitment and then grow into it. It’s like choosing to become a parent. Very few couples feel competent to parent before they have their first child. But somehow - after the decision is made and a baby is born - the couple grows into their parenting role.

It is also OK to break big commitments into smaller steps and lead people gradually along. That’s the idea behind our Life Development Process (the baseball diamond).

Let people take baby steps!
Thanks, Rick!!
In Christ Alone!!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Mark,

Yeah! Hooray! You are catching up!

Oh, I love God to death, too! He is the one who makes impossible possible. He is the one who can make an ordinary person into a SUPER LEADER and guide that person to devotionally commit to the SPECIFIC ACTIVITY. The SCOPE of THE NEW CHRISTIAN or MATURE CHRISTIAN is GREATLY BASED ON HIS or HER LOVE for the LORD and OTHERS and HIS Or HER MOTIVATION for the LORD. PRIOR to raising to the next level, is what the ONLY ONE ALMIGHTY GOD can do for that person with a mind-set of PURPOSE DRIVEN GOD.

THE PROBLEM, I THINK, WE HAVE IS WAY TOO MANY LOVING-HEARTED GOD PEOPLE and WAY FEW TREASURED LEADERS. I MIGHT BE WRONG ON THAT!

RICK WAS RIGHT ON THE NOSE that we shall ask people to commit; however, they also need to be confronted if they begin to neglect their committment. rebuke. WHY NOT we make our NEW GOAL for NEXT YEAR to CONFRONT each other in a gentle way and ENCOURAGE each other to keep our committment?

EVERYTHING you said in the BLOG is so WELL EXPLAINED!!!! LET US LEARN MORE and MORE from you and your RESEARCH! I SALUTE YOU for a job WELL DONE! YOU GLORIFIED GOD!

I AM like a CRACKEd POT who LEARNS from MISTAKES and LET GOD REFINE ME and CHANGE ME!

BRAVO, MARK! THE ANGELS ARE DANCING WHILE JESUS and GOD GLADLY and PROUDLY WATCH OVER YOU AND YOUR POSITIVE and ENCOURAGING COMMENTS.

READY FOR A TENNIS GAME! HAVE YOU GUESSED WHO I AM? IF SO, WHY NOT YOU TELL ME AT CHURCH? I WANT to keep my identity private! SMILE!

Mark Lowenstein said...

LOL!! Praise God for your comments! And I do have a fairly good idea who you are. And I respect your privacy, too! :)

Here are two different people who comes to church: seeking to be served or seeking to serve; seeking to please self or seeking to please God. When a new seeker comes into the church, I ask, "Why have you come to church?" One of the common mistakes people ask is: What can the church do for you? Instead, the right question to ask is: What can YOU do for the church (God)?

I love this line you typed which is very true today: "We have way too many loving-hearted people of God but way too few treasured leaders."

As a leader, it's best to "PULL" than to "PUSH". Jesus didn't push His Disciples, He pulled them out of their career, their comfort zones, away from their mommies and daddies. He said, "Come, follow me." That's pulling. He didn't explain what they're expecting. He didn't have to but He will, eventually, while teaching the multitudes. And the committed Disciples learned the best comes out of any worse possible scenario!

Thank you for your comments. You, along with all my blog commentors, are encouraging me everyday! Comments are very, very important to me and it helps me with the work I do for the Lord!

God bless, bro/sis! ;)