Commitment

A few days ago I asked why we drove everywhere we went instead of walking or riding a bike if our destination is only a short distance away. The reason I offered was, convenience. Well, guess what: today is the second day in a row I've ridden my bike to the church building. We only live about 1.4 miles from the church building, so it's not a bad ride at all. However, there are 3 hurdles I'm going to be faced with every time I get on the bike.

1. The highway. The shortest route to the church building is the main highway through town. It's really not all that busy, but it's a 4-lane road and it's a little bit intimidating.

2. The hill. About 2/3 of the way to the building I can take a side road to get off the highway. The problem is that there is a pretty big hill to climb. I made it up yesterday, but today I had to walk part of the way.

3. The heat. Summertime in Alabama is not known for its cool temperatures. I may not live that far from the building, but when you carry as much extra weight as I do, temperature is a big consideration.

Individually, these 3 hurdles are not all that much. Together, they are a little more to consider. Now please understand: I'm 43 years old, terribly out of shape, and very much overweight. To a young and/or physically fit person, this probably sounds like nothing. But it's a pretty big deal for me. Oh well, you have to start somewhere, they say.

So what will determine whether these things keep me from riding to work on a regular basis? Commitment. If I am committed enough to getting in shape and saving a little bit on gas, I'll keep it up regardless of the difficulties.

Isn't that true in our spiritual lives as well? Living faithfully for the Lord is not always easy. We face pressures from many different sources. Will we stay faithful in spite of those difficulties, or will we allow the pressures to defeat us in our attempt to live faithfully? The answer is in commitment.

Jesus said that if we will follow Him we must deny self, take up the cross daily and follow Him (Luke 9:23). I'll never forget how Keith Mosher, one of my instructors at Memphis School of Preaching used to explain the concept of taking up the cross. He would remind us that in the First Century the cross did not have the same meaning to people that it does today. The cross today has a religious connotation, and so people think of taking up the cross as bearing some burden as we serve the Lord. But in the First Century, the cross was simply an implement of execution. When someone took up his cross in Jesus' day, he was on the way to be killed. Brother Mosher used to say, if we put this in modern day terms, it would be, "take up your electric chair and follow me." That sheds a whole different light on what Jesus meant. The commitment to follow Christ must be so complete that we put ourselves to death. We no longer live for self. In fact, Jesus must live in us. This is exactly what Paul said: "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me" (Galatians 2:20, NKJV).

There's another parallel here, too. The obstacles I face in my daily bike ride may seem insignificant to some. It all depends on where your strengths lie. If you are very physically fit and you begin to ridicule me for being discouraged by the kinds of things I mentioned, you might just keep me from pressing on toward my goal. Spiritually, we have the same situation. What may seem like strong temptations and overpowering pressures to one person may seem insignificant to another. We need to make sure that we never ridicule or make light of another person's struggles.

Have you ever been around someone who always has to tell you about something he's experienced that makes your difficulty insignificant? You tell someone about some bad thing that's happened to you, or some problem you're facing, and then you can always tell when it's coming. The first thing they say when you've finished your story is, "Well that's nothing, one time I..." This kind of attitude is very discouraging and demeaning.

Paul tells us not to have this attitude toward one another. In Romans 14, he gives instructions on how two different groups of Christians should treat one another. In that time, some people had a conscience problem with eating certain kinds of meats. There was nothing wrong with eating the meat, but some Christians believed there was a problem and would not eat it. Paul told the Christians who did eat the meat not to "despise" the ones who did not (Romans 14:3). The word "despise" means to look down on, to treat with contempt, to ridicule, to make of no account, etc.

We should seek to encourage one another. Commitment to follow Christ is the key to faithfulness. Let's remember that whatever pressure we face can never be greater than the reward Jesus has promised to us. And let's remember that we can be either a great source of encouragement or discouragement to others in their commitment to live faithfully.