July 13, 2003
First they gave themselves to the Lord; and then by God’s will, they gave themselves to us as well.
2 Corinthians 8:5 (GN)
On the day of dedication of "Solomon’s Temple," the king erected a brazen platform in the outer court. All the people gathered, as the king ascended the platform, in full view of the altar. The altar would be the site of many offerings, many sacrifices. However, before the first sacrifice, the first exchange of money for doves or lambs, the king offered himself on the brazen platform. "...and upon it he stood, and kneeled down upon his knees before all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven." 2 Chronicles 6:13b.
This is much like the Macedonian Christians whom, Paul said, "first gave their own selves to the Lord" (2 Corinthians 8:5). When we give, pray, lead, witness, conduct business, change a diaper, do homework, drive to the mall, there is a calling to "do all as unto the Lord" (Colossians 3:23).
We may want to do much "for" the Lord; however we must be surrendered "to" the Lord’s will for those subsequent deeds to be acceptable.
When it comes to giving, put yourself in the offering plate first!
When it comes to business, determine He will be the Senior Partner.
When it comes to anything -- remember Solomon’s Temple -- it was immersed in consecrating prayer and surrender to the Lord’s will before a single sacrifice was placed upon the altar!
To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul.
Psalm 25:1 (NLT)
Placing yourself in the offering plate is done at church…and to the church. By that I mean that you offer yourself to God as His child, His servant; you offer yourself to the church as a fellow servant!
One of the largest churches in the Southern Baptist Convention is only half the age of our church. To join Saddleback Community Church as a member there is a member-in-the-plate mentality. They have four requirements:
A personal profession of Christ as Lord and Savior;
Baptism by immersion as a public symbol of one’s faith;
Completion of the membership class; and
A signed commitment to abide by Saddleback’s membership covenant.
You might ask, is that going a little too far? My personal answer would be that it is…and it isn’t. It’s going too far if you just want to have a social club, or a membership that likes the things that we do, and enjoys the services. You don’t need to go that far if you really don’t anticipate hardship, persecution and testing. On the other hand, if you are going to live in this sin-sick world it is going to take some toughness, some spiritual maturity. When it comes to the people standing next to me in the church to which I belong, I want to know these are people who are ready to live and die by that to which we have agreed. I want covenant people standing toe to toe with me.
The Saddleback Membership Covenant (1)
When a person applies to Saddleback to become a member, they stand before the congregation with the following covenant, signed…and all of these parts of the covenant come right from the Bible. Saddleback does worship and ministry in some different and some traditional ways. One thing you can never say about them is that they’re not Biblical. They expect their members to be involved in the ministry of the kingdom of God.
Having received Christ as my Lord and Savior and been baptized, and being in agreement with Saddleback’s statements, strategy, and structure, I now feel led by the Holy Spirit to unite with the Saddleback church family. In doing so, I commit myself to God and to the other members to do the following:
1. I WILL PROTECT THE UNITY OF MY CHURCH
...By acting in love toward other members
"So let us concentrate on the things which make for harmony, and on the growth of our fellowship together." Rom. 15:19 (Ph)
"Have a sincere love for your fellow believers,
love one another earnestly with all your hearts."
1 Peter 1:22 (TEV)
In the animated movie Ice Age, when saber-tooth tigers attack a tribe of nomads, a mother and her baby attempt to outrun the man-eating beasts but are cornered at a raging waterfall. With no other option available, the mother jumps, securely cradling her baby. She is mortally injured in the fall but survives long enough to deposit her newborn on the riverbank. The little boy is discovered by a wooly mammoth named Manfred, a sloth name Sid and a saber-tooth tiger named Diego. These three unlikely companions unite on a common mission to return the baby to his father. As the trio treks through a mountainous terrain of ice and snow carrying the baby, at one point the mammoth, sloth, and tiger realize they’re on an erupting volcano. The heat of the lava melts the glacier bridges atop the ice fields, separating Diego from the others. Isolated on a quickly melting island of ice, Diego jumps to reach the others, but falls short. Dangling from the edge of the ice field, his grip falters, and he falls. Manfred, unwilling to let Diego perish, leaps into a chasm after him and tosses the tiger upwards to safety. Diego, realizing the danger involved in the rescue, is moved by Manfred’s compassion, courage, and sacrifice. "Why did you do that?" he asks. "You could have died trying to save me." Humbly, the mammoth responds, "That’s what you do when you’re part of a herd. You look after each other." Amazed at the convergence of circumstances that has brought these three together, Sid muses aloud, "I don’t know about you guys, but we are one strange herd." (2)
That’s us at Cedar Lodge, certainly! We are not anything if we aren’t a strange herd. Richard Foster once wrote that the highest expression of love is simply to notice people and to pay attention to them.(2)
Jesus said it a little stronger, that there is no greater love than laying down your life for others. But, at the very least the Bible supports Foster’s statement. If you are looking for concrete ways to love others, simply pay attention…notice them and their needs. You’ll think of ways to love.
...By refusing to gossip
"Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs..." Eph. 4:29
Alice Roosevelt Longworth had a pillow embroidered with these words, "If You Can’t Say Anything Good About Someone Sit Right Here By Me."
A young lady named Sally relates an experience she had in a seminary class, given by her teacher, Dr. Smith. She says Dr. Smith was known for his elaborate object lessons.
One particular day, Sally walked into the seminary and knew they were in for a fun day. On the wall was a big target and on a nearby table were many darts. Dr. Smith told the students to draw a picture of someone that they disliked or someone who had made them angry, and he would allow them to throw darts at the person’s picture.
Sally’s girlfriend drew a picture of a girl who had stolen her boyfriend. Another friend drew a picture of his little brother. Sally drew a picture of a former friend, putting a great deal of detail into her drawing, even drawing pimples on the face. Sally was pleased at the overall effect she had achieved.
The class lined up and began throwing darts, with much laughter and hilarity. Some of the students threw their darts with such force that their targets were ripping apart. Sally looked forward to her turn, and was filled with disappointment when Dr. Smith, because of time limits, asked the students to return to their seats.
As Sally sat thinking about how angry she was because she didn’t have a chance to throw any darts at her target, Dr. Smith began removing the target from the wall. Underneath the target was a picture of Jesus...
A complete hush fell over the room as each student viewed the mangled picture of Jesus; holes and jagged marks covered His face and His eyes were pierced. Dr. Smith said these words, "In as much as ye have done it unto the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto Me." No other words were necessary; the tear-filled eyes of each student focused only on the picture of Christ.(3)
...By following the leaders
"Obey your leaders and submit to their authority.
They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be no advantage to you." Heb. 13:17
There is a tension that naturally develops between following leadership and knowing that you are ultimately responsible to God for what you do. That is why it is important for every member to take part in the process of calling out leaders, and staying involved helping those leaders maintain accountability to the body.
Protecting the unity of the body is not simply a “closed-mouth” rather than risk offending. Rather it is the wisdom shared at appropriate times so that the body is not left in dumb silence. A young pastor was only a year into his first pastorate when the little church building was not large enough to hold all the people who had joined. Plans were drawn, the new building started, and excitement filled the air.
Several of the long-time member families in the church thought things were moving too quickly…too many changes. With a few false, but juicy accusations secretly passed along to known gossips, resistance to everything the pastor did became overwhelming. Some of the supportive members knew the accusations were false, but no-one would speak up. Within several months the pastor was gone, and things returned to normal in the sleepy little church. Leadership had been side-stepped.
The question remains to this day, was the unity of that church protected? Not according to the Saddleback (Biblical) model…this was not acting in love (the plotting of the resisting members OR the silence of the supportive members). This was not refusing to gossip (again, both sides failed, one actively, the other passively). This was certainly no following leadership. Perhaps the pastor’s failure was the most critical in not going to the heart of the unity issue from the beginning. Unity is not when people are afraid to speak for fear of upsetting someone else. Unity is when God’s people struggle through such fear to find God’s will and, together do what will honor their King, and bless His Kingdom. That is a unity worth protecting!
2. I WILL SHARE THE RESPONSIBILITY OF MY CHURCH
...By praying for its growth
"To the church...we always thank God for you and pray for you constantly." 1 Thessalonians 1:2
There is a certain part of me that wants the church to remain just like it is, intimate and loving where everyone knows everyone. That part of me is working against the will of God. The church is a living organism, and all living things either change and grow or stop growing and die. To desire no change or growth is to will the church to die.
Saddleback has grown from just a pastor and his wife and children to a weekend attendance of over 20,000. Now, they didn’t get those folks from other churches. A majority of new members come from baptism. That is real church growth…and we can pray for that!
...By inviting the unchurched to attend
"The Master said to the servant, ’Go out to the roads and country lanes, and urge the people there to come so my house will be full.” Luke 14:23 (NCV)
This is a natural outgrowth of praying for growth; when you’re praying to grow, you will do things about the growth. Do you know if your neighbors, work acquaintances, friends and car mechanic attend somewhere?
We have means by which you can be involved in inviting the unchurched. G.R.O.W. (God Rewards Our Work) is our organized effort – you could join a team and give one night a month to reach people who never come to church. Whether you do it with an organized program, or informally makes little difference. The question is, do you take the time to invite people to church?
...By warmly welcoming those who visit
"So, warmly welcome each other into the church, just as Christ has warmly welcomed you; then God will be glorified." Rom. 15:7 (LB)
And…when they get here…are you warm, or a cold fish? Folks, our witness begins in the parking lot, and it ought to be consistent. Every member should be warm and welcoming all the time…and not just to visitors…make an effort if you’re not a natural at it, to not ignore people.
Now, most of you are warm, welcoming people, and that’s what grabbed my attention when we first met you all. But, there are times when some of you can walk right by someone, stare right through them as if they don’t exist; I tell you, that’s not being much of a missionary for Jesus Christ. If I have ever done that to any of you, I apologize now publicly, and I’d like to hear from you about it, so I can apologize face to face. I can assure you it is a blind spot of which I’m sometimes guilty – not an attitude. We all need to be welcoming and kind.
3. I WILL SERVE THE MINISTRY OF MY CHURCH
...By discovering my gifts and talents
"Serve one another with the particular gifts God has given each of you..."1 Peter 4:10(Ph)
Every person who draws breath has something to offer the Kingdom of God. God designed us as a body, with all working parts. I do not have a spleen. It was taken out when I was 16 after a guy six times my size taught me a thing or two about how not to play clean football. Personally, I have never really missed my spleen; until I found out that it helps filter the blood from certain infections and viruses. I can live without my spleen (been doing it for 40 years), but I am not as healthy as I could be if I had one.
In the same way, the church may get along without the use of your gift, but we won’t be as effective.
Getting along, incidentally, is not what Jesus had in mind when He said he would build His church on Peter’s confession about Him being the promised One, long-awaited Savior and Lord. You don’t storm the gates of Hell and push them down when you’re just getting along.
If you have not served your church by discovering what your spiritual ministry gifts are, and developing them, give me a call; I’d be glad to point you in the right direction.
...By being equipped to serve by my pastors
"God gave... some to be pastors and teachers to prepare God’s people for works of ministry,
so that the body of Christ may be built up..."
Ephesians 4:11-12
A pastor’s job (and joy) is to equip believers to get in the trenches of ministry.
You’ve got to pay attention, however. There are times when the left hand doesn’t know what the right one is doing. You can get sent in all different directions.
A British commuter got on a train in London and told the conductor he wanted to get off at Doncaster. "We don’t stop at Doncaster on Wednesday," the conductor said, "but we slow down to go through the junction. I’ll open the doors and you hop off. But, mind you, we’re going fast, so hit the ground running."
The man did as he was told. The train slowed. He jumped off and hit the ground running. He was running so fast he caught up with the car ahead. Another conductor saw him, opened the door, and pulled him in. "You’re mighty lucky," he said. "This train doesn’t stop at Doncaster on Wednesdays." (4)
One of the worst detours in the entire world is to accept a position in the church, then spend the next ten years being yanked onto every car because you have hit the ground running, but never knew when to stop.
There are people serving in every conceivably wrong way in churches across the land. The primary problem is pressure to fill all the slots. Some folks get asked to teach, lead or help, and they’ve never been trained. So a person accepts because someone puts a guilt trip on him, and, without any kind of training they begin to “serve” – faithfully, but ineffectively. Then, their leader dies, moves to another church or drops out (because they’d never been trained and are burned out), so the untrained second in command takes over and brings the level of expertise to a new low! Beloved, this is less than the church triumphant!
A better scenario is taking the time to train well. Over one hundred years ago our Southern Baptist Convention saw the need to train ministers. Beginning in the last century we began to provide Christian Education for pastors, music and education ministers and missionaries. In the 1940’s less than 10% of Baptist preachers had any college or seminary. These days the figures are reversed – 90% have been trained. Our length of stay in pastorates is improving because of that. Our church can take the cue and train within. We can learn to be better Sunday School leaders, Deacons, committee members and ministry providers. Serving our Lord through this church should not be just a prelude to burning out and dropping out when you’ve exhausted every avenue without training. We can do better!
...By developing a servant’s heart
"Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
Your attitude should be the same as that of Jesus Christ... who took on the very nature of a servant..." Philippians 2:3-4,7
We can study spiritual gifts and train until Jesus comes; if we don’t do it because we love the people for whom Jesus died, we do all in vain. To be Christlike means to gird the towel and get busy washing feet.
4. I WILL SUPPORT THE TESTIMONY OF MY CHURCH
...By attending faithfully
"Let us not give up the habit of meeting together... but let us encourage one another." Hebrews 10:25
Does a church have a “testimony”? Of course it does; we sometimes call it a reputation. It is what other people think of our Lord because of what they see in us. Sometimes they don’t see such wonderful things. A preacher was mentally complaining to the Lord about the lack of attendance: "Lord, attendance is just not what I’d like it to be." The Lord replied: "My son, attendance is not what I’d like it to be in heaven." That was the last time [he] complained to the Lord about lack of attendance.(5)
Sometimes when people look at us they just don’t understand. The media cannot present an accurate picture of what is going on in a church that honors Jesus, because spiritual things are not understood by people who operate in the natural or carnal sense. Spiritual things are spiritually-discerned That is why one of the best testimony-building activities in which you can be involved is just to show-up at church regularly. Another is:
...By living a godly life
"But whatever happens, make sure that your everyday life is worthy of the gospel of Christ." Philippians 1:27(Ph)
A godly life; what does that mean? Worthy of the gospel of Christ; what does that mean? In short, I believe we can explain it in terms of matching. When my wife forces me to go clothes shopping I know my fashion-challenged taste is going to suffer a beating. “No” says Mrs. Preacher, “plaid leisure suits are not a good choice. Put it back.” “No, that green striped tie will not go with the red polka-dotted pants. Put it back.” “PUT IT BACK!” Elizabeth knows what matches, I am fashion-illiterate!
Jesus and certain activities, attitudes, priorities just don’t match. Our job as believers is to go from Jesus-illiterate, to Christlike. Hannah was spending the night with her grandparents. At bath-time Hannah asked her grandmother if they were going to church the next morning. When Grandma said yes, Hannah turned up her nose and said, "I don’t like Sunday school." "But Hannah," Grandma replied, "we should learn all we can about God." "I learned all about that when we lived in Illinois." "Well, I’ve been going to church all my life and I haven’t learned everything about God," Grandma said. "Maybe you weren’t paying attention."(6)
You can grow into Christlikeness by paying attention to Him in personal devotion and church attendance and service…if you really want to!
...By giving regularly"
Each one of you, on the first day of each week, should set aside a specific sum of money in proportion to what you have earned and use it for the offering."
1 Corinthians 16:2
"A tenth of all your produce is the Lord’s, and it is holy." Leviticus 27:30
Whether you go to the New Testament or the Old, giving is part of the Christian life. Supporting the testimony of our church with giving is no less than vital.
Notice that the Scripture says we are to give in proportion to what we’ve earned. That is the wonderful grace of our God which enables everyone to take part in supporting the testimony of the church with giving. If God had instructed us all to give a set amount, say $1000 a week, very few people could give that. But all of us can give 10% of what we have…that leaves 90% for us to live on and use as good stewards. That does not mean that some folks will not get themselves in trouble with debt, and be tempted to not tithe. Some of you may be there right now. Let me give you some encouragement and caution:
First the caution -- God wants you to tithe… so do it.
Then the encouragement -- Whatever God wants you to do He will give you the resources you need!
Four “I will’s” are the covenant by which Saddleback members hang together.
Protect the Unity of my church
Share the Responsibility of my church
Serve the Ministry of my church
Support the Testimony of my church
Covenants are firm, but can be fractured. In ancient times covenants were literally “cuttings”. The word “covenant” itself means “to cut”. Making a covenant was often done in a ceremony. Two landowners, for instance, who desired to make a covenant regarding the joint use of lands for pasture, might call the whole town together as witnesses. A large ox or bull would be killed and divided in half, with all the inner parts displayed. The landowners would join hands standing in the center of the slain bull. It was a symbol that they were entering a cutting – a covenant. With this symbol they were affirming to all the witnesses, “If I break the terms of this agreement, what happened to this bull should happen to me.” (I guess there would be less defaulting on car loans if this took place at signings!).
All this says to me today what I have affirmed in my heart for the last three years about Cedar Lodge Baptist Church. This part of the body of Christ is part of me; I will protect her unity, share her responsibility, serve her ministry and support her testimony.
It is a covenant between my Lord and me that I do that with Him.
It is a covenant between my heart and yours that I will do that with you.
If living in covenant sounds harsh and restraining, just remember it is God who established the idea, and it is just the way Jesus, the Holy Spirit and the Father live in relationship to each other. Within that covenant there is unbounded love and total devotion. It is a great model for any church. I’d sign that any day!
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FOOTNOTES
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1. The outline and major points of this sermon are derived from “The Saddleback Membership Covenant”, Rick Warren, pastor.
2. Ice Age (Twentieth-Century Fox, 2002), rated PG, written by Peter Ackerman, directed by Chris Wedge
3. Robert C. Shannon, 1000 Windows, (Cincinnati, Ohio: Standard Publishing Company, 1997).
4. Ibid.
5. Harvey Koelner, Leadership, Vol. 10, no. 3.
6. Donna Blalock, Lubbock, Texas. Christian Reader, "Kids of the Kingdom."
