The most common glue which men use today to try to
hold the body of Christ together is commitment. Virtually
every church group wants the believers who meet with
them to make some kind of commitment to that particular
group. This may include a commitment to a doctrinal position,
commitment to the leader or authority figure, commitment
to some practice, commitment to a purpose or
“vision” or to any number of other things.
The variety of items to which believers are urged to
commit themselves is endless, yet the way it works varies
little. Christians are exhorted often and forcefully to commit
themselves to some “church,” group, or segment of the
body of Christ in a way that separates them from the rest.
This commitment of these individuals to the group is
the adhesive used to hold members together. It is the insistence
upon this commitment which the leaders use to capture
and hold members to their group. Once someone is
convinced of the correctness of their way, doctrine or practice
and then commits themselves to it, they are considered
to be “members” of that particular group.
In order to be free to leave the group, members are
required to somehow unmake this commitment. In some
institutions, this is quite easy. In others, the commitment
demanded is very strong and some individuals find it
extremely hard to extricate themselves when and if they
wish to. Instead of each one being free to follow the lead-
ing of the one true Head, these believers have fallen into
bondage to the dictates of a human organization.
Often, adherents to one group are discouraged,
through various means, from any intimate relationships
with other groups. They are exhorted to remain faithful to
the “church” where they have a commitment. They are told
not to be “church hoppers” going from one meeting to
another. Such members are expected to participate in the
activities of their group and to avoid others which might
be seen to be in competition with them. Thus, the freedom
for these believers to live in and experience the one true
church is limited.
Since some kind of commitment is the basis for the
unity of so many Christian groups, let us spend a little time
and investigate this subject together.

TWO KINDS OF COMMITMENT

The Bible teaches us two kinds of commitment. The
first is that we should be totally committed to God. He asks
from us and is worthy of our full allegiance. We read: “You
shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all
your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind”
(Lk 10:27). Certainly, this speaks of a complete commitment
of our being to our Creator. You cannot love someone
with your entire being in this kind of way without at the
same time committing yourself totally to them.
Further, we are urged to offer ourselves as “a living
sacrifice” (Rm 12:1) on His altar. This too speaks of a kind
of commitment which is complete, leaving nothing in
reserve. Surely, every reader can agree that our God is calling
us to, and is worthy to receive, the entire commitment
of our heart.
We are speaking here about love and commitment in
the same breath because they are intimately related. You
cannot have one without the other. An example of this is
the marriage union. Any two people can have sexual relations
together without a marriage covenant. But real love
involves a deep, lifelong commitment.
If we say that we love someone and yet are unwilling
to make any kind of commitment to them, this makes a lie
of our words. This shows that we really love ourselves
more than the other person and are only using the other for
our entertainment and/or gratification.
Without such a commitment, any time that the other
ceases to please us, giving us the kind of feelings and service
which we want, we are free to leave. Thus we have
taken from them all that they had to give and then left
them high and dry when they ceased to satisfy us. The idea
of love without commitment is a farce.
This is also true in our present discussion. If we say
that we love God but do not have a complete commitment
to Him, then our love is defective. To the degree that we
truly love Him, we will give ourselves to Him. If and when
we are holding ourselves back from an unconditional
yielding of our entire heart to Him, this reveals that our
love for Him is also incomplete.
Our love for Jesus is what really binds us to Him in
absolute surrender of all that we are, all that we have and
all that we hope for. It is our love for Him which causes us
to open up unreservedly to Him so that He can control all
of our thoughts, our feelings and our decisions. It is this
deep passion we have towards our Lord which draws us to
live in complete transparency and openness with Him.
This is a true love commitment. It is this commitment
which is the basis of our union or unity with God.

THE EXPERIENCE OF THE CHURCH

This then is the foundation for any genuine experience
of the church. Without any external forces, such as authority
figures or organizational structures putting demands
upon us, our love for God alone is the only thing which
causes us to walk in His ways. If we love Him, we will
serve Him. If we love Him, we will follow Him and we will
seek Him. Meditation in His word, times of prayer and
seeking His face, looking for every opportunity to serve
others in His name and even manifesting His life and
nature, are all the results of our love for God. Our lifestyle
and daily living reveal our relationship with Him.
The experience of the true church can only be known by
those who love God supremely! This is an extremely important
truth. Anything less that a complete commitment to
Him will not work. All that the church is, is flowing out
from Him. He is the source of both the life and the leadership
of the church. Therefore, if we are not constantly
walking in intimacy with Him, this flow of life and direction
will be interrupted. Unless we remain firmly attached
to the Vine, the flow from this source will be sporadic or
lacking. This will cause our experience of His body to also
be partial and defective.
If our heart is captured by other things, we will seek
them instead of, or parallel to, our relationship with Jesus.
With the passing of time, these other things which we love
will draw us away from Him. To continue on with a spiritual
walk, we must continually repent for and forsake anything
with competes with our love for Jesus. It is only by
walking in love and complete commitment to Christ that
we can experience the fullness of the reality of His body.
Demas was a man with a divided heart. He was one of
Paul’s coworkers (Col 4:14, Phm 24). Demas had labored
for some years with Paul to advance the kingdom of God.
But deep within him, there was a secret desire. Hidden
inside his heart was a love for the world. And so, when this
longing came into bloom one day, he forsook the work of
the Lord and went to try to satisfy his longing for goods,
wealth and perhaps even fame. We read: “For Demas has
forsaken me, having loved this present world” (II Tim
4:10).
If our heart is not “single” (Lk 11:34 KJV), we will not
be impelled to seek our Lord every day. We will not be
looking for how to satisfy Him by serving His body. We
will not be spending our time, money and energy for the
construction of His eternal dwelling place. Instead, we will
end up serving only ourselves.
Consequently, the one true church which is led by and
filled with Jesus, will not be our experience. Many other
motivations and desires will command our time, energy,
money and attention. When we are freed from the bondage
of other taskmasters who make demands upon us, what do
we do? Where is our heart? If our commitment to Jesus is
lacking, then this will impact our ability to experience the
spiritual reality of the true church.

A LACK OF COMMITMENT

The absence of a complete commitment to the Lord is
a common ailment in the church today. When each one of
the members of Christ’s body is not seeking and following
His leading every day, the living church does not and, in
fact, cannot function. When the intimate connection to the
Head is broken, the flow of life and direction is interrupted
as well.
Just as a human body cannot work properly when the
members are not connected to the head, so it is with the
body of Christ. Unless each one maintains an intimate,
constant relationship with Jesus, He cannot guide them
and express Himself through them. Thus the manifestation
of His body – which is the only true church – is not seen or
is seen in a very limited way.
This lack of commitment becomes manifest when
nothing of spiritual significance occurs. Where this lack is
evident, very little evangelism is done. The ministry of
God’s life one to another is absent. The use of the gifts,
helping, giving and all the other evidences of the Holy
Spirit’s work are in short supply. When the members are
resisting or out of touch with their true Head, then the life
of the body does not flow through them. Thus the expression
of the true church is limited.
The result of this deficiency is that men often try to
employ human organization and structures to compensate
for this lack. Some sense a need for more action. They realize
that the church is in a stagnant state. But lacking a heavenly
vision, they begin to use earthly means and methods
to try to correct the problem. They begin to try to rally
believers together around some doctrine, direction or
leader. They begin to organize activities and meetings to
try and stimulate Christians to do what they think they
should do.
An infinite variety of natural means are used to try to
make the body appear to do what it should be doing naturally
and automatically. Leaders and organizations begin
to manipulate the activities of the members to try to
achieve what is lacking. The results of such efforts are a
mechanical imitation of the living church.
Instead of curing the problem, such human means
often only serve to hide the core issue. Innumerable believers
today are being carried along by religious organizations
while they have very little, if any, commitment to
Jesus. The structure of the group provides for them meetings
and activities which give them an appearance of serving
Jesus. Their consciences – which should trouble them
due of their resistance to God’s true leadership – are
assuaged by the group, which considers them “good members.”
Their participation in the group becomes a substitute
for a real walk with the invisible God. This becomes a kind
of crutch for their Christianity. The adherents are provided
with a vehicle which carries them along day by day, but
does not really resolve the deepest problem of the heart.
Such a religious structure does nothing to expose any hidden
resistance to the complete government of God in people’s
lives.
Frequently, such organizations become a kind of god
for the members to love and follow. They become a substitute
for the real headship of Jesus. Some begin to love
“their church” so much that it makes it impossible for them
to hear God’s truth concerning His church. It is not uncommon
for such religious participants to resist, fight against
and even hate anyone who might suggest that God has
something better for them.
Their religious organization has provided for them
another way to assure them that they are right with God
instead of their actually being right with God. Consequently,
they cling to it with all their might. They are expe-
riencing what can be called “justification by church.”
Instead of being justified by a right relationship with Jesus,
they feel they must be right with God because they are in
good standing with their group or church.

THE REAL CURE

The cure for those who do not have a complete consecration
to Jesus is not to supply a substitute. It is not to fill
their lives with religious activities. It is not to apply natural,
human pressure to try to make them conform or participate.
It is to help them come to Him, repent of whatever is
getting in the way and then give themselves utterly to
Him.
It is absolutely necessary for every Christian to arrive
at and maintain a complete surrender of the control of their
lives to Jesus Christ. Unless and until believers come to this
point of commitment to their Lord, they cannot really
experience the true church in her fullness.
Since the real church experience is something which
flows out of the side of Jesus, only those who are constantly
drinking of Him will be able to enjoy all the benefits.
Unless we are connected to this divine fountain of life we
cannot know the supernatural results. When our hearts
and minds are distracted or captivated by other things,
then the flow of His Life is restricted. Consequently, our
experience of the one true church will be limited also.
The true church is a spiritual entity. To participate in
her therefore, we too must constantly be in the Spirit. We
must continually be full of and led by the Spirit of God.
This requires a complete commitment of our heart, life and
soul to Him. If we are only walking in the flesh – that is
being led by our thoughts and feelings – then we will find
it difficult to enjoy true spiritual experiences.
Being tied to the earth by our heart’s desires, we will
be impeded from knowing and enjoying the spiritual realities.
Only by offering our whole being up to God continually
can we walk in His fullness and therefore enjoy all that
He is doing in His body. The undiluted experience of the
church is only known by those who are completely in love
with Jesus.
Consequently, it is of the utmost importance that we
work to bring all believers to this commitment. It is essential
that our ministry to others include this all-important
ingredient. If we desire to work together with God to build
up His eternal house, we must seek Him for how we can
draw others into a complete surrender of all that they are
to Jesus.

SPIRITUAL GROWTH

This same complete commitment of our heart and soul
to Jesus is required to experience real spiritual growth.
Unless and until we are really ready for Him to work in all
of us, our progress will be limited. This is because when
the Holy Spirit begins His transforming work in us, He
wishes to to do a complete work. He wants to change our
entire being. Whenever He encounters any resistance, His
work within us stops. God will never go even one centimeter
beyond our willingness. When we have areas of our
hearts which we are not ready to open up to Him, He cannot
move.
God never forces Himself upon anyone. He will never
do something to us or in us which we are not one hundred
percent willing for Him to do. Therefore, our spiritual
growth is stopped by our lack of consecration. When and if
He encounters any resistance on our part, then He simply
waits for our hearts to change. While He certainly will
work to draw us into the kind of total commitment which
is necessary for His work to continue, He will not violate
our will in any way.
I once knew a person (not myself) whose life was a testimony
of such an experience. This individual received
God’s new life and was born again. Yet they were full of
different resistances to the work of God. Stubbornness,
fears, pride and many other such problems were lurking
within this spiritual child. The thought of a total, unhindered
yielding of their heart to God brought panic to this
believer’s mind. This then brought this Christian many
emotional conflicts and stresses but almost no spiritual
growth. The Spirit of God was always trying to draw this
one into complete submission yet this person fought
against this kind of transparency with Him tooth and nail.
This condition lasted about 20 years.
Yet, through His mercy, one day God’s love began to
conquer this individual. This believer’s heart was being
slowly melted by His grace. So one day this person decided
to take an important step – the opening up of their heart
completely to God. At that moment supernatural salvation
began to take more effect.
The transformation process, which had been so truncated,
began to really move forward. After a total consecration
was made, real, tangible changes began to be manifested
in this life. All the benefits of true submission to Jesus
began to become real to this person. Their genuine walk
with Jesus and experience of His complete salvation only
began with a complete commitment to the Lord.
The experience of this believer is not unique. Through
the years I have seen a number of similar cases. Real, spiritual
progress only can be realized by those who have
yielded their lives completely to Him. This commitment
then is the basis for a genuine walk with the Lord and also
the foundation for the true church experience. Without it
we are only fooling ourselves, often being carried along in
our Christian life by many artificial, religious props and
devices which do nothing to really change our lives in an
eternal way.

THE SECOND COMMITMENT
BROTHERLY LOVE

The second type of commitment which the Bible
teaches us is commitment to one another. We are taught to
love our neighbor as we love ourselves (Lk 10:27). This
love too speaks of commitment. We must have the same
kind of obligation to care for our neighbor as we do to care
for ourselves. This responsibility is especially true in the
church among believers.
We are required by God to have “the same care for one
another” (I Cor 12:25). We are exhorted to “love one another
fervently with a pure heart” (I Pet 1:22). Everywhere in
the New Testament we are urged to exercise brotherly love.
This, as we have been seeing, is a kind of deep commitment
to others. The New Testament is so full of exhortations
regarding this kind of love commitment to the other
members of the body of Christ that it is almost impossible
to list and study them all.
But how is it possible to love all the different people
whom Jesus has chosen to put in His body? Sometimes it
seems that He has chosen people who are some of the most
difficult to love. Yet, He requires that we love them just as
much as He has loved us. We read: “A new commandment
I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved
you, that you also love one another” (Jn 13:34). This seems
to be an impossible task, yet it is an essential element in the
experience of the one true church.
The source of such supernatural love is God Himself.
God has a deep, passionate love for His people, His
church. Before the world began, God must have looked
into the future and beheld His bride. While gazing upon
her, a deep, passionate love must have been born within
Him. The intense love which He has for her has been His
motivation for all the work which He has been doing for
and in mankind throughout the ages. This is the “...love of
God which is in Christ Jesus” (Rm 8:39) when He came to
earth to die for her.
Therefore, when we are walking every day in intimate
communion with Him, we will sense His love for every
one of His children. Our fellowship with Him will result in
our absorbing and then expressing His tender sentiments.
As we know Him more every day, this unfathomable love
which He has for His people will begin to fill our hearts.
With the passage of time, this divine love will begin to
become the source of our motivation in our work together
with Jesus.
So we find that there is a second commitment which
we need to make. It is both biblical and essential. It is a
firm, complete commitment to love all the other members
of the body of Christ. It is necessary for each one of us to
make a conscious, clear commitment before God to love all
of His children. When we make this commitment, this puts
us in a position to receive the love of God for others. As we
agree with God concerning His attitude towards His body,
this opens the way for His love to flow through us.
Without such a commitment, it is very possible that
our human reactions to others will prevail. It is probable
that our natural man will begin to express itself. In order
for us to live in and experience the true church, this deep
commitment needs to be made. If we do not, sooner or
later, something will happen – someone will do or say
something to hurt or offend us – which will cause us to
stop loving them, become closed to them and pull away.
We will then turn our backs on them and a division in
Christ’s body will occur.
If we are to have divine love flowing through us in
each and every circumstance, we need to make a commitment
before God. This is a commitment to love all His children.
Then, when our resources run out, as they no doubt
will – when we can love no longer, when we cannot bear
the burden – we will sense His supply of supernatural
love. When we are committed to others, He will always
supply us with His love. Since His love never fails, it is
always available for us to experience.
When our commitment to God and to His people is
lacking, if we have not come into a deep understanding of
what living the gospel of Jesus entails, we will not be able
to enter into the fullness of all that He has for us. Many of
the spiritual benefits and pleasures of His house will not be
our experience. Our failure in this area will rob us of many
spiritual enjoyments and maturity.
Those who miss these precious things are in a real
kind of danger. They are very likely to seek a substitute. If
they fail to make the two commitments which we have
been discussing, they will also fall short in their spiritual
lives. Their experience of the living house of God will be
faulty. Lacking this experience it is possible that they will
seek to fill the void with some kind of religious organization,
leadership or structure. If the spiritual reality is not
our experience, the natural tendency is to seek out something
easier.
So we understand that in order to experience the reality
of the one true church, there is a second commitment
involved. This is a commitment to our brothers and sisters
in Christ. It is not a commitment to an institution, group,
method, leader or way, but a commitment to other individuals.
We must commit ourselves to love them fully, utterly
and completely. This includes individuals of all kinds, both
those who are more agreeable and those who prove to be
very difficult to love.

WHOM MUST WE LOVE?

The church of Jesus today is very large. There are
many millions of believers who are part of her. We have
been seeing that God requires us to love all of them. Yet,
loving millions of people at the same time is only theoretical
and not practical. Although our heart attitude may be
right before God, being willing to love all, there is simply
no way to express this love in a real way.
In the city where we live there may be thousands or
even millions of other Christians. There is no possible way
we can meet with all of them, minister to all of them, serve
all of them or care for all of them. Obviously, our capacity
as finite human beings is limited. So how then are we to
exercise this love?
Jesus taught us to love our neighbor (Mt 22:39), but
who is this neighbor? It is those other Christians whom
God brings into our lives. As we walk with the Lord, He
brings us into contact with other believers. If and when we
are sensitive to Him, we will know when it is He who is
orchestrating these contacts. We will be able to sense that it
is God who is bringing these people into our lives. We read
that He “...has set the members, each one of them, in the
body just as He pleased” (I Cor 12:18). As we have seen in
previous chapters, Jesus is the one who is building His
body. He is the one who puts one stone alongside another
stone in His building. He is the one who knows how to do
this construction. Our part is to be sensitive to Him and
respond to what He is doing.
These are not always people whom we might choose.
These are not necessarily people we like, that please us or
even that we think are easy to befriend. What is important
is that God is bringing someone into our lives. It may be for
their benefit and growth. Possibly, they need some kind of
ministry which we can give them. Or perhaps, we will
learn from them, either from their portion of Christ or
growing in patience and long-suffering from their lack of
Christ. Certainly, we will grow through the experience
whether it is a blessing or difficult.
When God brings someone to us, then we are required
to love this person. It is our obligation to commit ourselves
to serve them. We are not free to pick and choose whom we
will love and serve. As servants of God, we must obey Him
in our commitment to those whom He puts before us. Our
role is to express the love of God to whomever He brings
into our lives.
We can have confidence that God knows what He is
doing. He is the architect and the builder of His house. He
knows which relationships are strategic for His purposes.
He understands which parts are important to each other.
He knows how such spiritual relationships will work
together to edify the rest.
God will bring us co-workers. He will bring us people
with many problems and needs. He will bring us some
who need our portion of Christ, some who will disappoint
us, some who will challenge us, some who will bless us
and some who will help us. Our responsibility is simply to
commit ourselves to love them with the love of God.
Our responsibility to love others does not stop with
only those who agree with us. It is not limited to those with
whom we meet regularly, those who like us, those whose
company we enjoy or those whom we imagine we can con-
vince of our position, doctrine or practice. Anyone whom
God brings into our lives, we are required to love and serve
in a humble way, and leave the results to God. As we do
this, Jesus will build His church in an invisible, hidden
way which one day will be revealed in all her glorious
splendor.
This commitment of love is not something which is
temporary. These relationships must not depend upon our
emotions or whims. Since it has its source in the eternal
God our commitment to others should also be an eternal
thing. These individuals whom God brings into our lives
are not disposable. They are not to be discarded like used
tissue when they cease to please us or when they do something
which hurts or offends us.
Just as God does not discard His children every time
they sin or disobey, so we too must make a thorough commitment
to others to love and serve them. They may
choose to turn their backs on us, but we are not free before
God to turn away from them. Our commitment to other
brothers and sisters must be like that of Jesus Christ.
In today’s world, men and women have become very
accustomed to and even addicted to instant self-gratification.
So many of us have become used to having what we
want the way we want it, when we want it. But if we are to
experience the one true church, this self-love must be
denied. Our natural feelings and reactions to so many
things which others do and say must be replaced with
Jesus’ divine reaction of love.
The commitment which we make to others must be
deep and abiding. It must be made as a conscious, sober
decision in which we become willing to lay down our own
lives for others. It is a commitment which puts others
before ourselves. It is a decision which mirrors the heart of
our Savior when He came to give His life for us.

THE REAL CHURCH GLUE

Brotherly love then is the glue which will hold the one
true church together. It is this love for one another which
will cause us to maintain our fellowship. It is this eternal
love which will impel us to serve Christ’s body. It is this
unfailing love which will induce us to lay down our lives
so that others can grow up into all that Jesus is. It is the
love for God and for one another which will cause us to
maintain relationships, desire to meet for worship, edification
and prayer and to use our gifts and ministries to build
up the body.
Here there is no need for positional or institutional
authority. There is no room for some kind of substitute
framework or “commitment” to try to hold people together.
This is not something artificial. It is nothing which man
can produce or even imitate. This is not anything which
has been made with human hands. It is the place where
God dwells and will dwell for eternity.
The evidence of the reality of the one true church is
brotherly love. This ageless love of God being poured out
through and onto His body is the proof that God Himself
is at work. It is the sure sign that He is the One who is in
control and He is the One who has done this work. Man
cannot imitate it.
Such love produces the most enjoyable kind of
“church.” The scripture reads: “Behold how good and how
pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is
like the precious oil upon the head, running down on the
beard...It is like the dew of Hermon, descending upon the
mountains of Zion; for there the Lord commanded the
blessing – Life forevermore” (Ps 133).
The intimacy of living together and relating to others
in the love of God is one of the highest human experiences.
It is one of the most truly enjoyable things which we can
know. The intimacy with one another which this produces,
the transparency of lives and relationships which comes
forth, is simply wonderful. There is nothing which can
compare with living with others in God’s love.
This is the goal. This is the experience of the one true
church. It is the kind of living into which Jesus is calling us.
It is meant to be part of our reward for our faithful obedi-
ence to Jesus. Every Christian is meant to be able to participate
in and fully enjoy this spiritual communion with one
another.
If we fail to enter into the kind of relationship with
Jesus which produces this love, then we will also fail to
experience the one true church. If we do not walk in intimate
communion with the Father, then we will never succeed
in knowing the reality of His body. The love of God is
the only adhesive which will work when we are constructing
the genuine house of God.
Any other method to try and hold the people of God
together is false. It is an imitation. It is a human effort to try
to produce something which should be the automatic fruit
of a spiritual life. If we really know God intimately, we will
love the brethren. This love is the only substance which can
be used to hold the people of God together in a real, eternal
way. Therefore, it is a large part of our work to stir up
one another to love as Christ loves (Heb 10:24).
It is our privilege to demonstrate through our lives
this godly love so that others will have an example to follow.
It is part of our function in the body of Christ to exhort
and encourage each brother and sister to know this love
and to express it. This is the highest and holiest calling.

GIFTS ALONE WILL NOT SUCCEED

Many people today are trying to build up the church
and hold it together with their spiritual gifts. They are
doing their best to edify other believers with their ministry.
But some also make the mistake of thinking that this will
be sufficient. They try to build the church by attracting others
through the use of their gifts and then try to get these
others to commit themselves to them and their ministry as
a means of holding these believers together.
Dear brethren, it is not enough simply to have some
kind of spiritual gift. It is not sufficient to have an “anointed”
ministry. Simply being able to preach or teach, cure the
sick, predict the future or cast out demons is not adequate
to build up the true church. All these things can be done by
those who do not know how to live in God’s love.
Incredibly, they can be accomplished by some who are not
really living in intimacy with Jesus. Here the scripture is
quite clear. If our “ministry” is merely an exercise of our
gift but not a result of the flow of eternal love in us and
through us, it is an empty, vain thing. In fact, it is “nothing”
(I Cor 13:2).
It is not uncommon in the church today to find men
and women who are using the gifts which God has given
them to promote themselves. They are exercising the spiritual
abilities which they have received to impress others
and therefore exalt themselves. They want to be seen and
heard. They want others to think that they are really spiritual.
Yet, all this is simply evidence of their immaturity.
They are lacking in God’s love. Real love does not behave
in this way. It “does not parade itself.” It is “not puffed up”
(I Cor 13:4). Those who are motivated by the love of God
are not self-seeking. Their motives are only to minister the
life and nature of God to other believers and a perishing
world.
The exercise of spiritual gifts without love is an empty
religious exercise. It like the sound of a bell or trumpet
which quickly vanishes away (I Cor 13:1). The kind of ministry
which will produce lasting, eternal results is the ministry
done in love. It is the love of God flowing in us and
through us which will build up the eternal habitation of
the Most High.

GROUP COMMITMENT

As we have mentioned in the beginning of this chapter,
there is a third kind of commitment upon which so
many are insisting today. It is the commitment of a believer
to a certain “church,” group or ministry. What about this
idea of the dedication of our lives to a specific group? Do
the scriptures teach us that we should commit ourselves to
a certain church, ministry or way? Absolutely not! On the
contrary such commitment is forbidden.
The alignment of ourselves with any subgroup other
than the body of Christ as a whole is strictly prohibited. It
is what the Bible calls “division.” It is the cause of “factions”
within the body. It is a kind of activity which is
destructive to the cause of Christ. Paul rebukes the believers
in Corinth for doing this very thing. There they were
aligning themselves with certain leaders. They were saying,
“I am of Paul,” “I am of Apollos,” “I am of Cephas,” or
“I am of Christ” (I Cor 1:12).
Paul teaches us that such commitment to a subgroup
of believers is carnal and childish. It demonstrated that
these Christians were still infantile and fleshly. They did
not yet have the maturity to see things according to God’s
point of view. They did not have a heavenly vision of His
one true church. Nowhere in the word of God are we urged
to give our allegiance to any group, church or ministry
beyond the simple exhortation to love one another.
The alignment with or commitment of ourselves to a
specific church or group is against the clear teachings of
the New Testament. When we do this we automatically set
up a kind of barrier between ourselves and other
Christians. Our allegiance to anything other than Jesus
Christ and His entire body, creates a sort of delineation or
“denomination.”
Literally, a denomination is a distinction and separation
of something by the use of a name. For example, we
give people a name or even nickname to differentiate them
from others. When we form separate groups within the
church and give them names to distinguish them from the
rest, we create “denominations.”
To a greater or lesser degree, such a practice cuts us off
from the ministry which the rest of the body has to offer us.
Conversely, we also limit our availability to the others to
contribute our portion. Such divisions in the body of Christ
limit the flow of His love. They inhibit the ministry of Life
which the members give to one another. When believers
band together in groups which are separate from the rest of
the body, they greatly limit the work of God. For this reason,
such commitments are contrary to His will.
We have no need to rely on such commitments to try
to keep a group together. We must not look to such earthly
means and methods to try and secure members or keep
believers in our group. The love of God will do this.
Remember that it is He that places the members in the
body as it pleases Him (I Cor 12:18). We can trust in His
ability to do this in a way which will benefit everyone. If
we live in love, Jesus Himself will cause His body to grow
and prosper.
The commitment of believers to a group or organization
frequently substitutes for the two essential commitments
which we have been discussing. By committing
themselves to a group, Christians often neglect their commitment
to Christ and to one another. As we have seen in
previous chapters, such carnal commitments are often easier
to make and maintain than the two spiritual ones which
we have been discussing here.
A fleshly group commitment can be made and maintained
without any commitment to love God totally and
love our brothers and sisters as we love ourselves.
Anything which is or which becomes a substitute for God’s
best way should be avoided.