A number of months ago I found myself in a conversation among a group of church leaders and one of the subjects that arose was that of commitment. Part of the discussion was about differing attitudes to church among the assorted generations in most congregations, and one leader – who I’d place in his early sixties – said something that resonated with me.
‘One of the problems we face is that for my generation, commitment means every week, but for many of my children’s generation [who I guess are in their twenties or early thirties] commitment means two to three times a month.’
This got me thinking about the meaning of the word commitment, and also the feelings it evokes in me. I should of course go to the dictionary for a definitive meaning, but it’s arguably more honest if I go with a more instinctive meaning that comes from a mix of my head, heart and gut.
From that triangle within my interior, commitment feels – most of the time – like a heavy word, particularly in a church context. It feels like duty and loyalty, more often than not to some task or ministry. It can even have a sense of the grinding, of a slightly guilt-ridden part of me that feels I should volunteer for some ministry or other but I’m afraid that if I do so, I’ll become lumbered in some way that I can’t escape. It could be Hotel California service of God where I can sign up but never leave.
Commitment makes me think of pictures at the back of the Presbyterian Herald where long-service presentations are made to organists that have played for 30 years, Sunday School superintendents that have taught for 40 years, and treasurers who have counted for 50 years.
And nothing about those examples is couched in a way that is meant to be clever or satirical, because these are staggering levels of commitment and faithfulness, and there are so many such people whose labour for the Lord has been glue that has held their congregations together. I suspect there are increasingly fewer such people about, and all of us could learn from their examples, particularly the quiet humility that marks so much of such service.
But still, commitment can feel – to me – a weighty word. Onerous. Not associated with joy or lightness. A word, I believe, that could benefit from some reframing in the context of the local church, perhaps in your church in the year ahead.
Which brings me to me what I honestly think is my favourite rendering of Scripture, the brilliant Old Testament for Everyone, translated by John Goldingay. There are multiple instances where Goldingay translates what in many translations is ‘love’ as ‘commitment’. For example, in Exodus 34:6-7 God passes in front of Moses and – as translated by the NIV – expresses his name as:
“The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin…”
In the Old Testament for Everyone, that reads as follows:
“Yahweh, God compassionate and gracious, long-tempered, big in commitment and truthfulness, keeping commitment to thousands, carrying waywardness, rebellion and shortcoming…”
Similarly, the NIV translates Psalm 103:11-12 this way, stating of God:
“For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed his transgressions from us.”
The Old Testament for Everyone expresses those verses this way:
“Because in accordance with the height of the heavens over the earth, his commitment has been strong over people who hold him in awe. In accordance with the distance of east from west he has distanced our rebellions from us.”
Where the NIV says ‘love’, the Old Testament for Everyone says ‘commitment’, because that’s at the heart of the Hesed love being spoken of in these verses. As well as commitment, Goldingay notes Hesed can also be translated as steadfast love, constant love, or loving kindness. It’s about a commitment where one party goes beyond what might have been expected by the other party, and as Goldingay comments: ‘God behaves that way toward people and rejoices when they behave that way in response.’
And so, a key goal in how we use language in church – a transformative way to re-express what we mean by commitment – is to uncouple it from an association with tasks and couple it instead to an association with one another. A shift in how we use the word means commitment is not a call to do a ‘thing’ each week but rather is a call to a rugged and dependable love for one another, a commitment to turn up every week not to do something but to meet someone – indeed to meet many people.
Commitment to turn up each week and worship with them, pray with them, listen to them, and both rejoice with them and console them in a way that shows the love of God by going beyond what normal relationships in most societal contexts look like.
Seen that way, commitment becomes an energising word, a life-giving word, a word I want to carry into my involvement with my church family in the year ahead. And a word – above all – that reflects the posture of God towards all that he calls into relationship with him.
Colin Neill is a PCI Accredited Preacher and a member of Craigavon Presbyterian Church.
Please note that the statements and views expressed in this article of those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Contemporary Christianity.
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