Engaged

Engaged – Adj. 1. Employed, occupied, or busy. 2. Committed, as to a cause. 3. Pledged to marry; betrothed.

When a church member is engaged with the local church, they are employed, busy, committed to church as a cause, pledged to serve and love the body of Christ.  From a theological perspective, Christ followers are called to this very kind of full devotion.  Jesus said it this way, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' (31) The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these." Mark 12:30-31 NIV




A church member that is engaged has experienced the converting power of the Holy Spirit.  They love the Lord.  They love the church. They love the lost.  Each of these requires a conversion, a change of heart, a turning toward God and His priorities.  Every church hopes for engaged members.




What does being engaged look like?  One church described it as being a fully devoted follower of Christ.  Another study described it as being Christ centered.  Others, see as engaged membership or participating membership.  Some churches have gone to asking a commitment for participating membership.  Here is one such example:

Time 

I commit to being available to my church community by:

1) Attending worship services every week unless I am sick or out of town,

2) Serving in a Church ministry, and

3) Growing in community by being a member of a group.

Talent

I commit to passionately using my gifts and skills to serve others in a Church ministry.

Treasure

I commit to giving in proportion to my income with the goal of the tithe.

Trust

I commit to giving each member of our Church the benefit of the doubt, building one another up instead of tearing one another down. Trust includes living a lifestyle that honors God and would not bring disrepute upon our Church or individual members of our Church. 

So what would it look like for us as members of First Baptist Church to be engaged? Fully devoted? Christ centered?  More importantly, how engaged am I?  Do I see myself as a participating member?  Maybe, it is time to develop a pathway that leads to fully devoted followers of Jesus.  I think Jesus would be pleased.  God loves us the way we are but He loves us too much to leave us that way.




Advancing the kingdom of God in Greater Niles and Beyond,




Pastor Mark

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.