Legacy Church Blog

"Why Your Resolutions Don't Stick"

I’m an unabashed history dork, currently on my second biography of Teddy Roosevelt. Of all his noteworthy moments, the one that sticks out for me is a page from his workout program - I’m fascinated by his “Body by Ted” program. While president, Roosevelt would often grab some aids or even guests, choose a distant point off in the distance and head for that point only to then return.

 The catch? They would do so in a perfectly straight line no matter what was in the way.

 “The rule was that no natural impediment should cause them to digress or to stop. So they went through the fields and over the fences, across ditches and pools, and even clambered up and down a haystack, if one happened to be in the way, or through a barnyard. Of course they often reached home spattered with mud or even drenched to the skin from a plunge into the water, but with much fun, a livelier circulation, and a hearty appetite to their credit.” He called this “hiking”.

 We can learn much in our goal setting from this practice of “hiking.” There’s something to be said for having your eyes set on a goal and refusing to let impediments interrupt your journey. Sure, we all desire discipline, but accomplishing goals in a disciplined manner isn’t always good. Your accomplished resolutions may be carrying you in the wrong direction.  

 Matt Perman’s incredible book What’s Best Next (a must get) argues that improved productivity is no longer efficient if it’s carrying you in the wrong direction. You must first know what the right direction is for productivity to matter. I couldn’t agree more. One of the key ways in which our discipline can carry us in the correct direction is to staple it to a personal mission statement. Mission statements act like Roosevelt’s lighthouse or mountaintop, dictating direction no matter the obstacles. Perman notes,

 “...the purpose of your mission statement is to define the rock-bottom principles that define you even in times when you don’t know what you are doing or where you are going. You want your mission statement to orient you even when your entire world seems to be giving way —when you’ve lost your job, lost your house, aren’t sure what city to live in, and the wonderful plan you have for your life seems blown apart. Your mission statement is a good one if it is able to help you then, in those circumstances. Only then will it be able to guide you in the ordinary circumstances of life.”

 This year, before sitting down to list out new goals and aspirations, first ask, “Why am I here? Where am I going?”. Let the answers become beacons to your calendar, expenditures, and decisions so that you're not productive in the wrong direction.  Most people fail in their resolutions simply because they are irrelevant to their overall mission, and therefore peripheral rather than central. In fact, what’s worse, someone inefficiently moving in the right direction or someone efficiently moving in the wrong direction?

We clearly see Jesus and Paul with their eyes fixed on an end without veering or shifting in their journey. Sure, they were disciplined, but they were also tethered to a defining mission. Their decisions were guided by an ultimate goal. Have you considered yours? Take some time to today draft a mission statement that becomes the “rudder” for all your resolutions, aspirations, and goals. Maybe this year you’ll head in the right direction no matter what’s in the way.

"Why I'm signing on the dotted line..."

One of the things I’m learning as we implement a formalized church membership (what we call partnership) is how much people absolutely abhor signing their name to things and formalizing a current reality.

“It feels too corporate.” “I don’t know why it’s important.” “It’s not in the Bible.” “I’m already showing up.”

I have heard it all and I realize why most churches just don’t poke the sleeping dog. It seems like too much trouble and even threatens to run folks off. To be honest, it is much easier to just let people show. “Why can’t we all belong?”

We sign our name to thousands of documents in our lifetime to secure anything from homes to cell phone agreements and do it without even reading the contracts most of the time. When it comes to “belonging” to a people of God however, we turn into a conspiracy theorists and feel threatened. It’s an interesting thing to watch.

As I prepped the sermon for this week (5/24/15 “Why I Sign on the Dotted Line...”) something struck me as to how formalizing an already existing reality is something we already do without blinking an eye. When we marry each other and sign a marriage license and vow to love each other, we never feel like a signed covenant cheapens the union or is unnecessary. We are excited to do it because it is a celebration of the love we already have. Church partnership isn’t very different.

As Christians, we are already members of a body we don’t deserve to be in. Jesus is our head and we fit together to nurture and care for each other. This all came by the Gospel’s effect on our lives. We are truly members who cannot lose our membership because the dues were paid by Another.

This is why we use the word “partnership” to formalize the reality that already exists. We know most traditional churches refer to this as ‘membership” which is fine, but we believe that word is empty freight in our culture and is already taken Biblically through salvation. We aren’t trying to be hip, but clear.

Formalizing such a union (church partnership/membership) is a way we can know who we are responsible for as a church AND who we as leaders are responsible for. It also allows church discipline to occur to the glory of God. (See the sermon audio) Without it, we as leaders are unable to love and protect the body and serve it well.

To simply attend and volunteer at a local church without partnership is nothing more than “hedging your bets” as we are ready to extricate ourselves and cancel our “belonging” when it doesn’t fit. It’s saying, “I love this place and love coming, but want to remain a private individual with no responsibility or covering, and covenanting with you guys is too much.” It also reminds me of finally getting a heart tattoo on our arms but not putting a name inside the heart, because the "beloved" might change. 

My question is this, If signing and formalizing a covenant with your local church is too much for you to swallow, what will you be like when the persecution around us gets much hotter? If a signature causes us to balk, what about losing our reputation, or business, or life?

Jesus didn’t die to create a service where people went based on convenience, but to create a church where people were committed to each other and partnered with each other in a covenant. The local church is God’s instrument to change the world and to not partner to one is to be sitting the bench.

Jesus died and rose - we are good to leave the bench now.

Jesus died to glue you into community - you are good to stop being all about the individual

More resources on church membership

Legacy's Covenant Partnership Explanation (and Q&A)

http://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/submit-to-jesus-submit-to-his-bride

http://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/i_am_a_church_member

http://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/the-second-most-important-book-for-every-christian

http://9marks.org/membership-discipline/