I Got Engaged!

One of the most exciting days in a person's life is when they happily announce that they have gotten engaged.  And they might show off a ring, or set a date, or make big plans for the upcoming day.  And of course, an engagement to be married is full of hope and promise and joy for the future, because it means a commitment has been made, a promise of loyalty has been spoken, and a bond is secured.

As a pastor, I speak with engaged couples frequently, and help them plan not only the wedding, but the marriage.  My words of advice at such a time is to worry less about the ceremony, and focus on the relationship.  The wedding is over in a day, but the marriage is designed to last a lifetime.  Engagement is the beginning of a lifelong trust and covenant.

While marriage is one common context, the word "engagement" applies in a variety areas of life.  Automobiles (used to) have a clutch that is disengaged to change gears or stop, and engaged to make the car move.  When children are engaged at school, they are attentive, learn more, and happier students.  Engagement is connection and involvement, engagement is the source of progress.

Christians are more spiritually healthy when they are engaged in the life and work of the church.  Attending the worship services is important, but to sit and listen and leave without connecting to other people does not describe engagement.  Commitment, participation, and service describe engagement.  And the Kingdom is advanced by those who are engaged. 

Using the illustration of a wedding engagement, the couple is focused in the goal of becoming husband and wife.  And while work and family and grocery shopping still continues during the period of being engaged, the focus of life is in planning and preparing for the day in which the marriage is made.  The engagement is the subtext to all the activity and events of life. 

Engaged Christians live in a similar way.  The mission of Christ, in all of its facets, becomes the baseline and subtext for life.  Building community, serving one another, and growing in grace permeates and filters into all of life.  Church is not merely a Sunday Morning event, but an central part of one's identity, each and every day.  Attendance at the worship service is more than an occasion to be spiritually fed, but seeks an opportunity to serve and contribute to the lives of others.  As engaged Christians, we live all of our lives with an awareness of our mission, and we seek to reflect the light of Christ however we can.

This sense of engagement gets taken one step further when we consider that the Scripture continually refers to the church as the "Bride of Christ."  We are betrothed to the Savior.  We are engaged.  And our loyalty to the Lord is reflected and exercised in our relationships to one another.  Just as we cannot imagine being partially or half way kind of - sort of engaged to be married, neither can we be partially committed to the Savior.  The Lord requires our whole self, and expects our fidelity and loyalty. 

Consider your engagement to Christ and His church.  Ask yourself - Is your devotion to the Lord is reflected in your personal relationships?  Is your love for God evidenced in your service to His Kingdom?   And of you find the answers are not reflective of what you would want them to be, then take a few steps to strengthen your sense of engagement and loyalty to the One who loves you immensely.