Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Several years ago, at the Golden Globes, Christian Bale (the actor who plays Batman in three of the more recent movies in that franchise) accepted an award.

In his acceptance speech, he said it was Satan who gave him “inspiration for playing [the] role.”[i]

The Twitter account for the “Church of Satan” later tweeted a sort of thank you, saying, “To us, Satan is a symbol of pride, liberty and individualism, and it serves as an external metaphorical projection of our highest personal potential.”

Note that they speak of Satan as a “symbol,” and not a person… a symbol of pride, of liberty (freedom to do what you want), and of individualism(freedom to be who you want).

Last Sunday night, at the Grammys, two performers displayed an all-out worship ceremony for Satan.

(Just in case you’re wondering… I don’t watch the Globes or the Grammys, but I do know how to do research.)

One of the performers at the Grammys later said that the whole thing was “a take” on “being able to live the way [you] want… to live.”[ii]

For this person, the satanic imagery was a way to pay tribute to the idea of personal autonomy – to live how you want without anyone giving you limitations.

Friends, it seems to me that one of the main assumptions in our culture today is that our highest good is achieved when we are completely free to be and to do whatever we want.

We assume that our desires must have no restraint… and anyone who thinks or says otherwise is judgy or a bigot or oppressive.

Now, none of us are probably going to argue that we want to worship Satan, but all of us are affected by the water we swim in everyday… And all of us have a sort of built-in expectation that “nobody is going to tell me what to do or who to be.”

But I’m going to argue today that we all desperately need limitations.

In fact, to put it plainly, living without limitations is an illusion, and giving free reign to your own personal desires and preferences is the fastest way to self-destruction.

From the earliest days of Christianity, Christians have committed or “devoted” themselves to learning and to living according to “the apostles’ teaching” (Acts 2:42).

That is, Christians devoted themselves to living limited or regulated lives.

This’s what we read in the book of Acts, and we see it taught and exemplified all throughout the New Testament letters.

One of the earliest Christian documents (other than the Bible) is called the Didache, which simply means “teaching.”

It was compiled in the second century, and it’s a list of Christian regulations, both for individuals and for the local church.

The Didache begins by saying, “There are two ways [to live], one of life and one of death, and there is a great difference between the two ways.”

And then it describes rules for Christian living in 16 short chapters.

Christians are to “love the God that made [them],” they are to love their “neighbor as [themselves],” and they are to practice this love as defined in God’s commands.

In short, Christian living is the constant striving against the temptation to do and be what you want and the constant striving toward doing and being what the Bible says we ought… in every area of life.

Friends, we might think that Christian living is especially hard or counter-cultural in our own day, but the fact is that Christian living is the opposite of human nature since Genesis 3. It’s always counter-cultural to live as a Christian in this fallen and sinful world, and it’s always hard to war against our own sinful desires… and that’s why we need help to do it.

Today, I’m going to preach a topical sermon on the need for and the purpose of a Church Membership Covenant.

This is the second installment in our monthly topical series for 2023.

As most of you know, the normal method of preaching at FBC Diana is expositional, where the main point of the sermon is drawn from the main point of the text of the Bible.

But once a month, we break from that normal practice in order to preach a topical message on some concept or doctrine that is particularly relevant to our life as a church and/or to our cultural moment.

In January, I tried to argue that Christian living centers around or begins with one’s relationship to a local church.

A sinner hears the gospel, repents and believes, and comes into the visible kingdom of Christ – the local church.

And churches provide the only authoritative structure and context for Christian living.

If you want to talk more about that, then let’s get lunch or coffee sometime.

Today we are taking one more step toward building out a biblical perspective of Christian living.

Christians, by definition, have moral boundaries, set by Christ Himself, and a Membership Covenant helps us understand what at least some of those boundaries are and how to live within them.

As happens every Sunday, I can’t speak to everything we need to know in order to really grasp this topic… our seats and our minds can only take so much.

So, I’m going to reiterate that this sermon (like all others) is meant to be the substance of further conversation… not just an interesting speech that makes you feel one way or another.

This means you should write down questions, you should remember one or two statements, you should think about concepts I’m explaining or mentioning, and you should discuss these with other Christians in your life.

Our Scripture reading for today is from a section of Paul’s letter to the Romans, a section that really emphasizes Christian living, after Paul has already spent a lot of ink on Christian doctrine or theology.

The Bible is interested in teaching us what to believe and also teaching us how to live based on that belief.

As we read this passage together, I want you to look especially for statements of command – “Do this.” or “Don’t do that.”

And I want you to look for the context in which these commands are to be obeyed… Is this talking about stuff to do or not do on my own, or in relationship with other Christians?

Let’s stand together as I read Romans 12:1-13…

Scripture Reading

Romans 12:1–13 (ESV)

1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.

4 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.

6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; 7 if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 8 the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

9 Let love be genuine.

Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.

10 Love one another with brotherly affection.

Outdo one another in showing honor.

11 Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.

12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

13 Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

Main Idea:

A good church membership covenant summarizes my responsibilities to live as a Christian along with other Christians.

Sermon

1. Keeping the Old Ways

Our Scripture this morning is chock-full of commands.

Verse 1, do “present your bodies as a living sacrifice” to the Lord.

Verse 2, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind,” which happens as we read and study and apply Scripture to all of life.

Verse 3, do “not… think” more “highly” of yourself than you ought, but do “think with sober judgment” about your abilities, your maturity, your knowledge, and your life.

Verse 6, do“use” the “gifts” that you have, which are “given” to you by God’s “grace,” to benefit others.

I could go on, but you get the idea.

As I said already, the Bible is interested in teaching us how to live, just as much as it is interested in teaching us what to believe.

And a good membership covenant is one that summarizes my responsibilities to live as a Christian along with other Christians, based on commands just like the ones we see in Romans 12.

For the members of FBC Diana, it will come as no surprise that we have all committed or covenanted together to live according to some clearly stated and biblically grounded rules or standards.

However, it may be surprising for some to learn that this is not new.

Indeed, it is very, very old.

From their beginning, Baptists have covenanted together to form local congregations.

In fact, I want to argue that Baptists are simply following in the footsteps of our earliest Christian ancestors.

As I already pointed out in my introduction, the first church in Jerusalem was populated by members who “devoted themselves” to “the apostles’ teaching,” which included instructions about both what to believe and how to live (Acts.

2:42).

They may not have had a written summary in the form of a covenant, but they were doing the same thing.

One of the earliest Baptist church covenants is from Swansea Baptist Church in Rehoboth, MA, in 1663.[iii]

But the most widely used covenant among Baptists was created in 1853, by a man named J.

Newton Brown.

And this covenant was so commonly used among Baptists that it was included in the 1956 edition of the Baptist Hymnal (the songbook almost every Baptist church used for decades).

At least as early as November of 1940, and probably as early as September 1925, when FBC Diana was still called James Baptist Church, J. Newton Brown’s covenant was used by our own church.

And it was even printed at the front of the church’s record books, which were published by the Baptist Sunday School board.

Let me read a portion of that covenant to you.

“Having been led, as we believe, by the Spirit of God to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior; and, on the profession of our faith, having been baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, we do now, in the presence of God, angels, and this assembly, most solemnly and joyfully enter into covenant with one another, as one body in Christ.”

The word covenant means promise, and these are some of the promises made by members of FBC Diana throughout the early and mid-1900s.

“We engage… by the aid of the Holy Spirit, to walk together in Christian love; to strive for the advancement of this church, in knowledge, holiness, and comfort; to promote its prosperity and spirituality; to sustain its worship, ordinances, discipline, and doctrines; to contribute cheerfully and regularly to the support of the ministry, the expenses of the church, the relief of the poor, and the spread of the gospel through all nations.”

They promised to “maintain family… [Bible reading and prayer]; to religiously educate our children; to seek the salvation of our kindred and acquaintances… to be just in our dealings, faithful in our [work], and exemplary in our [behavior]; to avoid all tattling, backbiting, and excessive anger…”

They promised to “watch over one another in brotherly love; to remember each other in prayer; to aid each other in sickness and distress… to be slow to take offense, but always ready for reconciliation, and mindful of the rules of our Savior, to secure it without delay.”

And finally, they promised to “unite with some other church” as “soon as possible” when they leave this one, and to “carry out the spirit of this covenant” with their new church family in the same way as they had done with us.

Brother and sisters, I praise God where I see many of us living in keeping with these promises.

And I pray that we will all strive in this same direction.

This membership covenant is not exactly the same as the one we use today, but the spirit or heart is the same in both.

You know, over the last few years, I’ve been able to talk with several other pastors of churches near and far who have heard about the changes we’ve experienced as a church in recent years.

I sometimes hear about how other churches are wanting to take membership more seriously, and I hear that a pastor or member of another church is interested to learn about our efforts.

What a joy it is to tell other pastors and other church’s members about how the Lord has worked so mightily among us to bring about the kind of health and growth we have now!

You should all know that our church is earning a good reputation for being the kind of church that aims for faithful and meaningful Christianity.

Of course, not everyone in our community has a positive perspective of what we’ve done.

Many people who want less accountability or less responsibility don’t at all like the way we prioritize the sort of promises that used to be common among Evangelical churches.

But time will tell whether the freedom to do and be what you want is better or worse than the Bible-regulated living we are striving for.

May God help us to keep striving for faithfulness, may God help us to talk about the gospel with others, and may God produce much fruit from our efforts.

2. Knowing One Another

Remember, I’m arguing that a good church membership covenant simply summarizes my responsibilities to live as a Christian along with other Christians.