At the church baptism service yesterday, our pastor said to the baptism candidates, “You are not making a commitment to a set of ideas, or to a group, or to a party. You are committing yourself to a Person.”
When I married my husband, I made a commitment to him, a person. I was not marrying his family, although his family will be part of our married life. I was not marrying what he believes in, because we disagree. I was not marrying his position at work, because he could (and did) change his career.
Before I married my husband, while we were dating, I saw through our interaction and conversations what kind of person he is. So when I made a lifetime commitment to him, my commitment is to a person – his kindness, his patience, his sense of justice, his integrity, his hard work ethic, his dependability. Our circumstances will change, his responses in different situations will vary, he gets older, and, well, heavier…But I am committed to him, not what surrounds us.
I see how that is in my relationship with God. As I see God in action in my life and in his Word, I see his patience, his graciousness, his wisdom, his power, his holiness, his sacrificial love. Those are great qualities of a person I want to love and serve.
When I committed myself as a Christian, I made a commitment to a Person, not a religion or a set of beliefs.