At that time of my youth when I was teaching in Sunday school, one of my little students saw fit to share with me a series of comics that he had done in the privacy of his home. I say, in privacy, because he was a shy child who had never dared to share these sketches with anyone. In them he saw himself as a superhero. In spite of the simplicity of his argument and the simplicity of the drawings -which could be expected of a ten-year-old boy- those strips made in pencil in a school notebook, betrayed intelligence, talent, and a very particular and personal style; and why not, a singular beauty.
Remembering this gave me an idea for our magazine, so I decided to publish a notice requesting someone with the ability to make comics, comic strips. I did not care about sex or age, knowing that a child from the hand of Our Lord can do this work in a brilliant way. Nor was it necessary for him to be congregating in our local church. I needed him to do his task with passion for the things of the Lord and to see in it a ministry, not a business or a job opportunity. Two months have passed and I have not received even one question. Much less an offer.
This is not new. What I observe with sadness is that what is missing among the people of God is neither talent nor gifts. COMMITMENT is the great absentee.
One of the meanings of the word "commitment" in the Spanish dictionary is: "Obligation contracted, given word, faith pledged."
People today flee from contracting obligations. The given word is becoming less valuable and the foundations of faith are being undermined.
Charles Swindoll mentions four kinds of commitment that man should keep: his commitment to God and his affairs-including the local church community; the commitment to the family; the commitment with other Christians; and finally, the commitment with non-believers. "People are practicing more and more the deadly sport of individualism. The lone rangers grow, "says Swindoll.
Despite the clear exceptions that exist, of course, people tend to make increasingly brief and superficial commitments. There are ecclesiastical communities in which leaders are overwhelmed with work precisely because of the scarcity of people committed to their service. Uncles who do not know their nephews, simply because the brothers despite living so close physically, never lived so far away from each other. Christians "islands" who attend the services and feel so uncomfortable and so poorly cared for in the churches that as soon as the service ends, they literally "disappear". And finally, people in the community where they live, not only do people not know they are Christians ... they do not even know them!
God's army needs believers COMMITTED to the purposes and affairs of their Supreme Commander. People who with passion and faith in Our Lord stand up in service to their community and family ... that being "salt of the earth", "light of the world" is your commitment today and each of the days of your life.
"But I fear that, just as the serpent deceived Eve with his cunning, your thoughts are diverted from a pure and sincere commitment to Christ."
(2 Corinthians 11: 3 NIV)
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