Southside Baptist Church, Athens, AL

As you have probably figured out by now, I'm taking a look at several different definitions of our theme-word for the 2009-2010 ministry year-- ENGAGE! The third definition is:

en·gage - to come together and interlock

Being somewhat mechanically inclined, when I hear this definition I think of the relationship gears have to one another like a starter to a flywheel or a chain to the cogs of a bicycle.  By this, I am reminded of the importance of the interlocking relationships members must have with one another in the context of a covenant community like our church.  We must be actively engaging with one another which is what we call Membership Ministries.  Like what I discussed earlier regarding evangelism, this must occur more and more off campus as we share life together. The new Testament church shared meals in homes, and so ought we.  In addition to just meals, however, we should share family concerns, share family activities, share family life.  By doing so we become engaged such that we work together in day-to-day struggles, rejoice together in day-to-day joys, grow together in day-to-day circumstances.  Now, this is counter to our culture.  Privacy seems to be the prevailing concern in our day.  Over the years houses  may have gotten closer, but porches have moved from the front to the back; fences have gone from 4-foot white picket fences to 6-foot privacy fences.  These architectural features are mere symptoms that reveal a deep desire for more and more privacy.  This level of privacy among church members is devastating to healthy, covenant relationships.  To overcome these cultural tendencies, we must engage with one another on deeper relational levels for the purpose of mutually stimulating one another toward love and good deeds.  A church in which the members are not engaged in this way is like a car in neutral or a bicycle with no chain; you burn a lot of fuel and energy, and its easy to get the RPMs up real high, but absolutely no progress is ever made toward accomplishing any goals.