This article seeks to highlight the importance of obedience. Often times we only obey what we agree with. This is really not obedience. Obedience comes when we do not want to do what is commanded of us but we seek to submit ourselves to a proper authority and do it cheerfully. For example: My sons have no problem obeying me when I tell them to watch a movie on the internet, but they do have a problem obeying when I tell them it is time to go to bed. Obedience is most important when we are weak as individuals. The church is a covenant community. This is a community that stays together even when there is a fundamental disagreement. Instead of the church being organized by people of like mind, we are organized first by the call of God (as is Article 1) and the covenant made in baptism.
Obedience then, is our will conformed to Christ who has established the church as the sign and instrument of God's work in the world. In other words, obeying is most important when we find ourselves in disagreement. A radical modern individualism counters this understanding of obedience, suggesting that what is correct for us to do is what we think in our own minds is correct. But inherent in a Christian understanding of the world is a call to humility (we do not always know right and wrong on our own). As Thomas a' Kempis writes, "if we desire that God be among us, we must sometimes set aside our own will (though it seem good) so that we may have love and peace with others. Who is wise that he can fully know all things? No one, surely. Therefore, trust not too much in your own judgement, but gladly hear the advice of others." (The Imitation of Christ)
VIII. Obedience of the Church
"In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes."
(Judges 17:6)
In the Baptismal Covenant, church members promise to: renounce and resist evil in this world,
confess Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, be faithful to Christ's universal Church, be loyal to Christ in a particular church (denomination or communion), and participate actively in a congregation. (Most churches have baptismal vows that are similar to the above.)
We believe that faithful disciples of Jesus Christ, clergy and laity, are found in joyful obedience to Christ, in the Holy Spirit's power, through the church's Baptismal Covenant. A disciple's relationship with Jesus Christ is lived out in a covenantal relationship in the Body of Christ, the church.
We reject the assumption that Christian discipleship is basically disconnected from the church, practically devoid of discipline, and fundamentally shaped by individual preferences.
Obedience then, is our will conformed to Christ who has established the church as the sign and instrument of God's work in the world. In other words, obeying is most important when we find ourselves in disagreement. A radical modern individualism counters this understanding of obedience, suggesting that what is correct for us to do is what we think in our own minds is correct. But inherent in a Christian understanding of the world is a call to humility (we do not always know right and wrong on our own). As Thomas a' Kempis writes, "if we desire that God be among us, we must sometimes set aside our own will (though it seem good) so that we may have love and peace with others. Who is wise that he can fully know all things? No one, surely. Therefore, trust not too much in your own judgement, but gladly hear the advice of others." (The Imitation of Christ)
VIII. Obedience of the Church
"In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes."
(Judges 17:6)
In the Baptismal Covenant, church members promise to: renounce and resist evil in this world,
confess Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, be faithful to Christ's universal Church, be loyal to Christ in a particular church (denomination or communion), and participate actively in a congregation. (Most churches have baptismal vows that are similar to the above.)
We believe that faithful disciples of Jesus Christ, clergy and laity, are found in joyful obedience to Christ, in the Holy Spirit's power, through the church's Baptismal Covenant. A disciple's relationship with Jesus Christ is lived out in a covenantal relationship in the Body of Christ, the church.
We reject the assumption that Christian discipleship is basically disconnected from the church, practically devoid of discipline, and fundamentally shaped by individual preferences.
