"Keep all the promises you make to him (God). It is better to say nothing than to promise something that you don't follow through on..."
"And don't defend yourself by telling the Temple messenger that the promise you made was a mistake. That would make God angry, and he might wipe out everything you have achieved."
-Ecc. 5: 4b-6
As I read these verses the other day I began to think about the Soldiers Covenant within The Salvation Army. I have heard the talk before saying-- "I was too young to know what I was doing..." "I was pressured into signing it..." and after reading these verses I know just what I think about that--- complete crap.
When you make a promise to God you make a promise to God and you keep that promise. A covenant is a serious promise-- the Soldiers Covenant is a serious promise to God that you need to keep... because you made it in the first place-- no mistakes, you made that promise. No "telling the Temple messenger that the promise you made was a mistake. That would make God angry, and he might wipe out everything you have achieved."
And we don't want that now do we--
Making a promise to God needs to be taken seriously-- not that he is a completely angry God-- he is fully of compassion and mercy.. BUT that doesn't mean you can go on sinning and ask forgiveness over and over.
Yeah, those are my thoughts. What are yours?
Deep Peace.
5 comments:
Great blogging, Jenn! I have loads of thoughts and questions in this area, especially the argument people often give about being too young to know what they were doing.
I agree that a covenant made to God is final...no excuses. I was actually thinking about this just last night, as we spoke with our Corps Officers about Gabriel's Dedication. The Officers were really helpful in providing info about the process and one thing that stuck with me is that Gabriel is a passive participant in the process. I don't want to over-simplify the dedication ceremony, but they suggested that the ceremony is mostly a dedication of the parents in their promise to bring the child up in a God-honouring way. Obviously, the dedication of Gabriel himself is significant, but he can't be held accountable to our promises. Well, not yet...right?
So here's my question (and I should add that I remain undecided on the answer), but at what age does a child become accountable for their own promises? We need to teach children to love and revere God and to honour their promises to Him, even at an early age, but is it dangerous to encourage children to make promises that they may be incapable of fully grasping? (That's a loaded question, I know, but hopefully you see what I mean).
Is it possible that by allowing a child to make a promise that they aren't fully able to grasp, we could cause them to stumble or worse, to sin? My first thought is that children are more capable of grasping the depth of their decisions than we give them credit for.
However, I've also heard fourteen, thirteen and even twelve year olds say that they're ready to take their relationship with their boyfriend or girlfriend to the "next level" and are prepared for the potential consequences. Are they really? (Loaded question again! ...sorry!). I don't hesitate to make a decision on that issue and discourage that step, and yet for an even bigger commitment (a promise to God), I tend to sway towards encouraging that step.
We (as adults) can discern that a promise to God is a good thing and under-age sex is a bad thing, that much is obvious, but if our reasoning for our decision is that these "children" are too young to make a rational decision based on undeveloped emotional and mental state, then couldn't that same logic apply to some covenants?
I'm not talking about excuses for breaking a covenant and I'm not advocating for holding people back from entering into a covenant. I'm just throwing some thoughts and questions into the mix, regarding our role as adults and leaders, and our responsibility and accountability for our children, particularly BEFORE they enter a covenant with the Most High God!
This is a great debate. I really look forward to receiving more wisdom on this from anyone else reading Jenn's blog!
I just want to add that I'm convinced that no matter what we believe about covenants, God isn't in the business of legalism, He's in the business of GRACE!
(Sorry for the long comment!)
hey kid!
remmeber when we got enrolled together! makes me smile thinking about it. i am way more excited/thankful/glad/proud that i made that promise to God now then i was when i first did it. Looking back i dont think i really knew how big promises was, and what i really was promiseing persay. I knew sum, i guess it was enough for then. But since then God has taught me more about it, and i defenetly don't think it as a mistake or anything, it was a good time, and i can't change my mind, and wouldnt want to. sooo cool stuff.
Thanks guys for your comments..
Okay then, Ryan..
I think that the whole Senior Soldiers Covenant within the Army can be signed when you are 16, I think..
To me that seems a bit too young. I would almost like to say that it should be 18, when you are considered an Adult and capable of making choices for yourself-- knowing right from wrong. That seems reasonable to me..
Yet I don't want to seem like I would discourage some one younger than 18 from signing the Covenant-- if they feel God bringing them to that place right on.. I just think that there needs to be some one around who can make it really clear to them what a covenant between then and the Living God really is. Because a lot of the time I think that is left out-- this point I believe needs to be emphasized more than others. Your Promise is your Promise-- keep it.
As for younger kids-- they are still learning right from wrong.. so I think if they come up with the idea of making a promise to God, right on-- rather than try to push something down their throats-- that could cause them to sin in the long run in some cases.
SO yes, those are my thoughts at the moment.
DEEP PEACE.
I totally agree with you, Jenn. In England, you can become a Senior Soldier at 14 years old (at least that's how it used to be, I'm not so sure now), which does seem a bit young to me. 18 years old seems like a good idea.
Teaching people about the depth and significance of a promise to God is huge, whatever their age. It does seem that leaders sometimes skip over that teaching and sway towards encouraging anyone who fits the demographic to sign up. I also agree that some people will be ready to understand their decision at an earlier age than others.
So much to think about!
Wasn't the age of "adulthood" for the Israelites around 12 (still the same today I believe- their bar/bat-mitzvah)? What's changed so much about our culture that we "had" to push it up to 18? Hmm.
I've always heard the traditional age of accountability is 6; when a person is responsible for their own actions before God relating to their own salvation.
I believe each person should be treated individually- in other ways besides covenant-making accountability. Some are capable of an early commitment, others are not. The leadership and greater Church body should be involved in deciding who is ready and who is not.
Certainly this is a HUGE decision and should be treated as such. I am against just making a person a Senior Soldier just because they "hit" the age allowed (or have been coming to the corps for awhile either). They should show evidence of their understanding what they are doing and true commitment to God.
On the other hand, if a person DID make the commitment before they were really capable of sticking with it (and only God knows for sure), God gives grace- as with ALL things in our lives. Whew! Good thing!
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