Many Christians today seem to be suffering from some sort of malaise. Although they attend Church often giving self-sacrificially of their time and resources to ‘good causes’, in their quiet moments they are often secretly frustrated at the lack of depth and conviction they find in their hearts. Worse yet are ‘Christians’ who attend Church, or not, claim the name of Christ, and yet are indifferent to the Name they bear and its requirement upon their lives.
Before you turn away in irritation, let me assure you, this is not headed in a ‘down on the other guy’ or ‘I am better than you’ or even ‘this Church (or denomination) is better than that one’ direction. The point, my friend, is many Christians, across the board, seem to be suffering from a form of indifference to one degree or another. The questions is, Why?
I am convinced, at least in large part, our general attitude can be tied directly to our knowledge of and attachment to Scriptural truth. In other words, to the degree we understand who ‘we’ are and who our ‘God’ is, to the degree we understand the depth of our sin and the incredible mercy we have been shown - to this degree only will we find ourselves committed and on fire for Christianity and all it stands for. Consider this:
“I know not why God’s wondrous grace
To me He hath made known,
Nor why, unworthy, Christ in love
Redeemed me for His own.
I know not how this saving faith
To me He did impart,
Nor how believing in His Word
Wrought peace within my heart.
I know not how the Spirit moves,
Convincing us of sin,
Revealing Jesus through the Word,
Creating faith in Him
I know not what of good or ill
May be reserved for me,
Of weary ways or golden days,
Before His face I see.
I know not when my Lord may come,
At night or noonday fair,
Nor if I walk the vale with Him,
Or meet Him in the air.
But I know Whom I have believed,
And am persuaded that He is able
To keep that which I’ve committed
Unto Him against that day.”
~ Daniel Whittle (1883)
Do these words sound familiar? They are from an old hymn rarely sung in Church today. Maybe we should sing it more and think about what this author is saying.
Obviously Mr. Whittle was confident in one thing - he knew his God. He was confident in God to save him and to keep him - in righteousness (verses one through three), through life (verse four), and to the end (verse five). The chorus tells us the foundation of his confidence, “I know Whom I have believed.”
Whether in times past or times present, it is the Christians who know their God who will be equipped to do great things for Him. Today many Christians have chosen to keep their knowledge either non-existent or shallow because they have adopted the modern mantra, ‘No creed by Christ’.
This may sound deep and Godly and Biblical, but it has resulted in many shallow Christians who know very little about their God. However, the cure is a return to something considered dry, dusty, and dreary today - doctrine!
What is doctrine? Doctrine is ‘teaching’. For the Christian, doctrine is Scriptural teaching - all of Scripture. Theology - the study of God and Christology - the study of Christ are two doctrinal threads running through Scripture. However, if we never dig deep, if we never wrestle with the harder to understand passages, if we never ask ourselves the hard questions and demand from ourselves the answers, how can we expect to be effective lights in a dark world?
We really shouldn’t be surprised. The writer of Hebrews reprimanded his readers two thousand years ago for falling victim to the same indifference. We are still babes needing milk. And, like the Hebrew Christians, we are not able to be effective on our world. For, how can we really trust in Someone we do not know? How can we imitate Someone we do not begin to comprehend? How can we share with others Someone we cannot begin to grasp ourselves?
Perhaps the most dangerous result of our spiritual indifference is our incredible vulnerability to the wiles of our enemy, the devil. The Hebrew Christians were warned about this same thing. The writer told them they could not well discern good and evil. As Christians this should have our knees shaking in fear. If we cannot tell the good from the evil, how do we really know if what we are being told, what we are reading, what we are teaching our children, is good or bad?
May we commit ourselves to correcting this problem, at least in our own lives. As Christians we should spend time daily in the Scriptures, digging for understanding. We need to meditate on the words we read. We need to pray fervently for God to breathe upon our hearts and enlighten our minds. We need to commit Scripture to memory. And, we need to seek wise teachers to further open the Scriptures to our understanding.
Does this sound like too much work, too much time? Let us hope not, for if it does, that implies some pretty harsh things about our Christian walk. At the very least, it suggests we are not committed to Christ!
Father in heaven, You have shown us great mercy. You have given us Your Word. You have sent us teachers. However, too often we seek those who ‘tickle our ears’ and tell us what we want to hear, not what we need to hear. Convict us, dear Lord. Turn the hearts of Your people back to You and Your Word. Teach us. Convince us of sin. Work in us righteousness. Then send us, dear Lord, as lights into a dark world that Your Name may be glorified through our lives.
