Have you ever pretended to think one thing while really believing something else? At one time or another most of us have tacitly agreed with a persuasive person simply by failing to disagree. Or we've looked the other way or nodded knowingly while a red flag went up in our minds. It's a difficult and even dangerous balancing act attempting to please people on both sides of a controversial fence. The only way to avoid such a position is to decide which side of the fence really matters...and then get down from the fence and take a stand.
While reading 1 Kings 18...we hear of the prophet Elijah...who really was an amazing man. He found himself among men who were setting the standards for Israel...that honestly weren't always great standards. And because of this low standard, the people had nothing to rise up to.
The prophet Elijah confronted the people of his day and demanded they choose whom they would serve - the true God of Israel or the false gods of the pagan nations surrounding them. He dared them...might as well have been a triple dog dare, "Get off the fence! You can't have it both ways. Either live your lives in a way that is pleasing to the one God...or not."
Elijah went before the people and said, "How long will you waiver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him, but if Baal is God, follow him..." 1 Kings 18:21
Most of us have never been put in a position in which we had to choose between worshiping the true God or bowing down to statues made of wood. Yet we often find ourselves tempted to try that balancing act while living in a spiritually and morally bankrupt culture. We compromise our lifestyles, going to places or doing things we really know we shouldn't. We justify our behavior by saying we don't want to offend anyone. Or we neglect to say the things we know we should and then excuse ourselves by saying we will let our faith be seen in our actions rather than heard in our words. At times these may be legitimate claims, but at other times they may be nothing more than convenient excuses so we don't have to risk rejection. Because that's what we're really afraid of. Rejection.
Elijah wasn't concerned with rejection when he challenged the false prophets and called the people to serve the true God. He put it all on the line - even his life. The prophet refused to compromise or put himself in the precarious position of riding the fence, as a result, God vindicated him in the sight of his enemies. He was caught in the act of standing up for God.
Caught in the act. Elijah was caught in the act of standing up for God. What have you made a priority in your life? What are you worshiping? How is He trying to turn your heart?
What is He catching you in the act doing?
This post was very convicting, and went hand in hand with the conviction I felt listening to Pastor Kurt today about "Whose rules are you really following, and what's the real reason you're following them?"
ReplyDeleteGod has patiently and lovingly let me stay on the right side of the fence, but for all the wrong reasons, for a long time. I am so excited to begin to experience a real heart change. I can feel as I walk with God that I have a growing desire to hash out exactly whose side I'm on, and what living that out really looks like and requires.
It's making me face a lot of garbarge in my heart that I used to deny was there, and how I act on tempations more often that I'd like to admit.
But I am FINALLY getting it that I can't charm my way out sin with God. He doesn't care how many rules I can outwardly follow, or how sincerely I can pretend I was innocent in any given situation. God caught me in the act of trying to balance living in both worlds and always playing the innocent little victim when it blows up in my face. For once in my life, I don't feel like a failure about that, I feel excited to know the door is wide open for God to come in and do a much needed makeover on my heart. And with that, hopefully a shift from mindless guilt driven rule following, to truly desiring what God wants for me because I love and respect Him, and he loves me completely, will follow.