HEALTHY CHURCH: Silent But Deadly

         You have choices to make every single day. Yes, some things are out of your control, but there are things you can control by your choices. Will I pray? Will I read my Bible? Will I forgive?

      At the end of Joshua’s life, he said to Israel, “Choose you this day whom ye will serve” (Josh. 24:15). Caleb was a contemporary of Joshua, and these two men chose to believe God meant what He said. Out of the 12 spies, they were the only 2 who said to move forward in obeying God’s direction. In Numbers 13:30, Caleb quieted the people and said, “Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.”

      In Experiencing God Day by Day, Henry and Richard Blackaby stated, “Caleb’s faith in God never wavered, though everyone around him doubted.” Ten spies persuaded the people not to believe and disobey God. Caleb paid the price of their choosing to disobey God — he waited 40 years to enter the promised land. The Blackaby’s continued, “Even after all those years, Caleb was as confident as ever in God’s power.” When dividing up the land, Caleb said, “I want that mountain,” and that was where the Anakim lived (Josh. 14:12). Caleb was not intimidated by their presence but instead chose a situation where he would have to trust God again.

      There is a quote that says “Choose your hard.” While I know you could break it down and challenge some of its statements, it reminds me that there will always be hard and difficult choices in life. “Marriage is hard. Divorce is hard. Choose your hard. Obesity is hard. Being fit is hard. Choose your hard. Being in debt is hard. Being financially disciplined is hard. Choose your hard. Starting a business is hard. Working 9 to 5 is hard. Choose your hard. Communication is hard. Not communicating is hard. Choose your hard. Life will never be easy. It will always be hard. But we can choose our hard. Choose wisely.”

      Let’s look at this from a biblical perspective. Obeying God will be hard and difficult at times, but disobeying, especially the end result, is harder. Forgiveness can be very hard but once again, the end result, bitterness, is harder. Rejoicing when someone else is blessed with something you wish you had received can be hard, but envy eating you up on the inside is much harder. Prayer at times is hard but a lack of prayer in your life is much harder. Faithfulness to God’s Word can be very hard when no one else seems to agree, but walking away from truth is much harder when all is said and done. You must choose your hard.

      We stated this before but what the Blackabys said about Caleb as an example of making the right choices is worth repeating: “If you always choose the easy way, asking for the peaceful valleys, you will never see God’s power displayed to enable you to take the mountain.” The path of least resistance is not always the correct path. The lack of opposition does not guarantee you are on the right track; just ask Nehemiah (need I mention Sanballat and Tobiah). Sometimes, opposition means you are exactly on the godly path He has called you to journey on, and Jesus Himself is confirmation of this truth.

      Some choices are obvious. There are other choices that should be obvious but for some reason we make them more difficult than they should be. Then there are the choices, on the inside, that no one else knows about except God, that are more challenging. They are far more subtle, but they can be far more devastating. II Corinthians 11:3 explains this to us, “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” Subtilty can literally be translated as craftiness by which the enemy deceives our minds to lead us astray as he did Eve.

      These subtle sins are usually pretty silent, but if left to themselves, they are quite deadly. That is why Scripture warns us about envy, jealousy, the root of bitterness and thinking more highly of yourself than you should think. Jesus, when addressing the religious crowd of His day, referred to the “leaven” of the Pharisees and Sadducees, stating that their teaching would eventually corrupt many. Mike Fabarez, in Envy: A Big Problem You Didn’t Know You Had,said, “This ‘leaven,’ if left unchecked, will inevitably creep into every aspect of a person’s motives and grow into the rivalries and hostilities that are rightly defined as envy.”

      When speaking of the silent enemy of envy, Mike stated, “Even if it is never given full vent in some damaging action, it is always doing damage in us. It not only warps our thinking, but it also corrupts our affections. It decimates our peace and degrades our ability to value what is good and steals our opportunities to live truly productive lives.” There is definitely an internal cost to be paid because envy leads to hatred, malice, anger, spiritual frustration, a lack of joy and a lack of peace. That may be one of the reasons that as you get older and mature in life, one of our greatest challenges is fighting against becoming cynical and always critical.

      At 85, Scripture says Caleb was still as strong on the day he asked for the mountain as he was the day Moses sent him into battle. Caleb stated, “If so be (perhaps) the Lord will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the Lord said.” Caleb chose not to be cynical regardless of how many people had let him down. He chose to believe God meant what He said when He said it. The cure? “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (II Cor. 10:5). I know, that’s hard. Well, choose your hard!