WARNING! STRADDLING CAN BE HAZARDOUS TO YOUR HEALTH!
I KINGS 18:17-21
INTRODUCTION: A woman getting onto a sky lift was given instructions that the moment the lift’s chair touched her backside she was to sit down and lift her feet from off the ground. Instead when the chair came against her she sat down but was nervous about the height of the lift. Her hesitation caused her to keep her feet firmly planted on the platform. She wanted to see the magnificent view from the top of the lift but also wanted to be firmly attached to the ground. With her feet on the platform, the seat began to wind back and then like a slingshot hurled her off the platform causing severe injury to her legs and back. Indecision is a dangerous thing. Straddling between two positions can be hazardous to your health.
Throughout the Bible, we have recorded the stories of people choosing between faith in God and faith in something else. In the passage that we have read this morning, King Ahab and his wicked wife, Jezebel had turned Israel Baal worship. God sent Israel three years of drought and famine. They called upon Jehovah to deliver them, but continued to worship Baal. On top of Mt. Carmel, Elijah confronts Israel for their teeter tottering between a commitment to God and a life yielded to a false deity. He calls them to move off center and to decide whom they will serve. Just as in Elijah’s day, there are many that are uncommitted and unaware that their indecisive straddling is hazardous to their spiritual health. There is a fable of a hungry ass that was put between two bundles of hay. It looked at the one, then at the other, and could not decide which to eat first, till it died of starvation. Just about as stupid and foolish are those who halt between two opinions till they die in their sins. Let’s examine who are the uncommitted, what is the risks or dangers of being uncommitted, and the call to commitment.
I. The Uncommitted
A. Those who are under conviction - but are not convinced.
1. Acts 24:22-27 "And when Felix heard these things, having more perfect knowledge of that way, he deferred them, and said, When Lysias the chief captain shall come down, I will know the uttermost of your matter. And he commanded a centurion to keep Paul, and to let him have liberty, and that he should forbid none of his acquaintance to minister or come unto him. And after certain days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, which was a Jewess, he sent for Paul, and heard him concerning the faith in Christ. And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled, and answered, Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee. He hoped also that money should have been given him of Paul, that he might loose him: wherefore he sent for him the oftener, and communed with him. But after two years Porcius Festus came into Felix’ room: and Felix, willing to show the Jews a pleasure, left Paul bound."
2. Felix had a good understanding of Christianity. He knew enough about the Christians and their teachings of righteousness to know that Paul was telling him the truth. Yet he postponed or teeter-tottered about doing the right thing.
3. Repentance is always difficult, and that difficulty grows greater by delay.
B. Those who are spectators - attending church but not part of the church.
1. The New Testament knows nothing of solitary religion.
2. Acts 2:41-42 "Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers."
3. "Can I be a Christian without joining the church?"
Answer: Yes, it is as possible as being: A student who will not go to school. A soldier who will not join an army. A citizen who does not pay taxes or vote. A salesman with no customers. An explorer with no base camp. A seaman on a ship without a crew. A business man on a deserted island. An author without readers. A tuba player without an orchestra. A parent without a family. A football player without a team. A politician who is a hermit. A scientist who does not share his findings. A bee without a hive. (Robert G. Lee, SERMONIC LIBRARY, pp. 115-16.)
4. Many are interested in church but are not committed. - Art Turock, [Getting Physical (Doubleday)] made this distinction between interest and commitment. "There’s a difference between interest and commitment. When you are interested in doing something, you do it only when circumstances permit. When you’re committed to something, you accept no excuses, only results."
C. Those who are straddling between the world and God.
1. Luke 16:13 "No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon."
2. Hannah Whitall Smith in The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life. (Christianity Today, Vol. 32, no. 11.) - The standard of practical holy living has been so low among Christians that very often the person who tries to practice spiritual disciplines in everyday life is looked upon with disapproval by a large portion of the Church. And for the most part, the followers of Jesus Christ are satisfied with a life so conformed to the world, and so like it in almost every respect, that to a casual observer, there is no difference between the Christian and the pagan.
3. James 4:4 "Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God."
4. Luke 11:23 "He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathereth not with me scattereth."
II. The Dangers of Being Uncommitted
A. It is devastatingly destructive and can be deadly..
1. We know what happens to people who stay in the middle of the road. They get run over.
2. To the unbeliever indecision can cost eternity.
a. Evangelist Paul Rader had often urged a banker in New York State to receive Christ, but the man would not make the decision. One day the preacher sensed that God wanted him to go immediately and speak to him again. So, he took a train to the town where the man worked, hurried to the bank, and found his friend standing in the doorway. "Rader," he said, "I’m glad to see you! I wrote a telegram begging you to come, but later changed my mind and didn’t send it." "That’s all right," said the evangelist, "your message came through anyhow by way of heaven." Under deep conviction of sin, the banker was impressed by Rader’s earnestness and his special effort to reach him with the gospel, and within a few minutes, he accepted the Lord. In his newfound joy he exclaimed, "Did you ever see the sky so blue or the grass so green!" "Hallelujah, you’re truly converted!", came Rader’s response. "It’s just like the song says, ’Heaven above is softer blue, earth around is sweeter green, something lives in every hue Christless eyes have never seen." Suddenly the banker gave a strange gasp and fell over dead! He had been saved at the very brink of eternity. What if Paul Rader had delayed or failed to stress the banker’s urgent need of turning to the Lord immediately? What if the banker had procrastinated on the decision as he had in the past? That man would have been lost.
b. 2 Corinthians 6:2 "(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succored thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)"
3. To the believer indecision can be costly.
a. Latin proverb - Through indecision opportunity is often lost - opportunity for growth, fellowship, service, and reward.
b. A great conflict was about to come off between the Birds and the Beasts. When the two armies were collected together, the Bat hesitated which to join. The Birds that passed his perch said: "Come with us"; but he said: "I am a Beast." Later on, some Beasts who were passing underneath him looked up and said: "Come with us"; but he said: "I am a Bird." Luckily at the last moment, peace was made, and no battle took place, so the Bat came to the Birds and wished to join in the rejoicings, but they all turned against him and he had to fly away. He then went to the Beasts, but soon had to beat a retreat, or else they would have torn him to pieces. "Ah," said the Bat, "I see now, "He that is neither one thing nor the other has no friends." No one ever amounted to anything who was not willing to make a commitment.
c. In verse 21 of our text Elijah literally says, "How long will you limp between the two opinions." Indecision makes us lame.
d. Revelation 3:15-17 "I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou were cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:"
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B. It is repugnant to God
1. Revelation 3:16 "So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth."
2. James 4:4 "Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God."
C. It is highly contagious.
1. Indecision is debilitating; it feeds upon itself; it is, one might almost say, habit-forming. Not only that, but it is contagious; it transmits itself to others. (H. A. Hopf)
2. Your influence is negative or positive, never neutral.
3. Romans 14:7 "For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself."
III. The Call to Commitment
A. 1 Kings 18:21 "And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? If the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word."
B. George Barna, The Frog in the Kettle, (Ventura, CA: Regal Books, 1990, 35.) "Commitment is viewed negatively because it limits our ability to feel independent and free, to experience new things, to change our minds on the spur of the moment and to focus on self-gratification rather than helping others. People willingly make commitments only when the expected outcome exceeds what they must sacrifice as a result of that commitment."
C. The lamb was desperate. A huge wolf was on its heels and rapidly gaining ground. Seeing a temple nearby, the lamb made a quick decision and dashed through a narrow opening in the wall. The wolf, smiling a wicked smile, said, "You might as well come out; the priest will slay you if he catches you in there." The lamb thought for a moment and then replied, "I choose to stay here. It is better to be sacrificed to God than to be devoured by you." Satan devours all that are in bondage to him. God liberates those in His care. Which do you choose? - [Mark Sutton, "Sermon Illustrations" Proclaim, (January-March, 1997), 19]
D. Joshua 24:15 "And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."
E. Deuteronomy 30:19 "I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:"
