The Double Minded Christian

TEXT: James 1:5-8 (NLT)

"If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do."

DEFINITION

A double minded person is one whose mind is split between two opinions and undecided on the choice to make. A double minded Christian is a believer that is harbouring doubts about his/her Christian faith and hovering between righteousness and the pleasures of sin.

The Bible says a lot about the double minded, but we will illustrate this with three classic examples:

A CHRISTIAN WITH DIVIDED LOYALTY

James 1:5-8 (text)

The Apostle James likens the double minded Christian to an unsettled wave of the sea, blown and tossed about by the wind. Somebody whose loyalty is divided between God and the world, unstable in faith with one leg in the church and the other enjoying the pleasures of the world. A double minded Christian is a chronic doubter whose faith is not wholly on God. One who is easily tossed to and fro and blown about with every wind of doctrines or new teachings that arise from false teachers and prophets (Eph 4:14). Jesus in his letters to the seven churches in Asia pointed out that some were practising false doctrines of Jezebel, Balaam and the Nicolaitanes. These were double minded Christians swayed by worldly doctrines. There are still many of them in the church today.

A CHRISTIAN WHO WALKS MORE BY SIGHT AND LESS OF FAITH

1 Kings 18:21-24

Elijah confronted the children of Israel on Mount Carmel concerning their double mindedness: "Then Elijah stood in front of them and said, 'How much longer will you waver, hobbling between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him! But if Baal is God, then follow him!' But the people were completely silent" (1 Kings 18:21 NLT). The deafening silence that greeted Elijah's statement speaks volume. Double minded believers are like people at a crossroad, undecided on where to go. When Elijah proposed a contest between God and Baal, their response was: "What you say is good” (1 King 18:24 NIV). They found their voice when it came to testing God. Double minded Christians want God to prove himself before they can fully believe or commit to him. They walk by sight and not by faith contrary to what the Bible says in 1 Cor 5:7: "For we walk by faith, not by sight." Jesus told Satan, "It is also written. Do not put the Lord your God to the test” (4:7 NIV). God has proven himself to man over and over again, but we still doubt him. Many Christians have tasted and seen the power of God, but continue to seek dilly dally about their faith. "And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent" (Acts 17:30). It is time to repent.

A CHRISTIAN WITH PARTIAL COMMITTMENT TO CHRIST

Luke 16:13-15 (NLT)

Jesus himself also warned his listeners about being double minded in Matt 6:24 (NLT) saying: "No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money." A double minded Christian is one that is not fully committed to the master. Like Demas and Judas, they love the pleasures of the world more than the owner of the world. "Demas has deserted me because he loves the things of this life..." (1 Tim 4:10). They are like soldiers that desert their duty post. They are not ready to let go of the world and look solely unto Jesus, the author and finisher of their faith. You cannot eat your cake and have it.

COME OUT FROM AMONG THEM

Are you double minded? Are you still halting between two opinions? Are you serving two masters at the same time? The Lord is calling you today to fully trust in him. You cannot be trusting God for something and visiting the altars of idols. 2 Cor 6:17 says: "Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you."

The double minded Christian cannot receive anything from God because, "...it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him" (Heb 11:6). Are you sincere in your service to God?