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Judges 2:10
So yesterday we talked about how the nation of Israel had gone into the cycle of Sin. How God would raise up a judge who would deliver them, and while that judge remained alive the people would serve God. Once the judge died, everyone forgot and did what they saw fit for their own lives. You know there’s a lot of that going around today in our society.
Judges 2:10 (NIV) After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel.
In one of the places that Bobbi and I served as lay-leaders in the church, we encountered grown adults who had not Been brought up in church. And so they endeavored, to teach a Sunday School class, and a small group, basic Bible stories for adults.
I thought it was a great idea. These people had brought their teens and children to our youth program or VBS and to Sunday School, or had been invited to come by another adult. And we found out they had never experienced church like those of us who grew up in church did. So this is what the teachers did. They did VBS and 5 Day Club and Sunday School just like when I was younger. There were flannelgraphs and the large picture story books, and craft time was a hilarious.
You know this is kind of like the story of Israel. They started out strong, but when they encountered resistance they gave up and just made do. Instead of driving the people out of the land, they kept compromising and even incorporated some of their gods into the worship of the people. Of course, God is not pleased with the Israelite’s compromise of his will. And in the book of Judges we see the full effects of half-hearted devotion.
Half-hearted devotion leads to an entire generation who does not know God. Here is what happened, and what I believe is and has happened today in our society. When one generation compromises their faith – and I’m not talking about method or logistics – I’m talking about what you believe in your heart. What is in our hearts drives our actions. When someone is angry and they speak words they would like to take back, they have spoken out of anger. Or maybe it’s the opposite, where someone speaks out of deep love for someone and the words bring great healing and peace to a troubled soul. That is our actions coming from what we believe inside – our faith.
So when a generation compromises what they believe about God, they concede elements of their faith to unbelief and tell God they think He is wrong. It isn’t very surprising when the next generation ceases to care about God or the faith of their fathers.
What we have here is a generation that has been given a compromised faith. They know a bit about God, but they don’t know Him or the stories of His deliverance. They have not experienced God in their lives. They see obedience as optional and are much more willing to entertain sinful ways of living.
So here’s my question for you to think about today. Are you seeking God’s face, and practicing your faith in a way that is a testimony to those around you? Or, is your faith half-hearted?