Most Unpleasing
Parables such as the virgins with their oil lamps (Matthew 25), the worthless servant (Matthew 25) and the great banquet (Matthew 22) should help us to understand that this whole Christian thing is serious business. From these and other scriptures we must be fully aware it takes more than a passing glimpse of the cross to receive the gift of salvation. However, it seems that the prevailing sentiment within the Christian community is that a glimpse of the cross is all one needs to be saved.
In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul gives us some insight into his position on the subject of salvation and living a life honoring to God. In the 10th chapter of the letter Paul talks about the great Exodus from Egypt under Moses. “All our fathers were under the cloud” (the cloud being the presence of God directing them), “all passed through the sea” (the Red Sea when God miraculously split it in two and allowed the Israelites to walk on dry ground, escaping Pharaoh and his chariots), “all ate the same spiritual food” (that would be the Manna that appeared on the ground, sent from heaven each and every morning) and “all drank the same spiritual drink” (the water that flowed forth miraculously from the inside of the rock). All of the Israelites experienced these amazing acts of God’s deliverance and providence, but Paul goes on to say “Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased” (emphasis added).
Most is defined as a majority. In other words, if you have 100 of anything, most of it would be greater than 50 of it. So God, the One who delivered the Israelites out of Egypt with many supernatural events, was not even “pleased” with over 50% of the people He delivered.
Let’s apply this same scenario with relative proportion to the current day church. The estimated population of the worldwide Christian church is 2 billion. So if the church were considered as the Israelites in Paul’s example, there would be at least 1 billion people who were unpleasing to God currently in the church. For a group of people who call themselves followers of Christ that is an astonishing number, and is likely low. After all ½ is not most and 1 billion is only ½ of 2 billion. Of course that is only including the current day church. How about the church through the millennia? Billions upon billions of people have worn the label Christian and may have been unpleasing to God.
Yes. Grace does matter! I understand that the Israelites did not live in our so-called “time of grace”. It’s not like God showed grace on the Israelites by freeing them from slavery in a nation that was set on their destruction. God did not show grace to the Jews in altering the physical nature of the earth to make a way for them in the desert. While God and Moses were on the mountain discussing the commandments that would keep mankind from destroying themselves, the Israelite nation made an idol of gold and had a straight up hoedown worshipping the thing. The fact that God did not absolutely wipe them from the face of the earth had nothing to do with grace. No, God did not show grace to them at all.
Seriously, God has always been full of grace. But Jesus put a face to that grace and showed us the way. And I will be the first to admit that today we enjoy a relationship with God that is absolutely upgraded when compared to the pre Jesus Christ years. The Son of God added a truly human aspect to our relationship with God through His humility and sacrifice. But did Jesus change God?
Let’s be sold out for God, unwavering in our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Evidently, Paul did not think so. He states in verse 6 of this same letter, “Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did.” Paul understood that man did not change and that God’s holiness would not change. Yes, we have the covering of Jesus’ perfect sacrifice, but that does not alleviate the Christian from the responsibility of putting aside that which is evil.
Ah, but what did those Jews do in the desert? Well, they worshipped an idol, an idol similar to those found in the country they just left. That may be likened to a Christian of today continuing to engage in and worship the culture that they were called out of, to seek after and value the standards raised by the world around them, to practice in the ways of a society that is in opposition to God. Could be like that. Those Israelites also grumbled against Moses, and ultimately God, about the way they were being led. They did not trust God or his appointed leader. That really doesn’t happen today, right? They even decided that they could handle the job better than God, so they mutinied. Bad idea. This is certainly not something that we Christians do today. I mean, some might propose that the action of not trusting God with your future, seeking to control your destiny, or even the “prosperity”, “self help” doctrine of today’s western church is like the grumbling Jews of the Exodus. But that would be narrow thinking, right?
Then there was the big one. The proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back. The Israelites feared man. When it came time to accomplish what God desired, that group decided those giants in the land were greater than the God who had delivered them. It seems astonishing to us as we look at it in the historical account, but is there no correlation between what we see in them and what we see in ourselves? Are we that much more ready to take on all that God puts in front of us? I think Paul would have said we are more like those Jewish fathers than we would hope. This is exactly the reason why God gave us the example.
So now what? For generation after generation God has reached out. He has searched hearts and looked upon the most inner workings of people’s souls. God has sought those who will abide in Him, who will trust Him with all they are. He has most certainly found people who are sold out to Him, who will overlook all that the world has to offer for a closer relationship with their God. He has definitely found His children among His creation. But God Almighty has also found those who speak words that convey a relationship with God, while their lives portray something entirely different. Even though they were established in God’s Word and raised up according to the precepts given by the Creator, these people have turned their backs on what they have known, their first love. Now they are Christian in name only and as it was with the Jewish fathers in the desert, God is “not pleased”.
If you are one who speaks a good message but lives a poor life in Christ, I encourage you to drop the pretense, get serious with God and change your direction. The Jewish fathers never lived in the promised land. They never experienced God’s ultimate promise for His people. But more importantly, and more tragically, they never truly loved God nor experienced communion with Him. Do not miss out on such an amazing treasure!