The Pendulum

If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do. James1:5-8NIV

A double-minded person is unreliable, unhelpful, or as James puts it, ‘unstable’. Jesus’ half brother links that unstable mind to doubt, and warns that they should not expect God to work on their behalf. It would be a sad curse indeed if we could not expect to receive anything from the Lord because we doubted that He was capable of help.

In the same way, a pendulum will swing from one side to the other, never finding the truth in the middle, or rest long enough to sense or feel it. When the pendulum in my living room clock stops swinging, the clock stops too and becomes useless. Who needs a clock that doesn’t tell the time?

I am old enough to remember society having a set of moral and ethical values which were considered as ‘normal’. It wasn’t that we walked around with a set of rules in our pockets, we seemed to be wise enough to know right from wrong. Fast forward a short two generations, and that pendulum has swung to the other extreme. We are double-minded and unstable, but the leadership of our western civilised nations don’t, or can’t, see it. Surely we have been here before though?

It has been said, correctly I think, that “the one thing we learn from history is that we don’t learn from history”. Cast your mind back to your high school history lessons and ask yourself what came just before the fall of every great nation, country, or civilisation? In every case, the moral compass of the people collapsed into a level of evil and debased living which was not accepted or practiced previously. The pendulum had indeed swung, and the populations in general had become double-minded and unstable.

I hope, trust, and pray that the pendulum of our nation’s sinful practices has reached its extreme, and will soon start the return swing back towards the God fearing country we once knew. As christians we know that God hates double minded people, but loves it when we follow His law. Lord, help us to be single minded with our focus on You.

I hate double-minded people, but I love your law. Psalms119:113NIV

Discernment With Love

We can always do the ‘discernment’ bit and sometimes all too easily, but what about the ‘love’ part? In the world we are encouraged to ‘give the benefit of the doubt’ and I agree with that sentiment. Our laws even bear this out because we are ‘innocent until proven guilty’. Why then do we as Christians have a problem when we deal with others in the church?

The more we read the Bible as the Word of God, the more we realise how little we know or understand. The truth is, at the start of our faith journey, sometimes we have it all together, and know all the answers. Oh we don’t say that, but we act like it. I suppose it is easier to stand on top of the moral high ground and point down, than it is to get down with the same folks we criticise and be the Godly example they might need and want to see.

Discernment is a God given gift of the Spirit, not given to all, and should not be used lightly or abused. Worse still it should not be practiced by someone who has not been granted that gift directly from God. On the other side of the coin we have love, and let’s face it, we are all encouraged and able to show love. Love to other Christians and those we like to be around, but also to those we don’t like, and wouldn’t have as a friend normally. So, which is better? To show a misplaced knowledge of discernment, or to show love to all of God’s creation? The moral of this is that it isn’t always right or good to take the easy option.

….for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. Hebrews 5:13,14

….bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Colossians 3:13-15