I write from the midst of 2016 American culture. Strife, fear, distrust, anxiety, anger, resentment, angst, cynicism, and dread abound. Racism (which by-the-way no race has a lock on), economics, and politics separate us in an unbelievable way. We as Christians ought to take a long hard look at ourselves and our proclamation of the gospel. Persons self-identifying in ways that do not match biology is a problem but there is a much bigger problem related to self-identifying. If the majority of those self-identifying as Christians really were Christians, many if not most of our problems would fade into insignificance. Real Christians simply do not behave in ways that we see all around us. Many persons who think they are Christians really have no idea what being a Christian entails.
Isaiah 50:10-11 speaks to this issue, “Who is among you that fears the Lord, That obeys the voice of His servant, That walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God. 11 Behold, all you who kindle a fire, Who encircle yourselves with firebrands, Walk in the light of your fire And among the brands you have set ablaze. This you will have from My hand: You will lie down in torment.” (NASU) Isaiah uses a rhetorical question to point out that anyone who fears and obeys the Lord will not walk in darkness. One does not have to look long or far to see many who claim to be Christian who are walking in darkness. The reason is that they neither fear God nor do they obey Him. Isaiah goes on to describe these fakers as trying to make their own light and walk by it. God makes a dramatic statement to them: “This you will have from My hand: You will lie down in torment.” That ought to be frightening to us. There are many reasons why our gospel presentations have been lacking but in the limited space I have here, I would like to focus on what Isaiah focused on in verse 10: fear of the Lord as evidenced by obedience.
Jesus had much to say about obedience. In Matthew 7:21 Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.” (NASU) He immediately illustrated that verse with the wise builder who built on the rock instead of sand. Jesus said the wise builder was wise because he obeyed what Jesus commanded. In John 14:21 Jesus said, “He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.” (NASU) This same thought is repeated several times in this same passage (14:15, 21, 23; 15:10, 14) Furthermore, John repeated it a couple of times in his epistles as well. It is imperative that Christians keep Jesus commands. In fact, the Bible indicates that failure to obey the Lord is very clear evidence that one is not a Christian.
Perhaps in proclaiming the gospel, we have failed to go beyond the marvelous fact that God loves people. It seems that those who self-identify as Christians either do not know that they are required to obey the Lord or they have no idea what the Lord has commanded. I suspect that the answer is both. We have failed to teach or they have failed to listen to the whole counsel of God. Walking by our own “firebrands” is walking in darkness.
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