It
would be
a blessing if we were able to see the end of a thing at its beginning. This
would be especially valuable regarding moral or ethical behavior. For
instance, if a person could see at the time he takes his first social drink
that he would end up being an alcoholic, he probably would gracefully
decline the drink. If he could see himself as the alcoholic losing his job,
abusing his wife and family, the break up of his home, the loss of his
self-respect and his respect in the community, the loss of his health,
perhaps committing a crime or killing someone in an auto accident - I say,
if he could see this as the end of the seemingly innocent social drink, he
would not imbibe. However, like so many other things, someone else is always
the alcoholic.
The same thing
could be said of numbers of other things. When a young person first
experiments with drugs, he does not think for a moment he might become a
drug crazed addict who commits crimes to support his addiction. The person
who sees something laying around that can so easily be picked up without
anyone knowing, does not consider himself becoming the common convicted and
imprisoned thief. If the married man, telling suggestive little jokes to the
girl in the office or on the job, could see ultimate adultery and divorce,
he would refrain. As I said, if we could only see the end of a thing at its
beginning, we would not make so many mistakes and get into the fixes in
which we often find ourselves.
But this is not
an article about moral issues as such. I intend it as an article on
spiritual concerns. I have been teaching a class on Wednesday night,
studying the book of Luke. We are now at that point where we have just
studied the betrayal of Jesus by Judas. We see him in company with the Lord
and the other apostles. Next we see him leading a mob through the darkness
of Gethsemane, coming to Jesus, betraying him with a sign of deep affection
- a kiss. I read this statement recently: "It is a sad little line that
tells us of Judas slipping away from holy company to betray his Lord. No
truer statement was every penned than the few words in
John 13:30:
Judas went out '...and it was night.' It was night and the darkest night of
Judas' life. What was the poor man thinking of? The Lord himself called him
a friend; surely Judas loved this wonderful man with whom he had companied
for 31/2 years. Was it the money? Was there some sort of personal notoriety
he longed for? I doubt that we can know the whole of it; only that he was
motivated by the Devil. But his night did not come suddenly. There is always
a certain twilight preceding such a dark hour" (Jerry Johnson, The Light
[Vol. 20, No. 2] pg. 15). Judas is the classic example of the point I seek
to make. Would he have done what he did had he known the end that would
befall him? Would the story have been the same if he could have envisioned
his own disgrace and suicide? His fall did not happen in a moment - it
happened slowly!
I preached a
sermon recently in which I looked at some of the ideas and actions now found
in Churches of Christ. It is hard to imagine that these things are the
result of a decision several years ago to send $25 a month to some human
institution doing what was considered to be such a good thing, or the
decision to have an innocent little congregational dinner in the classroom
section of the building. How could this possibly lead to some of the things
we now see in liberal churches? It happens slowly!
Well, as
Christians, most of us could hardly imagine that we might fall away
completely from the Lord. We would never consider just getting up and
walking out of the assembly, never to return again. However, the sad truth
is that some do walk away, never to return. You see, it happens slowly. We
may not really know all of the factors that entered into it. Perhaps they
seem so small and imperceptible at the time. Perhaps it was the demands of
our job, school activities, or, something that needed to be done around the
house or on the car. It really does not matter what it was. The sad truth
is, the troubles and cares of life were given priority over the things of
God so many times that suddenly we realize that God has slipped from our
lives. Did we intend it? No! It just happened - slowly. We missed a few
Wednesday nights. Then it was all Wednesday nights. Then, a few Sunday
nights - then all Sunday nights. Lo and behold, then it was a few Sunday
mornings until it became all Sunday mornings. It happens slowly but we wake
up one day to realize that we have fallen away from the Lord. Had we seen
this end when we started this process months before, we would have stopped
it immediately. Now there is not enough faith left to even care. Apostasy is
the sad and tragic end to a handful of small, seemingly meaningless little
carelessnesses.
One has to
remember the words of Paul at all times: "Wherefore let him that thinketh he
standeth take heed lest he fall"
(1 Cor. 10:12).
Is it not the course of wisdom to pause occasionally and ask ourselves:
"What is more important than God and our service to him?" If anything comes
before God, the twilight of ultimate darkness has set in around us. It is
time for alarm!
Guardian of Truth - May 3, 1990
Other Articles
Are You Beautiful?
Law and
Legalism
Pride's Connection to Envy
Christians and Mental Illness
Delighting In God
About This Election
Take Heed to Yourself
Praying Like David
In Defense of Topical
Preaching
Goats Among Sheep
American Immortality
Problems With Local Autonomy
Don't Ask Fellowship
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