Fighting "Rock Middle" Part 2

It Doesn't Matter What You Think!

          I've been talking recently about being stuck in the middle. So often we hear fantastic testimonies of people who are just scraped from the bottom and are used by God to do amazing things. I think there’s a trap in that. I think far more people, particularly Christians, are stuck in the middle. They are stuck somewhere between saved and free. Jesus addressed this in Luke and I talked about dissipation last time, now we’re moving on to “Drunkenness and the Anxieties of Life.”

          “Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap. For it will come upon all those who live on the face of the whole earth. Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.”
Luke 21:34-36

Step 2: Avoid Drunkenness and the Anxieties of Life

          Please don’t think, “Here we go, another Jesus Juicer’ talking about drinking…zzzzzzz” and turn your brain off. There is some debate over this issue so I’ll just keep it simple. Paul wrote that we should, “Abstain from all appearance of evil” (1 Thess. 5:22, KJV). That means we should stay away from stuff that someone might consider bad, or ungodly, or unfitting for a follower of Jesus. You might be thinking to yourself, “That’s not fair!” or “I have intellectual arguments that make it ok!” You’re right and you might but here’s the deal….it… doesn’t… matter what you think! (Where are my old school WWF fan’s at?!?) If something in your life whether it’s drinking, or drug use, or the way you talk, or how you dress, or they way you part your hair makes someone reconsider Jesus as their savior you have just made a poor decision. Jesus said, “It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin” (Luke 17:2).

          The second part of this phrase is, “anxieties of this life.” I think this means more than just being worried about your bills. Yes, many Christians will trust Jesus with their eternal salvation and not to meet their day to day needs, but I don’t see that as the full meaning of this phrase. Paul wrote to his spiritual son Timothy, “Do your best to come to me quickly, for Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica…” (2 Tim. 4:9-10). For some of us our anxiety is not our worldly cares and needs but our care for what the world has. How many people have walked away from a call of God because the craved what the world offers. I almost did. Their anxiety derived from the belief that they were missing out on something. Are you really afraid you’re missing out on sin…which leads to death?

         I think these worldly behaviors are what keep us stuck in the middle. So in order to get out of the middle and move forward remember that it doesn’t always matter what you think. Be careful to not be a distraction to others and don’t be a Demas and be too concerned for the things of this world. 

Be on the lookout for Part 3 coming soon!