On the Fence or On the Wall

It’s been said many times that “salvation is free but discipleship costs”. The funny thing is that so many people live as though this isn’t the case. You can just look around at the way many people choose to live and it’s almost as though people have a sense that a Christian walk is completely self-determined as opposed to Spirit-led. Perhaps it has something to do with the state of the world in which we live, where so many people are resolved to live according to non-Christian worldviews like those who ascribe to Moral Relativism, nationalism, consumerism, individualism, post-modernism, new age or any number of other possible worldviews.

The trouble with a non-Christian worldview, especially as it pertains to Christians, is that you are make an idol out of that worldview and it gradually draws you away from service to and relationship with God. In the Old Testament, in the book of 1 Kings 18 we find a story of the prophet Elijah who has an encounter with the people of Israel. The people of Israel had been led astray by the prophets of Baal. Many of them wavered back and forth between the prophetic counsel of Elijah, and that of the words of the prophets of Baal. So, Elijah comes to the and throws out the gauntlet by saying, “how long will you hesitate between two opinions (1 Kings 18:21)?”

Elijah goes on the challenge the prophets of Baal. This challenge, once concluded was to be the thing that solidified in the minds of the people of Israel, who God is and whom they should follow. When all was said and done, Elijah was shown to be the one who truly represented the one and only Living God, the prophets of Baal were killed, and the people of Israel affirmed their allegiance to God.

Much like we’re seeing today, the people of Israel were trying to straddle the fence in relation to whether they were going to follow after God or follow after Baal. Yet, we know that this is not the way God desires for His children to live their lives. In the book of James, we find where it says that “an indecisive man is unstable in all his ways (James 1:8).” In Matthew 5:37 we find where Jesus told the disciples that they should let their words be firm and sure. He says that not doing so is how the “evil one” operates.

The very thought that you would straddle the fence or choose to be “on the fence” is quite arguably a painful notion. Having divided loyalties or trying to play both sides become more injurious to you than either of the parties to whom you have split yourself between.

Something interesting to note is that Jesus, at one-point notes that the cost of discipleship can cost you your relationships. As deeply as we are committed to family, Jesus emphasizes that the call to follow him is one of sacrifice and that it’s not all peaches and cream or a bed of roses. He acknowledges in Luke 12:51-53 that because of the gospel that he preached, this message of the Kingdom and the law of the Spirit was so antithetical to what they’ve known before that it would be something that could divide homes. The challenge for many is that we are in a day in which many are unwilling to risk or sacrifice fully for Christ. So many are so gripped by what they might lose in this life that they’re willing to forego what’s promised in eternity.

However, in this age of distinction, Christians must come to some decision about who they are going to represent. Just like the people of Israel did when Elijah confronted them about who they would hearken to, so too are we being presented with this same decision today. Will we yield to the kingdoms of this world or stand fast for the Kingdom of God? Are we going to be a people who attempt to continue to straddle the fence or will we be watchmen on the wall, standing fast to faithfully live a life of sacrifice?

How long will the Church stand preferring notoriety over making His name famous? How long will the Church play it safe when the world is not pulling any punches when it comes to silencing the church by telling them they should have no place in the public square? How long will the Church sit idly by as governments tell them they are not essential or necessary?

In this age of distinction, God is using this time to reveal the heart of His people. Those who are standing for Him won’t just be those that are known by the love they show. Those that are His will be known because they will place faith over fear, the Law of the Spirit over legalism and the Law of Moses, they will choose humility over pride and have conviction rather than waver or be shaky and indecisive. These faithful ones will build God’s Kingdom and want nothing to do with erecting anything that draws attention to themselves.

The ones that God is looking for in this day will be as Daniel and the Hebrew boys, who dared to even stand for righteousness in opposition to the laws of the land. Jesus taught us that we render to Caesar what is Caesar’s but there came a time when even Paul and the other apostles declared they would not stop proclaiming the gospel. Everyone wants to say obey, obey. Yet, they forget there is also a call to take a stand and proclaim Jesus as Lord (see Matthew 10:33).

As this nation moves further into this year and we start to see the expanding age of distinction, we are going to see with greater clarity the distinction that God is making as He separates wheat from tares and sheep from goat. Don’t be on the fence. Be on the wall.