Thursday, October 26, 2006
Three Church Member Types
Type 2: The Half-Hearted
“And the LORD said to Gideon, ‘The people are still too many. Take them down to the water, and I will test them for you there, and anyone of whom I say to you, “This one shall go with you,” shall go with you, and anyone of whom I say to you, “This one shall not go with you,” shall not go.’ So he brought the people down to the water. And the LORD said to Gideon, ‘Everyone who laps the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set by himself. Likewise, every one who kneels down to drink.’ And the number of those who lapped, putting their hands to their mouths, was 300 men, but all the rest of the people knelt down to drink water. And the LORD said, ‘With the 300 men who lapped I will give the Midianites into your hand, and let all the others go every man to his home.’” (Gideon 7:4-7 ESV)
The second group who are removed I call The Half-Hearted. They made up a little less than 30% of Gideon’s original army.
The Half-Hearted go to church more often then most. They believe it is important to go to church and try to go as often as they can. More than likely, most of this group was raised in church; their parents went to church, and, therefore, they must go to church. In Gideon’s original army, 10,000 stayed. But how many stayed just because they knew they had no other choice? By parental or peer pressure, they had to stay.
Many commentators suggest that God selected the men who lapped over those who knelt because those who lapped showed alertness and readiness. I personally cannot think of a better reason. Connecting with my analogy, the Half-Hearted rarely take leadership positions or avid following positions. They study their Bible off and on, and their prayer life is a once a day event. Therefore, they are not alert of the various corruptions in the world and not ready to stand up for Christ, the truth. This group might be what John in Revelation refers to as the lukewarm.
“And the LORD said to Gideon, ‘The people are still too many. Take them down to the water, and I will test them for you there, and anyone of whom I say to you, “This one shall go with you,” shall go with you, and anyone of whom I say to you, “This one shall not go with you,” shall not go.’ So he brought the people down to the water. And the LORD said to Gideon, ‘Everyone who laps the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set by himself. Likewise, every one who kneels down to drink.’ And the number of those who lapped, putting their hands to their mouths, was 300 men, but all the rest of the people knelt down to drink water. And the LORD said, ‘With the 300 men who lapped I will give the Midianites into your hand, and let all the others go every man to his home.’” (Gideon 7:4-7 ESV)
The second group who are removed I call The Half-Hearted. They made up a little less than 30% of Gideon’s original army.
The Half-Hearted go to church more often then most. They believe it is important to go to church and try to go as often as they can. More than likely, most of this group was raised in church; their parents went to church, and, therefore, they must go to church. In Gideon’s original army, 10,000 stayed. But how many stayed just because they knew they had no other choice? By parental or peer pressure, they had to stay.
Many commentators suggest that God selected the men who lapped over those who knelt because those who lapped showed alertness and readiness. I personally cannot think of a better reason. Connecting with my analogy, the Half-Hearted rarely take leadership positions or avid following positions. They study their Bible off and on, and their prayer life is a once a day event. Therefore, they are not alert of the various corruptions in the world and not ready to stand up for Christ, the truth. This group might be what John in Revelation refers to as the lukewarm.
# posted by Wesley Son of Cornelius @ 10:00 AM 
