There is an evil that has made havoc in our Christian ranks from days of old and continues to neutralize much of our efforts today. I am referring here to the uncertainty of purpose believers can harbor deep into their being; to this mental oscillation which uproots all attempts of consecration and realization.
This evil, called double-mindedness, gives birth to such indecisive questions as: Now or later? Here or there? This or that? There is no certainty in its wings neither can there be. It is doubts upon doubts teeming in an ambivalent mindset.
A few words from James
James had rightly noticed that such a person is unstable in all of his ways.
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways” (James 1:5–8).
When James writes, “let him ask in faith”, he means with conviction and certainty.
The problem at times is that we don’t really know what we want. We waver between two incompatible objectives as one unable to decide. Consequently we become unpredictable and therefore unreliable. No wonder James continues saying: “For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord”. How could he receive anything if he doesn’t know what he wants? He is doomed to be unsettled, not only in his religious life, but also in all of his ways. What a gloomy prospect.
An important question
There is a passage in the Scripture that has often challenged me. I am referring to 1 Kings 18:21 where we read:
And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, how long halt ye between two opinions? If the Lord be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.”
Why should a person shilly-shally for years as one having lost his compass? What does it give him? It is one of the most uncomfortable positions a mortal can adapt. It can be compared to a person going to the beach on a very hot day when the water is still relatively cold. He wants to swim but the moment he makes contact with the water he becomes hesitant. “Should I throw myself in or not? Should I wait or go now? Should I go all the way or just to the knees?” So there he is, under the burning sun, looking at the people enjoying a swim. “Well! I think I will just relax under my parasol.” But after 20 minutes he cannot take it any longer: “This time I will throw myself in,” he says. So he runs towards the sea as one utterly convinced, but all of a sudden he stops, throws some water on his neck and begins to oscillate again: “Should I throw myself in or not? Should I wait or go now? Should I go all the way or just to the knee?” What a torture! What an agony! This is the legacy of the ambivalent heart, unable to enjoy the shore, yet unable to enjoy the sea.
The warning of the Wise
When we say a Christian is unstable we mean he is given to change. In the church he might be a saint, but in the pub a pagan. He adjusts to the surroundings faster than a chameleon. The Scriptures exhort us to stay away from such inconstant fellows:
My son, fear the Lord and the king; do not associate with those given to change; for their calamity will rise suddenly, and who knows the ruin those two can bring?” (Prov. 24:21,22).
The double-minded person is not only unstable in all of his ways, he has also an impure heart: “… purify your hearts, you double-minded” (James 4:8). Here we have a divine injunction, an order coming from above. Yes! God wants us to have a pure heart, a heart made of one substance so to speak, an undivided heart.
Teach me Your way, O Lord; I will walk in Your truth; unite my heart to fear Your name” (Psalms 86:11).
This was the cry of David. His mind was set as a flint, focused on a single course of action. “One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek after” (Psalm 27:4). Do we have this sort of singularity? Or are we split in parts, diffusing our mind on adjacent purposes? Paul was another absolutist. Listen to what he says:
Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:13,14).
There is no hesitation here. The whole heart is concentrated on a single purpose. These are the people who receive something from the Lord. They know what they want and therefore ask in faith and receive it.
Where do we rank in comparison? Nowadays it seems everything goes. Many evangelicals live a self-conflicting life thinking everything is normal. They stroll through the weekly program with a smile on their face, sing hymns on Sunday, seek their own on Monday, oscillate on Wednesday, and there goes the tragedy.
Conclusion
I leave you with a synopsis: The double-minded Christian has an impure heart (James 4:8). He is unstable in all of his ways (James 1:8). He is a Scriptures twister (2 Peter 3:16). Therefore he shall not excel (Gen. 49:4).
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