CASUAL CHRISTIANS WILL BECOME CASUALTIES
Gen. 13:1-18
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR: BAD-MOUTHING TO THE WRONG PERSON. An elderly woman came into church. An usher asked her where she’d like to sit. She said, “I’d like to sit down front.” The usher said, “No, you don’t want to sit down there; our pastor is quite boring.” She said, “Do you know who I am? I am the pastor’s mother!” The usher asked, “Do you know who I am?” She replied, “No.” And he said, “Thank God” and ran out of the church.
B. BARNA: CASUAL VS CAPTIVE CHRISTIANS
1. SUMMARY OF DIFFERENCES
CAPTIVE CHRISTIANS......CASUAL CHRISTIANS
16%.....................................66%
Jesus= Center...................Jesus is on the Periphery
Priority: Please God..........Priority: Please Self
Extreme Devotion.............Moderation, Balance
Aim: Get out Gospel..........Maximize Opportunities
Goal: Accepted by God......Accepted by Friends, Be Happy
2. BARNA’S COMPARISON*
a. “Casual Christianity is faith in moderation. It allows them to feel religious without having to prioritize their faith. A Casual Christian can be all the things that they esteem: a nice human being, a family person, religious, an exemplary citizen, a reliable employee – and never have to publicly defend or represent difficult moral or social positions. From their perspective, their brand of faith practice is genuine, realistic and practical.” Casual Christians think theirs is an acceptable middle position between Bible Christians and a lost world.
b. Captive Christians, on the other hand, focus on upholding the absolute moral and spiritual truths they read in the Bible. It's not reading the Bible, but DOING it. For Captives, success is obedience to God, regardless of the worldly consequences.” They have staked a position in God’s camp, not in the middle.
3. I think we all know that Casual Christians won’t be acceptable to the God who said, “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be My disciple. And whoever does not carry their cross and follow Me cannot be My disciple....In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be My disciples” Luke 14:26-27,33 "...not worthy of Me" Mt. 10:38.
4. We’re going to look at an example of a “casual Christian” in scripture:
C. TEXT
1 So Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev, with his wife and everything he had, and Lot went with him. 2 Abram had become very wealthy in livestock and in silver and gold. 4 There Abram called on the name of the LORD. 5 Now Lot, who was moving about with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents. 6 But the land could not support them while they stayed together, for their possessions were so great...7 And quarreling arose between Abram's herdsmen and the herdsmen of Lot...8 So Abram said to Lot, "Let's not have any quarreling...9 Is not the whole land before you? Let's part company. If you go to the left, I'll go to the right...10 Lot looked up and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan was well watered, like the garden of the LORD...11 So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan and set out toward the east....13 Now the men of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the LORD. 14 The LORD said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, "Lift up your eyes from where you are and look north and south, east and west. 15 All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever. 18...he built an altar to the LORD.
D. THESIS & TITLE
1. We’re going to look at two individuals who were captive & casual believers, at how their faith or lack of it guided their choices, and see the outcome of what followed.
2. The title of this message is “Casual Christians Will Become Casualties.”
I. ABRAM & LOT’S JOURNEY OF FAITH
Abram is a type of the Captive Christian pursuing the Lord. Lot is the picture of a Christian who has not truly abandoned the world.
A. ABRAM’S PROGRESSIVELY DEEPENING FAITH
1. In Gen. 12, Abram followed God’s leading and made pleasing God his top priority. God spoke to Abram to leave his family and his country and follow God to the land of Canaan. This he did, abandoning his pursuit of prosperity, and went to a land he knew nothing of.
2. In Gen. 13, Abram saw that he and his nephew Lot must separate. He gave his nephew the choice of land. Lot, loving money more than relationship to God, choose the fertile grasslands near Sodom & Gomorrah for his flocks.
3. Abram accepted the rocky heights that gave him more solitude and places to pray.
4. Later, in Gen. 22, Abram surrendered his only son to God, willing to give him up to God’s will.
5. In all this we see Abram’s deepening surrender to God of all the things/ people he holds dear – his country, his father’s family, his business & material possessions, and lastly his own son. Abram slowly surrendered each area to God.
B. LOT’S STAGNANT SPIRITUAL JOURNEY
1. Lot, on the other hand, showed no real spiritual growth. Lot had tried to tag-along on his uncle’s faith and relationship to God, but failed to develop his own. You don't hear about Lot building altars or even participating with Abram.
2. For years he was guided by Abram but when the time came for him to choose, he made several key blunders in his decision:
a. Abram & Lot both feared God, were relatives, and traveled many miles together. Nothing ever produced strife between them except too much material possessions! This is a warning to us! Lot let money and success be the key factor to make his decisions. “What shall it prosper a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?” Jesus said.
b. Lot didn’t consider how his family would be spiritually affected by the choice. Lot’s new neighbors would be the Sodomites, about which the Bible said, “But the men of Sodom were wicked.” This doesn’t mean ordinary sinners, but dangerous sinners – impudent, daring sinners. They became the subject of proverbs (Isa. 3:9, “they parade their sin like Sodom”). Though Lot was a good man, his righteousness would not prevent the gradual contamination through the evil nature of his neighbors. Evil is a contagion.
c. But the worst aspect of Lot’s decision was that LOT DID NOT SEEK THE LORD concerning his decision. There was no prayer for guidance; no thought of how he could best serve God (James 1:14). The typical mistake today is seeking first the world. This does not mean to neglect God, but to put Christianity in one corner of our life.
d. MADE EVIL ALLIANCES. Mingling with and marrying into the families of the ungodly was the cause of the corruption of the preflood world. Today’s Christian Church has thrown down of the wall of separation between it and the world. “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness & wickedness have in common? Therefore come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord…”(2Cor. 6:14,17). Jehu the Seer said to Jehoshaphat, “Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord? Because of this the wrath of the Lord is upon you…” (2 Chron. 19:2).
e. Dr. O. J. Nease tells of sad mistakes of early blood transfusions. “The former method of transfusion was to place a well person beside the sick one, insert a tube into the arm of the well person and one into the arm of the sick one, and then, through a mechanical process, pump the blood from the well to the sick person. But on one occasion the device did not work properly, and in some way the pumping was reversed from what was expected. They pumped the blood full of deadly germs into the arm of the well person." So it was with Lot & family.
3. How it looked to Lot: As a matter of business, it looked good. How did it look to the Sodomites?
a. They were surprised a righteous man like him would choose to live with them.
b. Wondered about a religion which could turn a blind eye to flagrant sin.
c. His compromise destroyed any respect or real influence he might have had with the Sodomites. “Like a muddied spring or a polluted well are the righteous who give way to the wicked” Prov. 25:26.
II. THE OUTCOMES OF THEIR CHOICES
A. WHAT LOT GAINED BY HIS CHOICE
1. 2 Peter says his soul was tormented, by the evil he was exposed to every day(2:8).
2. He and his family were carried away as captives, Gen. 14:12. When judgment fell earlier on Sodom, Lot and his family were taken captives. CASUAL CHRISTIANS WILL BECOME CASUALTIES!
3. His character was compromised. He became irresolute. No spiritual backbone. When the angels came to help them leave, he couldn't decide to do so.
4. When the cities were destroyed, his wife died because she loved Sodom more than she loved God.
5. Lastly, Lot’s daughters became corrupted by Sodom, so that they committed incest and gave birth to nations that became the enemies of the people of God. LOT'S COMPROMISE CORRUPTED HIS WHOLE FAMILY!
6. NIAGARA ILLUS. It was spring, and ice was rushing down the river. In large blocks of ice floating toward the falls could be seen the carcasses of dead fish embedded in the ice. Gulls by the score were riding the blocks feeding on the fish. As they came to the brink of the falls, their wings would go out, and they’d flap away from the falls. "I watched one gull, which delayed its takeoff. It was engrossed in the carcass of a fish, and when it finally came to the brink of the falls, it tried to lift off the ice. But it had delayed too long and its claws had become frozen into the ice. Sadly, the gull was pulled down and plunged into the abyss." The finest attractions of this world become deadly when we become overly attached to them.
B. ABRAM’S RICH REWARD
1. A NEW REVELATION OF GOD. The greatest gift God can give us is the gift of Himself. Abram was honored by personal visits from the Creator!
2. A NEW VISION/ PURPOSE. “Arise, walk through the land”(vs. 17). Enter and take possession. Abram was assured that God was giving his descendants the land of Canaan for all time. “I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth”(vs. 16).
3. A NEW FERVENCY. Abram packed up his tents and began traveling throughout the land and built altars to fellowship with God in different locations.
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION
1. On March 6, 1987, Eamon Coughlan, the Irish world record holder at 1500 meters ( and 3X Olympian), was running in a qualifying heat at the World Indoor Track Championships in Indianapolis.
2. With two and a half laps left, he was tripped. He fell, but he got up and with great effort managed to catch the leaders. With only 20 yards left in the race, he was in third place—good enough to qualify for the finals.
3. While finishing the race, Coughlan looked back over his shoulder to the inside, and, seeing no one, he let up. But another runner, charging hard on the outside, passed Coughlan a yard before the finish, thus eliminating him from the finals.
4. Coughlan’s great comeback effort was rendered worthless by taking his eyes off the finish line. Have we done that?
B. THE CALL
1. Apathy is the greatest enemy of the church today. Have you left your first love? Are Church attendance, tithing, Bible reading, witnessing -- higher priorities than anything else in your life?
2. Negatively, do other things keep you out of church? Are we more faithful to sports than we are God? Or hunting/fishing? Do we please our family or friends more than we think of pleasing God?
3. Be honest: are you a “Casual” Christian or a “Captive” Christian? If Casual – it’s time to make a new commitment to Christ.
4. I’m going to come stand here at the front – if whatever reason, you think you need to come make a fresh commitment, come stand with me.
[*https://www.barna.com/research/americas-seven-faith-tribes-hold-the-key-to-national-restoration/]
