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Half-hearted seekers are what I refer to as HIHO’s, half in half out, one foot in the church and the other in the world. They are those who covet the name Christian but not Christ-likeness though they would never admit to it. They follow Jesus to get not to give. They love learning a new thing and getting their ears tickled or making an appearance for appearance sake but not interested in appropriating spiritual truth in their lives. They are in essence, takers and fakers, and they are in denial. They are easily offended by not getting their way; we call it a sense of entitlement today. This crowd that pursued Jesus to Capernaum is like so many today who attend church expecting to receive something for their troubles (we followed Jesus to Capernaum; we came to church) with no intention of giving back but a handshake and a pretentious smile.
HIHO's can be non-believers pretending to be saints or carnal believers who claim Christ as Savior but haven't come quite to terms with Jesus as Lord of everything in their life. It's a control issue they are struggling with as I was while on the lam, like Jonah. Who is going to be in control of my life, God or me? Jonah recognized God's sovereignty, at least intellectually (Jon 1:12), but tried to run from Him experientially (Jon 1:3).
Commitment is another word for leprosy in post modern Christianity; we keep our distance and definitely don’t touch anything that looks and smells like commitment; the numbers don’t lie. I know all about eluding commitment for I used to be like that, a HIHO, until I grew weary of running. I was blaming others, institutions, or whatever to support my own decision to be disobedient to God, but the real issue behind being on the run was failing to submit to God’s authority in my life. Blaming others for your disobedience will strip you to the bone like a piranha; you never want to go down that dead end street, never.
I could have changed church, but like radical HIHO’s, I threw out the baby with the bathwater. 15+ years spent looking behind my back, I really thought God was done with me, shelved and unusable, but He stirred up the gift that was buried under tons of rubble within me at an unexpected time, a gift for teaching that I thought had been lost forever emerged from the debris.
Now, but for the grace of God, I am taking personal responsibility for my obedience to God and staying active in another church using my spiritual gift. All I accomplished during my wasted years was making my life miserable and missing out on the blessings of God, not to mention trashing my testimony. I know about HIHO’s. Maybe this unintended HHA meeting will help you if you are like I was.
Getting back on course, the people following Jesus loved the free bread and fish, but when Jesus attempted to offer them spiritual manna they were offended. Being troubled and wrestling over a hard and difficult truth like salvation is one thing (the plan is easy and simple, but its demands are not), but turning away and failing to follow Jesus because of demanding doctrine is tantamount to rejection. But this reaction is not limited to salvation. There are many tough truths in Scripture that we struggle with, for instance, nothing enters our lives without God’s approval; that’s huge to receive in one setting, particularly if a devastating tragedy has happened to you! Selah.
People respond to the truth of God’s Word in one of two ways: falling away or following. To be crystal clear here, once a person is saved, he or she is eternally secured in Christ (Jn 5:24; Rom 8:38-39; 1 Jn 5:13), but that doesn’t mean that the truths of God are not without challenge in the daily routines of living and hard to grapple. Some demanding principles are these: to live we have to die; to get we have to give; to go up we have to go down; before honor is humility; to be used we have to be broken; to gain we have to lose, and so forth.
Peter could not have said it any better. Where do we go? To whom do we look for salvation? Before you decide to turn away from the light, just remember the only other option is darkness, and we know where that path leads – misery, unhappiness and a dead end. “There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Only Jesus has the words to eternal life.
There’s more to Christianity that simply having “eternal life” insurance and attending church sporadically. It is called following Christ in obedience to His Word; this is the fruit of our redemption. A fruitless life doesn’t persuade anyone other than shock or surprise, “You are a Christian!?” What a contrast to those people who turned away from the words of Jesus that day in Capernaum and the ancient words of Jeremiah,
“Your words were found, and I ate them, and Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; for I am called by Your name, O LORD God of hosts” (Jer 15:16).
If we are willing to rest our eternal destiny in Christ by faith, why can’t we have that same quality of faith assurance in God in the temporal affairs of life? It is because salvation doesn’t cost us anything; it’s free, but obedience to God’s Word makes demands of us! That has the look and feel of commitment, doesn’t it? Living in an age of "the call of the wild," it is acceptable for Jesus to commit to us, but don’t ask us to reciprocate and deny our wanderlust. We’re only here for the freebies.
The same quality of faith in Christ’s work on the cross for eternal life should be the same quality of faith in the temporal affairs of life; it’s called fruit bearing worthy of repentance. Worthy comes from a Greek word (axios) meaning of equal weight. The image is one of a set of balance scales. Faith in Christ for sanctification (or daily living and growing spiritually) is to be equal to the weight of our faith in Christ at salvation on this worthy scale! It is our individual responsibility to achieve this balance in our daily walk with Christ. It’s not easy but doable. Salvation is only through Christ (Acts 4:13) and sanctification (living and growing spiritually) is only through Christ (Php 4:13). The reality for most of us is that we are steadfast on eternal security but on temporal security this side of eternity is sticky and shaky at best. Paul’s admonition is needful for us to hear,
“that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God” (Col 1:10).
I have decided to follow Jesus.
I have decided to follow Jesus.
I have decided to follow Jesus,
no turning back, no turning back.
Tho’ no one join me, still I will follow.
Tho’ no one join me, still I will follow.
Tho’ no one join me, still I will follow,
no turning back, no turning back.
The world behind me, the cross before me.
The world behind me, the cross before me.
The world behind me, the cross before me,
no turning back, no turning back.
Our spiritual diet reveals more about us to others than we realize; you just can’t hide the fruit whether rotten or good; barren is also bad (cf. Mk 11:13-14). “By their fruits,” Jesus said, “you will know them” (Mt 7:20). Stay the course with God regardless of the circumstances and "bear fruits worthy of repentance" (Lk 3:8) or "Do those things that will show that you have turned from your sins" (TEV). This has the earmark of a FIFO, faith in faith out! <><
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