Another Ninety-Five
T H E S I S # 3
Resisting truth is resisting God, the giver of truth. Resisting truth hardens the heart and brings alarming consequences.
Rejecting a gift is rejecting the gift giver. Truth is a gift and truth is free and truth is never harmful. Yet the wide “highway to hell” (NLT) affirms that most reject God and truth leading to God.
Do born-again evangelicals on “the way that leads to life” also reject truth?
Perhaps it would be kinder to say evangelicals often resist truth that opposes traditional perspective. And if pressed (which they should never be), they will change the subject rather than outright reject Biblical truth.
But isn’t this dishonest?
Yes.
Every evangelical?
An evangelical, to remain an evangelical, must compromise. But before going further, let’s define an evangelical….
An evangelical is not an evangelical because he/she regularly attends an evangelical church. (Yet most who do are.) Some attend because there is nowhere else to go, and it’s lonely out there. These faithful soldiers manage to protect their hearts from being overwhelmed by a system at variance with The Word (the Bible). Perhaps it’s fair to say a true evangelical is one intentionally blind to the unpleasant realities of evangelicalism, one loyal to and spiritually attached to an evangelical church; this would certainly include church members and tithers.
How does resisting truth harden the heart?
As surely as iron rusts, hearts harden. Both are natural phenomena down here. If iron is maintained, it will not rust; if one’s heart is maintained, it will not harden. Christ is the keeper of the christian’s heart, this only by his/her cooperation. Only Lord Jesus can keep the heart lithe and pliable. Resisting “the Spirit of truth” who “will guide you into all truth” is resisting Christ. Not wise. Not healthy.
Does this prevent the evangelical from bearing fruit?
Prevent?…. no. Hinder?…. definitely.
Evangelicals bear good fruit. Perhaps their yield in North America and elsewhere is greater than all other christian groups combined, simply because of their number and because they are less bound by tradition than mainline protestants. However, the evangelical rebellious to truths of The Word is majorly handicapped. She is the tennis player with broken strings in her racquet. He’s the guy bouncing a partially deflated basketball. She’s the customer served a tough steak with a dull knife. He’s the fellow in the boat trying to row with one oar.
But alarming consequences? Really?
Really.
Evangelicals rarely mention the upcoming “judgment seat of Christ” which will reveal the quality of our earthly service, be it “gold, silver, precious stones” or “wood, hay, straw”. Perhaps most intuitively know that will not be a cheerful day, and simply avoid the subject. Eternal rewards that could have been minus eternal rewards received will equal eternal losses. And resisting truth results in much sadder repercussions….
Evangelicals, as every christian, affect others. We influence more than we think. We are walking, breathing epistles preaching a message of one brand or another. We all affect the final tally of both heaven and hell. “Gold, silver, precious stones” result in people being rescued; “wood, hay, straw” result in people not being rescued.