Feb
11
2010
Wholehearted
My dad used to say to me, when I was a kid, “Listen, son. Half-hearted Christians are the most miserable people of all. They know enough to feel guilty, but they haven’t gone far enough with Christ to be happy. Be wholehearted for him!”
I used to roll my eyes when you said that. I don’t any more.
22 Comments
O, the wisdom of a godly father…
Half hearted Christian is really something of a misnomer. You either have a renewed heart or a dead heart. There’s no middle of the road heart. Thinking about Pilgrim’s progress, the half-hearted Christian would have been one of those guys coming from the alternate routes and eventually wandering off the path or finding out that they didn’t have their certificate in the first place.
Listen to how Spurgeon describes miserable Christians:
“… trials make more room for consolation. There is nothing makes a man have a big heart like a great trial. I always find that little, miserable people, whose hearts are about the size of a grain of mustard-seed, never have had much to try them. I have found that those people who have no sympathy for their fellows — who never weep for the sorrows of others — very seldom have had any woes of their own. Great hearts can only be made by great troubles. The spade of trouble digs the reservoir of comfort deeper, and makes more room for consolation. God comes into our heart — he finds it full — he begins to break our comforts and to make it empty; than there is more room for grace. The humbler a man lies, the more comfort he will always have.” – Spurgeon
God comes into your heart and will clean out that junk and make more room for Him: that’s comforting.
I agree; however, there are times in believers’ lives when they are half-hearted Christians. This, however, will not last due to the conviction of the Holy Spirit in their lives.
Yeah, the term “half-hearted” is a figure-of-speech, but I think it’s important to realize that it is ultimately only a figure of speech. I’m inclined to believe there will not be any half-hearted Christians in heaven. For those who have the Holy Spirit inside them, do you feel spurred on? Yep, so do I.
I agree with Robert and C. Spurgeon, yet at the same time I think that being “whole hearted” also must have aspects of obiedince. sometimes my brokeness does not lend it’s self to what God is moving me to do. In these cases I must fall down and be obiedient. Haveing said that, when I am honest and transparent I am most effective when my darkest moments become the brightest in someone elses life. Hwen I have been broken and come out on the otherside with christ I can offer real and tangible answers and hope
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This post was mentioned on Twitter by Godsgalnj: RT @johnpiper: Halfhearted Christians: They know enough to feel guilty, they don’t go far enough with Christ to be happy. http://ow.ly/16t8M...
Thanks for the quote, Robert. I have to disagree that half-hearted Christian is a misnomer, though. It’s not a question of renewed vs. unrenewed – it’s a question of sanctification. Sanctification isn’t just dropping bad habits or avoiding sin; it’s also a change in your heart and mind that replaces worldly affections with heavenward affections. That doesn’t happen instantly when you believe by faith. It is a process, and for some Christians it is a long process. Their joy is stunted because they are still mired in doing things the old way and they are only slowly shedding those worldly ways. They haven’t yet learned that Christ is their greatest treasure in this life AND the next and that He Himself will satisfy their every desire.
I can attest to this personally, although I also know others who have had similar struggles. Some people are granted grace to believe and have a spectacular transformation overnight – they drop old habits with a snap and they confess their sins with great brokenness and show a true change in behavior. Others receive grace to believe, but for whatever reason God liberates them from some of their worldly habits slowly. They have a taste of joy, but they haven’t yet learned that they can shed all their old habits and still find total satisfaction in focusing their attention and affections on Christ alone.
This is part of the reason I started writing my blog (http://befullyaliveinchrist.blogspot.com/) – to talk about that long road of sanctification where some Christians are caught between the world’s ways and the joy of Christ (which they haven’t yet learned to rely on fully). They still think they need earthly things to make them happy and fulfilled. Put another way, they believe in their hearts and confess with their mouths that Jesus is Lord and Savior, but they haven’t learned the less well-known secret that He is also the satisfaction of all our desires.
Anthony, I totally agree with you: in general. I just get a little uneasy when we start using figures-of-speech that cross theological borders, but I see what you mean. I think it’s better to keep our terms straight and think in terms of how the Scripture describes our struggle. The Scriptures talk about having a new heart.
“And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh (Eze 11:19 ESV)
God says he will remove the heart of stone. Is it totally removed upon conversion, or is it still partially a heart of flesh. I suppose if you believe that only half of the old heart was removed, then you are half-hearted. I’m more inclined to believe that He has removed the heart of stone and replaced it. And now we struggle against the world, the flesh and the devil.
“I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.” (Rom 7:23 ESV)
“For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do” (Gal 5:17 ESV).
“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Eph 6:12 ESV).
“I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul” (1Pe 2:11 ESV).
Thank you for this.I found this very helpful.
Robert Lombardi…the Word of God is so comforting. I’m not always comfortable with it…cuz I need to be changed by it…thank God it’s not soaked in that new age psycho-babble that most of the emerging church is serving up. Thanks for the plain truth.
Our God will only tolerate a half warm child until He grabs our attention. Could at times put my name in that our spot. That is when I praise God for the power of the Holy Spirit that will not allow this sort of behavior. This how our relationship becomes stronger and closer with God. We can get so wrapped up in this wretched world we live in that we can become a half heart christian. Let us in our growth Praise God for the empowerment of the Holy Spirit and His grace. Amen….
[...] is for his glory. This is for your good. Be “wholehearted,” not lukewarm. Here is why half-hearted Christians may very well be the most miserable people on earth, concisely and with potency stated by Ray [...]
As you grow in Christ you have to learn and be taught His Word. We have to grow daily in His sanctification! We learn His Love by accepting His Forgiveness and then going forth! Never looking back! His love is only found through daily prayer and growth through our mistakes and the Redemption of sin! A vertical and Horizontal relationship with God and Man!
Love this Website,
Hope “Anchor”
God have mercy on me…I read this and thought of myself first and foremost. There was a time not long ago, when my first thought would have been to think in terms of “those people”. Though I would have never verbalized it that way. Today, I feel stronger in my conviction of God’s keeping His own, but ever examining myself to see that I—-I—-I…. am in the faith and not deceiving myself. These past few years have been extremely difficult trying times. I see more of God’s keeping than I see of my own perseverance though I am fighting. Blow after blow after blow- I do not “feel” joy, though I am confident of His goodness. My only hope and stay is in Christ who adopted me. I experienced evil in the extreme as a child, and I have come to the conclusion that the result must have been a type of emotional paralysis by degree. I am fifty years old, having been a Christian twenty of those years, and while joy is rare, I cannot forget the sweet embrace of His mercy toward this sinner. God’s word is ALWAYS a comfort. Though at times….hard words…always rooted in love. I recently heard the quote- (Piper?) “Curse the scalpel, if you must…but kiss the Surgeon’s hand.” These days, nominal is what I feel- but kept is by far my hearts greatest plea AND confession. How I look forward to heaven when people like Joni with physical handicaps will walk….and people with emotional handicaps will leap with joy!
Thank you, JM. With you, I put my hope not in what I feel toward God but in what he feels toward me.
Thank you for sharing openly about your fight of faith, JM. Your words may encourage some who feel that their dryness or numbness are hopeless. God keeps His children even through times of mourning or darkness. I take great comfort knowing that God has not revealed our greatest joys here, because they are saved for eternity in heaven. As C.S. Lewis says, “Our Father refreshes us on the journey with some pleasant inns, but will not encourage us to mistake them for home.” (The Problem of Pain, p. 116)
Robert, well said. I appreciate those verses and I think it’s a good focus to think about a new heart and at the same time the flesh being at odds with the spirit. I agree – the more we stick to Scriptural terms the closer we get to describing it well. Good thoughts. And the Spurgeon quote was really excellent. Thanks again.
And as I neglected to say it earlier, thank you Pastor Ray for sharing this insightful point!
[...] resistance your flesh puts up when truth comes near. Although they think their heart wants freedom, it doesn’t, it’s still trapped in sin. The new life has not yet [...]
[...] Wholehearted is a post from: Ray Ortlund [...]
Enjoyed your comment about what your dad has said to you. I made a blog in honor of the Lord about my dad’s life. He was saved in prison back in 1947. Later on in life, he served the Lord in Tennessee. Eventually, he ministered to James Earl Ray in Brushy and at the Nashville prison. Would love to have you check his story out. Thanks, Terrill L. Price
Just wanted to leaved the blog address to my dad’s testimony from crime to Christ who eventually ministered to James Earl Ray while in prison in Tennessee. Thanks, Terrill L. Price
Dear Ray, This quote sounds so much like your dad. He was my pastor at Lake Ave in the late 60′s-70′s, until I moved to Bay Area. One Sunday I sat outside the church in a huge teen funk. I was so down. Your dad came bolting out of nowhere, almost late for the beginning of service. With that beaming smile of his he stopped and said, “C’mon! Let’s go worship the Lord!” He said it with such *intensity* he could have supplied enough energy for the entire county of Los Angeles. I’ve NEVER forgotten that moment. For me he was the living example of wholehearted devotion to God. I am so grateful to have had him for my pastor. Thanks for sharing this and for the great blog. In Christ, Pam Hood
Wonderful story, Pam. Thank you! God bless.