Are you a drifter? Do you find that you have a tendency to drift in areas of your life as a Christian? This month I want to share with you about the dangers of drifting.
When I was about seventeen years old I went to the island of St. Vincent with my father for a holiday. While I was there I decided to go down to the beach by myself. On the beach was a large inflated inner tube that looked like it came from a truck; I guess the local kids used it to play in the ocean. I decided to get in this inner tube; so I placed it in the ocean, got in and laid back relaxing. I felt quite safe despite the fact that I couldn’t swim. Lo and behold, I fell asleep because of the gentle bobbing of the water.
What I did not realise was that even though the ocean looked so calm there were undercurrents that were pulling the inner tube further from shore out into the deep. After some time I woke up and realised that I had drifted quite far from land. Fear gripped my heart as I realised my situation, the saving grace for me was that I could still see the land even though it looked quite a distance away. I was able to cautiously use my hands to gently paddle myself back to the safety of the shore. Here is the question; what if I had not woken up at that time what would have become of me if I had lost sight of land?
I share this story because I believe that there are people in the body of Christ and the church itself that have drifted from God’s original plan. This is not just with the congregation it goes all the way to the
pulpit. Let me give you an example; a lot of the messages that we hear preached seem to be about what we can get, what we can have and the focus is very much on how to gather as much material wealth and possessions here on earth thus cultivating a spirit of covetousness in people’s hearts.
We are taught to give so we can get rather than giving because we love. We already know what Genesis 8:22 says concerning the law of sowing and reaping, that’s already settled. We know that if we give harvest will come, even an unsaved farmer understands this principle. We need to go back to basics and take a look at the early church and what they taught and what they believed. In Matthew 28:18-20 it says; Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” We are supposed to teach God’s Word but instead the church has drifted towards the world and we have taken the ways of the world into the church. We take secular songs and put Christian lyrics to them, we model ourselves after the world instead of being role models for the world to model themselves after the church.
Ephesians 4:11-12 says;” And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.” God has placed ministry gifts in the church to perfect the saints so they can do the work of the ministry.
The main focus of the church should therefore be on evangelism and discipleship. We should be training people to do the work of the ministry which is making converts of men and then training them to do the same, it’s called colonising. Unfortunately today we see in the church how many treat God as an option that we connect to when we need help or deliverance. When I look back at how different the church was thirty years ago, marriages were different, families were different, the church itself was very different to how it is today and that in itself is a huge example of how far we have drifted in such a short time. It’s frightening to think where the church will be in another thirty years if it continues to drift the way it has.
People used to be a lot more committed to church, to family and to marriage, but today we have people who after being saved for a moment believe they know it all and won’t be told what to do and feel they can just hop from one church to the next. Jesus’ disciples had a three and a half year intensive training with Him and even then, they were constantly messing up. What makes us think that we are mature and grown after just a few months or a year of once or twice a week church attendance?
Let me help you with some signs that will help you identify if you are drifting from God. Remember the story I shared about when I drifted in the inner tube on the ocean. What saved me was the fact that I knew that I had drifted and that I needed to do something to get back to the safety of the shore. If I had laid back and thought was safe in this inner tube then I would not be here today. The first signs of drifting are;
Your church attendance begins to wane and you begin to move further to the back of the church. People ask if you are ok and you tell them you are fine but you are not fine because you are actually drifting. You begin to miss a Sunday a month then two, then three and after a while you don’t see why you need to go to church at all because after all you can serve God from your home. You can even watch Christian TV on Sundays.
"People used to be a lot more committed to church, to family and to marriage, but today we have people who after being saved for a moment believe they know it all and won’t be told what to do and feel they can just hop from one church to the next."
My friend you are not only drifting but you have lost sight of the cross and your Christianity is almost out of sight. At this point the saints are calling you to see how you are but you shut them down or you don’t take their calls. It is amazing how everyone does the same thing they shut down the saints that are trying to help them and will even go as far as changing their phone number and will turn to and embrace ungodly people and their ungodly counsel and advice. If this is hitting home please don’t dismiss it, if you are feeling convicted don’t harden your heart; Jesus said the people that shall enter heaven are those that do His will not their own.
Secondly; your bible reading dries up. You open your bible but it’s hard to read and you don’t seem to get anything out of it anyway so you stop reading and cut off your source of supplement and food for
your spirit.
The third thing is your prayer life begins to dry up and you hardly pray at home and you don’t see the importance of coming out to prayer meetings at church. After a while hearing the saints talking about the things of God becomes an irritation. Jesus said it this way in Revelation 2:4-5 “Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. 5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent.” It states that you have left your first love and that you must repent and do the first works. Remember what God has done for you, what He has done in your life and return to Him with all your heart.
Revelation 3:15 says; “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. If you have grown cold you have drifted dangerously far from God so begin to do something about it right now. Hebrews was written to lukewarm Christians. They were in danger of drifting away (Hebrews 2:1). They had not grown as they should (Hebrews 5:12). Some were neglecting the assembly (Hebrews 10:24, 25). As a warning, they were reminded of Israel's unfaithfulness: "Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: 'Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of trial in the wilderness, where your fathers tested Me, proved Me, and saw My works forty years.
Therefore I was angry with that generation, and said, "They always go astray in their heart, and they have not known My ways." So I swore in My wrath, "They shall not enter My rest."' Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called 'Today,' lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end, while it is said: 'Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion'" (Hebrews 3:7-15). Jesus served God each day: "I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work" (John 9:4). Day after day we must persevere. Paul wrote: "Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. 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" (Philippians 3:12-14) we must make full use of our time each day.
"I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:12-14) we must make full use of our time each day."
Pastor Douglas Goodman