And These Have No Root

Today I heard about yet another well known Christian figure that has renounced his faith. How sad that we seem to hear about this more and more. It should not surprise us that this happens. We actually should expect it. The Bible has a lot to say about people who are "pretenders".

In 2 Timothy 4:10, Paul, who was writing from a Roman prison and soon to be executed, tells Timothy that he had been abandoned by Demas. Paul says because Demas's love for this world was more than His love for God, he had left Paul. Demas could see where Paul's devotion to Christ was leading him. Paul would soon go to his death and Demas ran away to avoid the same fate most likely. When our path is hard who do we love more, this world or God?

Paul reminds Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:1, that in "latter times some will depart from the faith".

Paul believed the times he lived in could be the latter times. He saw many leaving the faith and being enticed by lies and false doctrines.

And These Have No Root

Jesus Himself warns of this in Luke 8:13,

But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away.

I have known so many people for whom this was true. They would go to a revival or summer church camp or a retreat and be on fire with love for the Lord, but as Jesus says they "have no root" so when things became difficult, when the world enticed them too much they would slowly fall away.

Where Is Our Root?

Where is our root? Many people are fine with being a Christian when it is the socially acceptable thing to do but what happens to them when someone laughs at them for being different? What happens when they lose customers in their business or financial gain from a job when they stand for Christ? Today, it is becoming more and more unacceptable to stand for Christ. In such a world how many people will continue to stand?

Where is our root? Do we find our root in our parent's faith or in our own? Do we continue in our faith when our parents are no longer around? Faith can't be poured into us by our parents. Faith can only be produced by the working of the Holy Spirit. We are not Christians just because our parents were.

Is your root in the people you associate with? It is easy to be holy when those around us are holy, but what happens when we work with people who aren't Christian? Our friends and co workers can have a lot of effect on us. Do those people influence us to fall away?

What about people who adore their pastor? Certainly we should love our pastor. We just have to be sure that God is first. What happens to those who attend some of these enormous mega churches that we see on TV when their adored pastor dies or leaves? Do they stay or do they go their own way, never satisfied by the pastor that follows. Is their faith in man or in God?

Is your root in the "excitement" of your church? Does the church exist to entertain us, or do we exist to go to church to worship God regardless of the surroundings? So many churches today resort to what I must call showmanship. They put on a show with, what seems to me at least, a lot of irreverence. We can be too emotionally needy in our churches. When things calm down, do you feel like God has left you? When the church is quiet, do we still hear God's still small voice?

Are we godly when we are with the godly, but ungodly when we are with the ungodly? Those who fall away are drifting, going the easy way, but when the going gets more difficult they abandon their faith. Charles Spurgeon once said, "That is the way that we know a Christian; he is sure to be swimming against the stream. Live fish always do that; but dead fish go floating down the stream, and are carried away with it."

You Must Have A Strong Root To Survive

A plant can't survive without a strong root. The root nourishes the plant. Yes, a plant can spring up for a short time without a strong root but a strong wind can blow it over. Many people seem to be carried here and there by every different doctrine they hear. One day they belong to this denomination, the next something else, always changing because they are so easily swayed. Not knowing what is true, many drift away from fellowshipping with other believers. These "believers" may grow for a time but without a strong root they wither away.

Of course one of the most important jobs of the root is to bring water to the whole plant. Without water the plant will die. Without the waters our Savior provides we too will die. Speaking to the Samaritan woman at the well our Savior told her,

“Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” John 4:13-14

Our root, our nourishment, must come from the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives that causes us to grow in faith, to study the word, to desire every day to be more like Christ. As we pray and repent our root grows stronger. Our faith must exist not just for the world to see, but it must exist in the quiet of our times alone with God. Bigger, more abundant fruit comes from stronger roots.

We hold fast to the truth like a root is a holdfast for a plant. Our truth is the word of God and the experience of the Holy Spirit in our lives. When we truly understand and see the work of God in our lives that is proof of His great love for us. Like a child knows its earthly father, when we come to Him as our Heavenly Father, full of certainty that He wants only good for us, that is when we won't depart the faith. That is a deep root.

They Went Out From Us

John tells us false teachers will eventually become known. They will leave the church, and then we will understand that they were never real (1 John 2:19). He calls them "anti-Christs", not the Anti Christ, but teachers opposed to Jesus none the less. John lets us know that when we have received the grace of God and the love of Christ we will continue! That is God's promise.

Know That We Know Him

"Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him." 1 John 2: 3-4

I hear many people say that they don't know if they are a Christian or not. In these verses in John, he tells us that we can "know that we know Him". It isn't something we should have to wonder about. It isn't something complicated. Are you keeping His commandments? If you fail, are you honestly repenting? Are you loving Him and those around you?

Our prayer is to always continue and to know that we know Him. Amen and amen.

And These Have No Root