No turning back! (2)

Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. But now that you know God—or rather are known by God—how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable forces? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again? You are observing special days and months and seasons and years! I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you. Galatians 4:8-11

From this time many of Jesus’ disciples turned back and no longer followed him. John 6:66

Last time we looked at the crisis in the churches of Galatia, a crisis which troubled and even angered the apostle Paul, prompting him to write this punchy little letter. “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel – which is really no gospel at all…” (Galatians 1:6). Thus he protests, a mere five verses in.

We saw that the Galatian Christians – mainly gentiles rather than Jews - had accepted the teaching of people who told them that in order to follow Jesus they must first submit to the Jewish laws: in effect, to become Jews themselves. “You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you?” he explodes (Galatians 3:1).

Sadly, God’s people have a history of turning away from the One who loves and saves them.

Shortly after the great “exodus” from Egypt under Moses, and the miraculous crossing of the Red Sea, they start grumbling about how hard life is in the desert. They hanker after the nice food they had had in Egypt, “the fish, cucumbers, leeks, onions and garlic” (Numbers 11:5), and even (would you believe it!) want to go back into captivity. Paul in Galatians is, in effect, playing the same part as Moses in Exodus.

What happened in the days of Moses and Paul – indeed, again and again throughout Old Testament history – still happens today. So we need to ask the question: What might be some of the things that tempt us to “turn back” from our loyalty to Jesus?

1.  1    It might be wrong teaching, as with the Galatians.

There’s no shortage of false teaching around, as Jesus warned us (Matthew 7:15-20).

The “prosperity gospel” is a prime candidate, for example, telling people that if they follow Jesus whole-heartedly they are guaranteed both wealth and health. So too some forms (not all!) of the charismatic movement: there’s something wrong with you if you haven’t experienced a “baptism of the Holy Spirit” and are able to “speak in tongues”. And various forms of “Christian Zionism”, which place a distorted emphasis on modern Israel.

Such teachings can sound very convincing, so we need to keep our heads, stick to clear scripture, and not be taken in.

2.   2   It might be persecution.

You can only sympathise with Christians who find it hard to stay true to Jesus under the threat of prison or torture. There are those whose children are thrown out of school for their parents’ faith, or families who have their supply of water or electricity cut off by the authorities. The variations of injustice and sheer cruelty are endless.

God alone can judge those who turn back under such circumstances: and the least the rest of us can do is to remember them in our prayers and perhaps offer support to organisations which operate on their behalf. (Hebrews 13:3 spells this out.)

3.  3    It might – of course – be plain temptation.

Jesus was sorely tempted, most notably (but not only) in Matthew 4; so why would we imagine we won’t be?

We have an enemy, the devil, whose role is to drag us down and prompt us to develop attitudes and behaviours which are wrong. And sometimes he succeeds, we fall into sin, and find ourselves estranged from God. It’s true that we may not have consciously or deliberately “turned back”, but temptation is a slippery slope, and before we know where we are our lives have lost any Christ-like flavour (not to mention any joy, peace and fulfilment).

Are any of us today losing our battle against the tempter? Are any of us living in deliberate disobedience?

4.  4    It might be weariness or disillusionment.

Again, this isn’t necessarily a deliberate turning back, but, rather, a running out of steam, a gradual sapping of our spiritual energy. (Paul later urges the Galatians not to “become weary in doing good” (6:9).)

Perhaps we weren’t well taught before trusting in Jesus, and had got the idea into our heads that the Christian life was easy; only later do we discover that it can in fact be very hard indeed – that when Jesus spoke of “taking up our cross” to follow him, he actually meant it.

Or you may be a faithful Christian who has served loyally in a small, struggling church and seen little fruit. Some believers are called to live in particularly barren areas, perhaps where another religious tradition is dominant, and simply become discouraged.

No doubt other reasons for turning back could be added. But the ones I have listed probably cover most such situations.

So… what should we do?

Perhaps we need, quite simply, to repent of our sin and rededicate ourselves to God. Perhaps we need to award ourselves (so to speak) a period of reflection and even rest. Perhaps we are overdue for a long, honest chat with a trusted friend.

But the one thing we certainly don’t need is to drift along just as we are. Serious action is required – and now.

Father, please forgive me if I have “lost my first love” and grown cold to you. Please rekindle my faith and commitment so that, however hard the way may be, I may know the peace and joy of walking with Jesus. Amen.

What peaceful hours I once enjoyed!/ How sweet their memory still!/ But they have left an aching void/ The world can never fill.      William Cowper (1731-1800)