Backslipping and Sidesliding

Yet the things of this world worry us perpetually. The pains of this life weigh us down constantly. They chip away at our relationship with God. Maybe we worry about our career, our finances, our children, our education, our past, our present, or our future. What we fail to realize in the midst of the worry is that these are the very things that can either drive us deeper into our relationship with God trusting by faith that Romans 8:28 will come to pass - or erode our faith and our relationship with God. Too often it is the latter as our relationship with God is slowly eroded by the cares of this world. We compromise, we defer, and we can get lazy. We start backslipping. It is just a slip. We are not out of control; we just lose sight of what is important. Jesus taught:

So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6: 31-34 (NIV)

When we backslip, we can start to worry more about our problems and focus less on our problem solver. We stop seeking. The answers to any problem we face in this life can be found in our relationship with God. It is not within our power but only through the power of the Holy Spirit. It is not within the answers or promises the world gives which are empty and fleeting but rather they are found in God whose answers are always yes and amen!

While backslipping is a matter of spiritual lethargy, sidesliding is more an issue of spiritual stagnation. We can get to the point in our walk where we may not be looking backwards but we are not exactly looking forward either. We can become spiritually complacent. We are saved by the blood of Jesus Christ, serve in a ministry, tithe correctly, and maybe even have decent spiritual habits when it comes to prayer and reading God's Word. At the same time however we are satisfied with where we are. We get to a plateau, through the grace of God alone, and then we kind of sit down. We have our fire insurance policy from hell but we just hunker down and wait until Jesus comes.

Can you imagine of the Apostle Paul decided to sideslide? After Paul had completed his first missionary journey, I am sure the temptation was there to rest upon his laurels. He could have felt that he had accomplished something big and simply been satisfied with what he had already accomplished. Instead of looking forward, he could have started to slide sideways in his walk. But Paul always understood that God always has another level for you to go to if you are willing to pursue Him. If Paul had gotten spiritually complacent after his first journey than what would have happened to the areas he would evangelize on his second and third missionary journeys? I am always amazed whenever God uses me but I think we need to be even more reverent than that. Paul always understood that:

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3: 12-14 (NIV)

Reflect for a moment and appreciate the context of this passage. The Book of Philippians was written approximately in 61AD, when Paul is in prison in Rome. This is AFTER all of his missionary journeys, when he knows his time is short on this earth. He has already evangelized the known world and been given insight into the third heaven by God Almighty! But regardless of the success and multitude of churches he started, there was no sidesliding for Paul. He does not even consider himself as having arrived at his goal! He does not believe he has yet taken hold of that thing for which God had taken hold of him! But look at the one thing he does! What direction does he continue to reinforce? Straining toward what is ahead pressing on toward the goal heavenward! There is no looking back to what he had already done. There is no looking to the left or the right. Spiritual lethargy is avoided by two things straining and moving in the correct direction. Paul is constantly looking forward to the next thing God has for him. Not just content with all he has already done and not just content to be heading in the right direction Paul strains toward what God has for him next. Straining indicates that Paul is striving. He is deliberately seeking. There is nothing passive about his Christianity and neither should there be anything passive about ours. There is no time to be sidesliding in our walk. There is still too much to be done.

Beloved, I say these things not a casual observer but as someone who struggles just like everyone else. The temptation is always there to become spiritually lazy or spiritually complacent in my walk. The backslidden state is a terrible thing to fall into. But it is a process that can be stopped when the earlier stages are identified. It is too easy to look at a word such as backslidden and actually feel better about ourselves because we know we are not that far gone.

The LORD said also to me in the days of Josiah the king: "Have you seen what backsliding Israel has done? She has gone up on every high mountain and under every green tree, and there played the harlot. Jeremiah 3: 6 (NKJV)

And we too can play the harlot before our God if we are not careful. We can lose our sense of reverence and awe. Remember, the spiritual adultery God is charging Israel with through Jeremiah did not happen overnight. Adultery rarely does. Sin begins as a thought. It begins as a slip, not a slide.

If you find yourself slipping today the answer lies back in the relationship you have with God. The answer is in strengthening that relationship through regular prayer time and the daily reading of His Word. The answers you need are found there, not in the world. If you find yourself sliding sideways today the answer lies in the direction you are looking. Do not look to your past accomplishments because God always has another level for you to go to. Do not look to the left or the right either. Moving sideways will guarantee no progress. The only direction God wants us to look toward is forward. But it has to go beyond looking. Christianity is not a spectator sport. It is not a passive endeavor. It requires something from us. We need to be straining toward what God has for us. Never believing that we have discovered the reason why God has gotten a hold of us to begin with. That is how you avoid spiritual stagnation.

Our key verses today see the Apostle Paul lamenting to the church in Galatia. They were running such a good race. We too can find ourselves like the Galatian church. Maybe backslipping maybe sidesliding. Just a little here or there. Just a compromise here and a bad habit there. Something holding us back from following the truth. Always remember that it is God that called you to freedom and the answers will always lie with Him. Let us all recommit to our relationship with Him today and to the direction He has for our lives. No backslipping. No sidesliding. Just moving forward under the power of the Holy Spirit within us and the grace and mercy of Almighty God before us. In Jesus Name. Amen.

 

 

Reverend Anthony Wade January 26, 2011