Before we continue with the next verse, I want to continue with a simple illustration that I heard recently from Josh Harris, who is the author of the book “I Kissed Dating Goodbye.” In addition to his work as an author, he is one of the pastors of Covenant Life Church in Gaithersburg, Maryland.
Imagine a friend walking up to you with a bottle of pills which are filled with poison. The caption on the bottle reads – WARNING – Swallowing one of these pills will cause immediate death! Your friend suggests that instead of taking one entire pill, that it should be safe to take just ½ a pill. After all, only half a pill won’t kill you! We would be looking for a new friend – one who truly cares about our well-being and not one who wants to feed us something which while it may not kill us immediately, the results will still be the same – DEATH!!
The more I watch the interaction between true believers and the world, I believe that we have succumbed to the world’s advice. “Just take ½ a pill, it won’t kill you!”
You may be asking yourself, “What in the world are you talking about?” Glad you asked, because I am going to share a little more that the Lord has been convicting me of in my own life. As we share this, remember that we are still dealing with the matter of true worship.
Somehow, we think that we have managed to finally get God to approve of our standards simply because we feel that we are seeing or experiencing “blessings” in our lives.
The problem is that the rain falls on the just and the unjust. Many of our standards are merely flaunting our wants, wishes, and desires in the face of a Holy God and still thinking He is going to pour blessings upon us even when our lives do not even remotely resemble the standards which He has set forth in His Word. We are swallowing ½ pills of poison and thinking it won’t kill us – that is, after all, what the world tells us and even other well meaning believers.
Now to illustrate this ½ poison, let’s consider the one item that detracts from family, personal, and corporate worship more than any other thing in our homes – The Stranger, Mr. Television himself, or T.V. for short.
*** By the way, my decisions are ones we have made in our home and are not intended for anybody to follow exactly in our steps unless the Holy Spirit convicts you as He has my family and I.
Over time, we would find ourselves watching a “good, family” movie only to hear foul language or even the odd taking of the name of the Lord in vain. We were justifying our continued watching by stating – “Probably an isolated incident. If they say another word, then we will definitely have to consider turning it off!” Inside we are cringing, and another ½ pill of poison is being added to the cumulative intake we have been swallowing.
Another time, we would turn on a “sweet, romantic” movie only to find two of the characters in bed together (either adultery or living in fornication). We could justify watching because there was no actual skin being shown nor was there any intimate contact. Or, maybe it would be best if Mom held the remote and when the first sign of trouble arose, then the rest of the family could close their eyes while Mom fast-forwarded the offending incident.
But why should Mom have to watch what it is offensive to God in order to protect us? Dads, we should be controlling our own minds and protecting the minds of our children. We should be turning the television off, but instead we have bought into Hollywood’s morals and have swallowed many ½ pills of poison!
The conversation continued in our home – “Well, children, what about intimate contact like kissing between two actors who are not married to each other?” Some thought it was ok, while others were not sure. “Ok, I said, how about if I am invited to star in a movie and the director tells me that I have to kiss a woman as part of the plot?” The response was immediate – SHOCK! “No, you can’t kiss that other person!” My question – “Well, why not?” Their response, “Because that’s not Mom, and you should only be kissing on Mom!”
About that time, the light began to come on in their minds and they realized what I was talking about. “Why is not ok for me to do that, but it is ok for us to allow somebody to come into our home and watch them do that while their kids sit at home and wonder why Dad or Mom are romantically involved with somebody else all for the sake of a paycheck!?!?”
Dear reader, I have wept this week as I realized that for far too long, I have been inoculated against the conviction of the Holy Spirit. I have foolishly swallowed ½ pills of poison stupidly believing the world’s mantra – “Only ½ a pill won’t kill you!”
What is even worse is that as a father and a husband striving to live godly in this present world, I have down through the years (at times, quite wilfully) not only enjoyed the ½ pill as it went down my throat, but I have then handed the bottle of poison to my own children and said to them by my own actions, “Children, ½ a pill of poison won’t kill you!”
In the midst of these times, we could watch all we have allowed ourselves to become desensitized to. Then, after a night of “family time” and a perfunctory prayer over the meal, we would seek to get up and go to church to “worship!”
What hypocrisy to think that with stomachs well-fed with the world and ½ pills of poison that we would somehow find a way to “worship” the God we claim to love and adore!!
Some may think I am a fanatic, but I am convinced that if we are ever going to see revival in our churches and in our homes that we are going to have to stop hiding behind our facades. We will have to start being truthful with ourselves and acknowledge what our Holy and Righteous God already knows about us. Left to our own devices, we would find ourselves in eternal hell. Left to our own feelings, we will continue to watch or eat or drink or listen or read or do whatever with the worship of ourselves the main focus!
½ pills of poison may not kill you or I right away, but I can assure you once again that the end result is the same. Television may not be your problem, but without a doubt each of us has ½ pills of poison that we are swallowing. We are fooling nobody and least of all, God!
As I continue with the series of worship, my concern is not so much that this is for somebody who may be reading. My concern is what kind of example am I to my wife, my family, my fellow workers, and my church. Does my example and testimony point others to the Lord Jesus Christ – OR, does my example tell others that ½ pills of poison won’t kill them!?!?
With this illustration in mind, Lord willing, in Part 6, we will consider the next part of the remedy. I pray that you will each ask the Lord where you need to change just as I am doing in my own life. Let us set our affections on things above (Col. 3:1)!
Tired of swallowing ½ pills of poison,
The Desert Pastor
6 Comments
July 2, 2008 at 7:19 pm
Desert Pastor, thank you once again for sharing your heart! May God continue to bless you and your family as you strive diligently to worship Him in spirit and in truth.
July 3, 2008 at 8:33 am
[...] Half pills of poison? – The Desert Pastor [...]
July 4, 2008 at 8:23 am
Sobering, powerful, and convicting DP!
Thanks be to the Lord for through you He has given me much to prayefully consider today!
July 4, 2008 at 7:36 pm
[...] Continue reading here. [...]
July 5, 2008 at 8:46 am
great article
July 23, 2008 at 5:59 pm
I appreciate what you’ve said, and when I look at myself and the other young adults I know, the thought of swallowing those half-pills isn’t even an issue. We are inclined to be more like the world and validate that in all sorts of ways.
Your words are a great blessing.