When did it become acceptable to say you’ll do something and not follow through?
Nearly every day we experience the effects of a world that has long since compromised on the call to commitment. And, unfortunately, the Church is not immune.
Meetings are confirmed, but one party is left waiting. We RSVP to events, but later become enticed by the bigger, better deal. We wager and renege and commit and cancel. Spouses are divorced, engagements called off, contracts breached and promises broken as if our fingers stay perpetually crossed.
Not only does our caprice inconvenience others, but it also sounds a haunting echo within the canyon between who we are and who we are created and called to be in Christ. Rather than reflecting the integrity of the LORD, such inconsistency mockingly dishonors the image of the One who is always faithful, honest and unchanging (Heb.6:18; Titus 1:2; Num.23:19; James 1:16-18).
The problem is not only that we are quick to waver but that we are often blind to the fact that this is a problem. We accept it as a cultural norm instead of a character flaw, a sin, a gaping hole in our holiness and feel no conviction. We are certainly committed, but primarily to our own comfort, convenience and immediate craving.
Where are the men and women in our age who mirror the Psalmist’s description?
O LORD, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill? He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart; who does not slander with his tongue and does no evil to his neighbor, nor takes up a reproach against his friend; in whose eyes a vile person is despised, but who honors those who fear the LORD; who swears to his own hurt and does not change; who does not put out his money at interest and does not take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be moved. Psalm 15:1-5
Who fears the LORD and shall sojourn and dwell among Him?
The one “who swears to his own hurt and does not change.”
Consider the radical implications of this statement. Dwell upon the drastic change that might come out of a life unchanged and unmoved from the integrity of your word. Imagine doing so not only when convenient, but even when remaining steadfast actually results in loss, discomfort and inconvenience.
We are commended to be consistently faithful, honest and steadfast, exemplifying commitment to our word in large and small things: in the home, office and gym, around friends, family, acquaintances, strangers and enemies, when financially advantageous or disastrous. We who fear the LORD must live lives marked by the moral virtue of integrity and stay dedicated and disciplined to abide by our word in all things at all times.
Christ is faithful. Christ is consistent. Christ is honest and unchanging and committed. And Christians are being continually called and conformed to Christ’s image.
Are our lives reflecting the character of the Son whose word is perfectly and perpetually steadfast, or are we drifting along with the changing currents of the world’s careless words?
God is ever faithful, and the one who fears Him “swears to his own hurt and does not change.”
