The greatest danger we face in following Jesus Christ is a very simple danger. It is also a very, very common danger. And the deadliness of this grave danger lies in its simplicity. It is for this reason that many believers face this danger, and fall to this danger in great numbers – WITHOUT EVEN KNOWING WHAT IS HAPPENING.
If we are to use a physical example to illustrate this danger, an apt example will be carbon monoxide poisoning. This gas is colourless, odourless, and tasteless. Yet it could be very deadly. People may be exposed to it at high levels without even knowing that they could be hours away from death. And if they happen to be asleep at the time of exposure, they may just quietly slip from LIFE TO DEATH without any noise – all in a very short space of time. A silent danger. A killer danger.
We can also illustrate this danger from an episode in the Bible. A simple account that we read in Luke 2:41-51. In that story, the family of Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus, were returning to Nazareth after the Feast of Passover in Jerusalem. It was a great time of joy for the whole clan. The joy of knowing that they had celebrated the Passover ordained by God since the days of their forefathers. So, an atmosphere of spiritual fulfilment pervaded the throng as the extended family headed back home.
As they journeyed along, the Bible records in verse 44 that Joseph and Mary ASSUMED that 12-year-old Jesus was journeying along with them in the midst of their relatives. They had travelled a day’s journey before they realised that Jesus was NOT in the company. It was a day of BLIND FAITH in believing that, somehow, Jesus was following them. That Jesus was somewhere in the crowd.
But, clearly, Jesus was NOT! He had stopped. He had made a detour somewhere during the journey of merriment. A detour to ‘be at His Father’s business’ (verse 49). A quiet, unnoticed detour that NONE of His co-travellers noticed. So, at that period, in that moment in history, THEY HAD ‘LOST’ JESUS! And for a whole day, THEY DID NOT KNOW that they had lost THE GREATEST TREASURE ON EARTH – the treasure that God committed to their care. They had lost Jesus. And they did NOT KNOW.
By now, the subject of this article is probably clear – THE GREATEST DANGER WE FACE IN CHRISTIANITY. The danger of thinking we are walking with Jesus Christ on the journey to eternity – not realising that HE IS NOT A PART OF THE JOURNEY ANY LONGER!
This is a lethal danger that a believer faces today. A danger that a family faces. A danger that a church faces. The danger of ‘losing’ Jesus without knowing. Perhaps, it may be ‘understandable’ that a lone, careless believer may be unaware that he has ‘lost’ Christ in the journey of destiny. But does it not surprise us, nay shock us, to know that a whole vibrant NEW TESTAMENT Church may ‘lose’ Christ, and not even be aware?! This sad reality is a fact that underscores and highlights the HUGE DANGER that is inherent in the subject that we are considering in this article.
In a sobering way, it is Jesus Himself that helps us to see how it is possible for a whole church to ‘lose’ Christ, and not even know it. He highlighted this danger in His interaction with the seven churches in Asia, as recorded in Revelation 2 and 3. In these accounts, three out of the seven churches that Jesus evaluated had ‘lost’ Christ in varying degrees.
The first church that we see facing this existential danger is the remarkable church in Ephesus (Revelation 2:1-7). The church was very fruitful and had so many positive factors in her favour. Yet in verse 4, Jesus announced sombrely, “Nevertheless, I have somewhat against thee, because THOU HAST LEFT THY FIRST LOVE.” They had left Jesus, yet they were fruitful! They had left Jesus, yet they had many positive indices as Jesus outlined in verses 2-3!
This is the danger of spiritual motion WITHOUT progress. The danger of going around in spiritual circles that lead nowhere. For it is ONLY in Christ ALONE that the Father measures ALL SPIRITUAL PROGRESS. Without Christ firmly enthroned in the centre, ALL SPIRITUAL FRUITS/WORKS amount to zero. Total zero! To underscore the huge danger that lay ahead of the Ephesian church, if they continued on the same path, please look at Jesus’ warning to them in verse 5. “... REPENT... or else I will come unto thee quickly and will REMOVE THY CANDLESTICK OUT OF HIS PLACE, except thou repent.”
Obviously, if they didn’t repent, and He removed the ‘candlestick out of his place’ as a consequence, that church would have been plunged into darkness – and eventually into oblivion. This is the danger of thinking we are travelling with Jesus, when He’s actually not in the boat.
The second time we see this danger is in the church in Sardis (Revelation 3:1-6). This was a very popular church with A GREAT REPUTATION in its community for being A LIVING CHURCH. Everybody knew them for that. But, in the estimation of God, the words of Jesus are clear, “... THOU ... ART DEAD....” (verse 1). So, a church that was in TERMINAL DECLINE had a reputation for being A LIVING CHURCH, even among God’s people! Do you see the danger? They did not realise their true condition. And unless they repented, the outcome would have been disastrous as Jesus outlined in verse 3.
The third church with this same problem is the church that is spiritually equivalent to the church in our days – the church in Laodicea (Revelation 3:14-22). This was a church that thought it was A BLESSED CHURCH (verse 17). She did not know that, IN TRUTH, in the words of Jesus, she was actually “...WRETCHED, and MISERABLE, and POOR, and BLIND, and NAKED”.
In verse 20, it is not difficult to perceive that this church has clearly ‘lost’ Jesus without knowing. For we see Jesus standing OUTSIDE, knocking for the attention of those that could hear Him, so that He would fellowship with those ones. This church was BLIND, but she did not know. This church was NAKED, but she did not know. Ditto for being POOR, WRETCHED, and MISERABLE. Yet, she prided herself in being a materially blessed church. They had 'lost' Jesus, and their focus had shifted from the eternal to the temporal.
Please remember that all these three churches bore the name of Christ. They gathered in His name. Churches that PRESUMED they were okay, and were on the way to heaven. How very, very wrong they were! And here is a sobering thought: if all these happened to churches that lived within the days of the last Apostle of Christ, you can imagine the condition of those of us that now live 2,000 years removed from those days!!!
The lessons of all these for us as individual Christians are vivid. And these should cause us to pause NOW. To think. To think DEEPLY. And not to take ANYTHING for granted. For, in this end-time, we live in the days of lukewarmness – the days of SELF. We live in days when the standards of God have been lowered so much that they are almost non-existent. Days of gross, utter spiritual darkness.
The believer that wants to escape this danger must be VERY, VERY CAREFUL and WATCHFUL. Careful to STAND ALONE, if and when necessary, in the journey of following Jesus Christ. For this is where the danger usually starts – travelling with Jesus in a crowd. Remember this in the story we saw in Luke 2:41-51? If Joseph and Mary were travelling alone with Jesus, would it have taken them travelling a whole day’s journey before realising that He was missing? Apparently not! Lesson: If you are not well practised in travelling with Jesus ALONE by yourself, you’ll endanger yourself by travelling with Him in the midst of the crowd of lukewarm believers in this end-time.
Particularly, this is why Jesus is calling believers away from the whorish, lukewarm church system of today. Calling them BACK TO HIMSELF for fellowship, just as He did in Revelation 3:20. THE WISE WILL HEED THIS CALL.
When we focus on building our one-on-one fellowship with Jesus, our focus on Him will not be compromised by the distraction of the multitude. Our CONSTANT AWARENESS of His presence and His disposition will be enhanced. For Jesus cannot be boxed into any organisation or framework! HE IS LORD! He has a mind of His own. And, often, that mind goes completely contrary to our mortal, carnal minds. This is why we often do not notice when He makes His detours in line with the will of the Father. Only spiritually sensitive believers, who are DEAD TO SELF, can discern the detours of the Lord.
It is for this reason that Jesus said no man can follow Him UNTIL such a man DENIES HIMSELF and CARRIES HIS CROSS (Luke 9:27). SELF and Jesus can NEVER, EVER walk together comfortably. The cross of Christ is the place of the sacrifice of our lives AND OUR WILL – so that JESUS ALONE will live, and walk, in us.
To walk with Him, our entire lives must be entwined in His life. We cannot think outside Him. We cannot spend outside Him. We cannot have relationships/associations outside Him. We cannot congregate in fellowship with anybody outside Him. In fact, we cannot do ANYTHING outside Him! Which is why He himself said, “... for without me ye can do NOTHING” (John 15:5). Everything and anything we do without Him is EQUAL TO NOTHING – particularly in eternity.
This is a sad fact that many believers do not know today. They delude themselves into thinking that they are in Christ, when they have actually ‘lost’ Him (or never even had Him at all!). If you have fallen into this danger today, please HASTEN to go back, AT ALL COSTS, to find Him again. To link up with Him again. For it is only on the Day of Judgment that many believers will realise that they have been victims of this GREATEST DANGER IN THE CHRISTIAN FAITH.
Friend, where is Jesus in your life TODAY? Where exactly? Please THINK DEEPLY on this subject.
Thanks for reading, God bless you.