Spiritual Schizophrenia

Posted on April 27, 2022 by Catey Stover in Freedom Fighters

“So Ahab summoned all the people of Israel and the prophets to Mount Carmel. Then Elijah stood in front of them and said, “How much longer will you waver, hobbling between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him! But if Baal is God, then follow him!” But the people were completely silent.”

1 Kings 18:20-21 (NLT)

 

“But the people were completely silent”. I can’t help to wonder what was going through Elijah’s mind as he stared into this huge crowd of maybe Baal/maybe YHVH worshipers as they tried to process the pros and cons of wavering between two opinions. Shaking his head, he musta went to the first person he saw in the crowd and asked him what was he thinking straddling the fence between two complete opposites.

 

“’Uh, well Jehovah is like, The Creator, so He like, created everything, and Baal is like, “Dude, let’s party, for like, we may, like, die tomorrow”. So, it’s like both of them are pretty cool in a way’” said the guy in the front row at “Mount Carmel-Fest 900 (-ish B.C.).  “Yeah, nothing to put on a t-shirt there, might as well get this over with.” Elijah may have thought, and 450 prophets later, YHVH was mighty, Jezebel was steamed and 7,000 did not bow the knee to a block of wood. (Sidenote…See Isaiah 44:19, Good News Translation for a more vivid view) Anyway…

 

In Paul Tripp’s book “Do You Believe?”, there’s this little moment on page 146 where he’s talking about the same event that I’m leading with today. He makes this comment, “The culture had spiritual schizophrenia; the people would do homage to Baal and “worship” God at the same time”, with that my ears perked up and I thought to myself, “Oh, do go on…”  So, under the heading of “The only proper response to God’s sovereignty is surrender” Tripp makes a clear case that when God’s sovereignty is in question by wicked people misusing what He created for their own idolatrous worship, He’ll show up and repurpose those very same elements to demonstrate who is really in charge. “He alone is Lord over all. Case settled. Debate ended.”

 

“O LORD, answer me! Answer me so these people will know that You, O LORD, are God and that You have brought them back to Yourself.” — 1 Kings 18:37

 

But is it really that cut and dry? I mean, we’ve got an Old Testament full of folks who just didn’t get a clear understanding of Gods sovereignty. I think if I were to suggest to Paul Tripp that his use of the word “had” should be changed to “has” so it would sound like this, “The culture HAS spiritual schizophrenia”. Now, I understand that the use of the word “has” brings this into present tense and that’s my point, you can say that God is sovereign all you want and still have areas where you bow down to your particular block of wood and pay homage. Yeah, I went there.

 

And I’m just as guilty as anyone else in this. I work for a boat company that has their own merch-line and I got countless t-shirts with their logo on them. You’ll see me in the sanctuary with my “company man” hoodie on at Wednesday night prayer service when its chilly outside. It’s like my pride in where I work is on display in the House of The LORD for all to see but on the flip side, I’m not wearing any of my Jesus shirts to where I work and I hope everyone there really believes that I’m a Christian just on my say so. What a wretched man I can be. Who can save me from this body of death?

 

And wearing “insert boat company name here” t-shirts isn’t the only area where I display my version of spiritual schizophrenia, on no, wait until its football season again and my complete line of Philadelphia Eagles jersey’s come outta the closet. I better stop there or this Freedom Fighter will turn into a confession and I will disqualify myself for any future use by God…or this is just a lie I tell myself? Hmm…

 

All in all, it really isn’t the t-shirt or football jersey that makes us spiritually schizophrenic, it’s what we choose to be part of based on where our heart is. Elijah says ever so clearly, “If the LORD is God, follow Him. But if Baal is God, then follow him”. There’s a lot of well-meaning pollution out there in Secularland designed to sway our hearts but ultimately its designed to change our thoughts and get us to mosh around a block of wood. This is a good place to say read 2 Corinthians 10:3-6 and end this by quoting the apostle Paul, “We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ.” (2 Cor 10:5) Amen?

 

Written by Chris Hughes: Chris is a husband, a father, has an education in Biblical doctrine and is a graduate of the Colony of Mercy. He has been a Freedom Fighter contributor since 2008. You can e-mail him at cphughes515@verizon.net


Think About This: “Does the Lord rule your thoughts, desires, choices, words, and actions? If the Lord is God, follow Him. Belief in the sovereignty of God that doesn’t produce willing surrender isn’t Biblical belief.” – Paul David Tripp

The Daily Bible Reading: 2 Samuel 17-18; Luke 21:1-19| You can download our 2022 Daily Bible Reading Plan by clicking here. 

This Week’s Verse to Memorize: “Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel” -Philippians 1:27

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