"I'm a middle-of-the road kinda guy," Chuck said to his friend Steve as they walked the narrow stretch of road just outside of town. It was their custom to cool down on the sidewalks of this street after their runs. "It doesn't take much to please me, and I try to get along with everybody."
"Don't you think it is beneficial to feel strongly about something?" Steve asked. "I mean, we humans are kind of made to be passionate about things--do you ever feel like your life lacks purpose?"
"Nope," Chuck said as he walked out into the middle of the street to make a point. Looking back at Steve and lifting up his arms with a wide grin on his face, he said, "Here, I am free!"
Then the semi truck came.
It seems that a lot of people share Chuck's mindset. One aspect of it is that "If what I am doing doesn't hurt anybody then it is fine. I even help people sometimes. I'm a good person, right?"
The Bible paints quite a different picture. In Romans, it says "For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God" (Rom. 8:5-8).
Here, the Apostle Paul, the author of Romans, makes it clear that every single person thinks one of two ways: either they have their mind set on the "flesh" or have their mind set on the "Spirit." One (the flesh) is hostile towards God and leads to death, and the other (the Spirit) makes peace with God and leads to life. We can see then the problem with Chuck's reasoning in light of this Scripture--he has to be thinking with one influence or the other. There is no middle of the road. The idea of somehow being both moral and neutral to spiritual matters does not line up with at least this Scripture in Romans.
In Romans 6:16, Paul says, "Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?" Paul makes the point here that everyone is a slave to something. Being a slave to sin means being a slave to disobedience to God--this also means that I am free from being obedient to God, or free from righteousness.
In The United States of America, we are raised to enjoy, if not demand our freedom, so whenever freedom is talked about, naturally I have a tendency to think that it is good. But in this case, being free from obedience to God is not a good thing because this freedom leads to death--not just my physical death but an eternal death. Thankfully, I have the opportunity then to be freed from sin, leading to death, and present myself as a slave to obedience to God, leading to life. It is one or the other. Either I am a slave to death or a slave to life, ultimately.
Paul makes a similar point in his letter to the Galatians, "But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please" (Galatians 5:16-17, emphasis added). If I am doing what God pleases, I will not be doing what naturally pleases me. It is one or the other.
So back to our friend Chuck. He had time to realize that the middle of the road was not a safe place to be. Like Chuck, in order to live, we must pick a side. God is calling us on His side to be with Him.
How will you respond?
"Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not form the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever." ~1 John 2:15-17
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