The Danger of Selective Faith

Hey, this is Tim, and welcome to the Student Life Podcast, where we explore the everyday challenges and big questions of life through a biblical lens while navigating the realities of a secular world. Enjoy. Yo, what up? So let's jump straight into it. Uh, so many of y'all that have listened to the, the bonus episode, the new vision for this particular podcast, I I want to encourage you to go listen to that if you haven't, but we're going to go ahead and jump straight into it. So I did tweak something. I think I said the Thursday, but now my goal is to actually release on the first Tuesday of every month. And sometimes it might come Wednesday or Thursday, barring holidays, but for the most part, I should pretty much stick to that format with bonus material here and there. So hey, let's, let's get into it. Let's roll. Um, so, uh, with this one, we're going to call this title right here The Danger of Selective Faith. Uh, The Danger of Selective Faith. And, you know, one of the things that I— so I have some scripture. Uh, this one will be biblical. Of course, like I said, we talk about various topics and things of that nature as I just study. And again, one of the things I've been, been very, very clear, uh, and I'm trying to pace myself better, is that, um, I don't try to, uh, and this echoed a lot, but I don't try— well, let me back up, not try. I got this from John C. Maxwell. I got it from my dad. I got it from others. Uh, I don't teach things that I don't strive to live. I don't teach things that I live and things I know I'm striving and relying, deeply relying on the Holy Spirit, as well as self-discipline, self-control, which is— I know it's a fruit of the Holy Spirit, but, um, there is a, um Hey, and I know some people get tripped up over the word trying, but training. Yeah, Greg Rochelle, I got that from him. Training. So I am training and striving through the power of God to live out these things, uh, and sometimes I do fall short in certain areas, uh, and, and again, you go back and just rock with me, uh, but nevertheless, uh, I am not one that preach and live something in totally opposition. I just don't believe in that, and I don't believe that that's true faith in God. Uh, in my opinion, uh, when I was even talking to my wife, I don't believe that I have true faith in God that he can deliver me if I am preaching something and totally living in a habitual state, uh, opposite of it. Um, so hey, let's— so we're going to get into that, um, in this episode, as I said. So, uh, one of the things that I wanted to open up with is that, uh, most of us don't struggle with having faith in God. Like, we don't. Uh, some, some of us do, But most of us, I believe, we don't struggle with having just the faith in God. Uh, where I believe a lot of us struggle, uh, with is having faith in God when it confronts the part of us that we don't want to change, uh, when it confronts the parts of us that we don't want to surrender to him, when it confronts those areas that we think that are hidden and we won't bring into the light. Because God knows all. He knows the heart. He knows us better than we know ourselves. Uh, and so again, like a lot of us, I do— I believe we have faith in God up until that point, or which is not the title of this episode, I think I did one a while ago. We have faith in God long as his will runs parallel to our will. We— a lot of us don't have faith in surrendering to God's will. We have faith in the approval of our will rather than his will and his will alone and us submitting to that. But that's, that's not the episode part for the most part today. So one of the passages that I want to open up with is, uh, Hebrews 4:12. And I'm gonna read it. It says, for the word of God is alive and active. For the word of God is alive and active, sharper than any double-edged sword. It penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. It judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Again, it says that it, it penetrates even to dividing the the soul and the spirit. Like, let us meditate on it. Like, we, we really need to meditate on that, that it is not a knife in this world that can slice the soul and the spirit, but God's word can. That's how sharp his word is, is living and is active. And so that being said is that God's words cut into the hidden places whether we face them or not. Like, his word cuts into everything in our life, everything in our life. And the reality is that when we don't— when we think we're hiding it, his word is still active, living and active. It's, it's going to and fro, judging, judging our thoughts, judging our attitudes, our postures of the heart. That's what his word does. And it's, it's not a knife in the world that's sharp enough to do that, but again, his word can. So what do I mean by this selective faith? Selective faith is essentially trusting God in theory, like, Lord, I trust you, I believe in the— I believe it's the inerrancy of your word. Like, a lot of preachers and teachers are like this, like, I believe this is what God's word said, I believe in the accuracy of it, but I don't believe in the supremacy of it. And so in other words, it's trusting in God in theory but resisting him in practice. Again, this is why I believe it's, it's easy to preach and perform something and teach something and not want to become one with it. So I can teach it and I can believe it for other people's lives. I believe in the theory of God's words, but I don't really trust it in practice. So I'm trusting him on his word, and I'm up here preaching and teaching it because I believe people can be delivered off of it, but not for my life. Because this is, again, it's selective faith. I have enough faith that people will be moved by this, you know, how I break down the word and I perform it, and I do all of these things, but yet in my own life, um, I'm not practicing and I'm not living it. So again, it's trusting God in theory but resisting him in practice. And James 1:22 has already really, uh, spoke to this. Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. And it goes on and, um, talks about basically if I look into a mirror and I forget who I am, it's like a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. Paraphrase. So in that case is that God's word, um, essentially is to hear it is to obey. Hearing it with a surrender— surrendered posture is to obey it. Because in the word of God, no matter what we've been taught, we say things like, well, I hear it, I hear it, I'm listening, I hear the word of God. But if we are not obeying, then the Bible is saying, well, to hear is to obey. They're not separated. So if you're not obeying, then you didn't hear me. That's how God looks at it. No matter how much we try to twist it, if we are not posture to obey him, then God is essentially saying that you don't hear me. And, and that's Bible, that is the word of God. So hearing without surrender is where selective faith essentially lives. Hearing without surrender is where faith— hearing without surrender is where selective faith essentially lives. And so one of the things that I have really just been praying and meditate to God on is essentially saying that It's like this. Lord, help me. Help me, Holy Spirit, say this the right way. Um, Lord, help me. Uh, I wish I— oh man, I should have processed this. It's easy to have faith. Oh yeah, I'm not going to edit this. It's easy to have faith when it doesn't disrupt our habits. Yeah, that's it. It's easy to have faith when it doesn't disrupt our habits, our comfort, or our image. Like, again, it's super easy to have it, but if faith cost us something Oh man, if faith costs us something, we don't want it. But this is the thing: if faith never costs, it's not faith. If faith never costs you anything, it's not faith. It is essentially that, man, I'm always looking to be in agreement with God. It's what I'm trying to say. And I might not be saying it right. I probably should have processed this part a little bit more. But if faith never costs us something, That is not faith. It's an agreement. It is seeking an agreement with God. Like, God, I— and I understand, well, I mean, I'm always in agreement. No, no, I'm saying that it's more so like, God, uh, I'm not moving unless I'm in agreement with what you're saying. God don't work like that. We have to be in agreement with what he says. He's not looking to be, uh, moving or whatever, like 'Oh, I'm looking for your agreement or your approval on this.' No, it is always us postured, 'Lord, I'm gonna come into alignment with that. Lord, I'm gonna come into agreement with what you are saying. Your will be done.' Like, again, I don't want to isolate verses here because typically I'm more of an expository type person, but I am being a little bit more topical here. Uh, but Luke 9:23 says, 'Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily.' and follow me. Luke 9:23, whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. So again, what is— what, what is faith costing you? Because yes, is it a— it's a gift from God, but, but how are you using that gift? What is it costing? Am I totally postured and surrendering to God? Am I totally postured and saying, okay Lord, I'm going to believe by faith? If you confront an area I have enough faith that you can deliver me from that area, no matter what I've been through, through community, through people, through vertical and horizontal relationship. Do I believe that you can deliver me out of it and sustain me? Do I believe I can practice better money habits? Do I believe that I can, uh, work and contend for my marriage? Do I believe that I can show up and be more present and disciple my kids, disciple others? Like, these are questions that I believe that we, we have to— like, faith, um, I don't think that it's just always safe. I don't. When I look at scripture, you can go back to Abraham, like, leave all of this. Like, where is that safe? That's like God essentially saying, hey, I want you to walk away from your job, tell them I don't want the 401k, tell them you don't want anything, just go leave, whatever, leave everything. And go here, man, I'm telling you right now, it'll probably be like, Lord, my faith will be tested. Uproot my family, leave everything behind. Like, if God really had told me that— so it's easy to look at the scripture and say, Lord, I have that type of faith, only until he pairs it with our life. It's only until he— when he pairs scripture with our life, man, the real us show up. And so we, we want to make sure that we're not caught up in this bubble of selective faith, because selective faith is essentially selective growth. Selective faith is selective maturity. And God wants the whole man. He, he wants us to mature in all areas of life. And so when we say things like, God, I'll trust you here but not over there, or God, I trust you here but not right there, we put limits on the transformation. We put limits on a complete transformational work that God desires to do within us. Like, we, we, like, we do. Romans 12:2 says, do not be conformed to the pattern of the world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. We are supposed to be renewed, or what are— we are supposed to be renewed by, um, I'm sorry, our minds are supposed to be renewed by the word of God. We are, we are being transformed with that. So it's, God, I trust you completely. I am 100% like looking for growth. I am 100% in agreement with your word, whether I agree with it or not. I— whether I'm scared or not, God, I am 100% with you. Like, that is what God is essentially looking for, uh, in my understanding of scripture. Like, it is always about what he is calling us to, because the reality of it is— and, and I like what my dad has said in this context— is that a lot of times we'd be like man, I need more of God. But essentially, no, what it is is that, uh, we just need to surrender every area. We need to surrender more. We need to be postured more. We need to be discipled more. We need to mature more. Like, that's the reality of it. Because as we have the Holy Spirit, we have all that we need. There's not more of him coming. It is him in his essence. It is us surrendering and learning how to yield to him more. Like, this is Bible. This is like something that in my own life, like, I am striving to do. I am striving to do it in my marriage. I'm striving to do it with my kids. I'm striving to do it in my job. I'm trying to do it— striving to do it in my life. Like, this is essentially— this is Bible. So God, like, when I, when I see a lot of things out here today, uh, God doesn't expose the real me to shame me. Like, He doesn't. When I am praying and I'm asking God to wring out my heart— I remember my father-in-law, when my wife and I first got married, he was like, it's like a sponge or something. He used a towel and he was just doing an example of like, some things are going to come out, some things in this. He was like, but you got to be committed to holding on. And that's how I look at this thing with God, man. There are things in my life that as I wring out consistently I'm praying and I'm asking God, help me with this. God, I'm tired of being slothful in this. God, why do I keep falling here? Uh, why do I keep getting attitude? Why? Like these things, like, and, and I'm just, I'm taking them to him and I'm praying, I'm emptying my heart. Like that, that is essentially like, God, I want to desperately grow in this area and be more submitted and yielding. That is work. Like, it, it's work and it's hard. It, it— because this flesh wants what it wants. Like showing forgiveness in the area that you don't want to show forgiveness to, taking things that you don't want to take. And at the same time, even in like in these dynamics, and a lot of times, you know, people might think that, oh, uh, man, they're just all over the place, they're double-minded. No, some of this stuff is like, man, I, I'm in pain and this hurts me, it really hurts me. Because it could be dealing with pride, it could be dealing with insecurities, but God is telling me to show forgiveness in it. Like, so, because I don't want to be selective. I don't. I, I want— growth happens when there's nothing off limits to God. That's what I'm trying to say. Thank you, Holy Spirit. Growth happens when there is nothing off limits to God. And while we maintain this selective faith, we'll always have selective growth, because again, as I said, it is essentially telling God I trust you here but not there. So God, therefore I'm going to put restrictions and limitations on what I allow you to transform within my life. That is essentially what we tell God when we maintain this posture of selective faith. And so, I mean, we just gotta like come to God like, uh, John, John 8:32, then you will know the truth and the truth will make you free. Hebrews 12:10-11. God disciplines us for our good in order that we may share in his holiness. It produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. Again, I'm not trying, I'm training. I love that by Greg Croshaw. I'm not trying, I'm training. How are you training to look more like Christ? Like, that, that is a question we have to really ask ourselves. Not because we often say, well, man, I'm trying to look more like God, I'm trying to be more Christ-like. No, how are you training to look more like Christ? Because it's easy again to say I'm trying, but training is totally different. I'm trying to prepare for a 5K, or am I training for a 5K? I'm trying to get my body right in my eating habits, or no, I'm training to get my body right, or my getting my eating habits under control. Totally two different postures. So his confrontation is never about condemnation. It is an invitation to freedom. It is an invitation to look more like Christ. It is an invitation to yield to the Holy Spirit. It is an invitation to crucify this flesh, to be empowered to do those things. It is an invitation to just literally like, Lord, here I am. Here I am, God. Like, use me the way you desire to be that you desire to use me. And so I would just say, you know, one of the things that I would ask in this context is to really just pause and say, hey, do I actually have the faith in God? Do I actually have faith in God, or do I only have faith in a version of God who doesn't challenge me? In other words, do I believe the Jesus that culture has tried to create Or do I believe that Jesus is in the Bible? Do I believe the power of the Holy Spirit that's in the Bible, or do I believe in this sensational, emotional Holy Spirit that the world tries to, uh, conjure up, man has conjured up? Or do I really believe in the power of the Holy Spirit of the scriptures? Like, that, that is what I think we all have to ask ourselves, because even in scripture, clear as day. These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. I think it's Mark 7. God, he's saying people will honor me with their lips, they'll say anything, but their hearts, man, man, like, they so far from me. Matthew 7, Lord, did we not do all these things in your name? And he says, depart from me, I never knew you, meaning that you never lived a submitted life to me. You were so selective. You wanted me to show up and do all of these things, and I did do them, but I never knew you. I— man, like, I don't have— like, I do have time, but that's not the episode for this day because I really want to unpack that passage of scripture. But that is something that should be a, a heart check, even to the point where we should examine ourselves to see whether we are in the faith. Like, I think Paul told us that in Corinthians. I was, uh, reading that in a devotional like a few months ago, and man, when I tell that thing like leaped off the pages to me, for lack of better terms. Like examining ourselves to test, like to know whether we are in the faith or not. Like we should be testing ourselves, we should, but we don't live in that posture. And that's why I think essentially why God is always allowing us to be tested. I'm not talking about our tempt— our temptations. I'm talking about God testing us to show us where we are, because he already knows. It's, it's always for us. So my challenge for all of us, um, today, the ones that's rocking with this episode, is just to identify one area. Identify one area that you have been avoiding. Like, we all should do that. Identify one area that we have been avoiding God's conviction, the power, the Holy Spirit conviction. And I think we should pray. We should pray like, God, show me the parts of me that I don't want to confront. Show me the parts that I think I'm protecting from you. Show me the parts of you that I've given you access to my house, but told you don't go in that room, in that room, in that room, but you can't go anywhere else. Like, I love this passage of scripture in Psalms when God talks about, I can't, uh, search me, O Lord, like, and know my heart. I like, search me again. It is not God searching you for him, it is for us. God revealed those things to me so that I may confront them through the power of the Holy Spirit. That's what I take from that verse. I believe it's Psalms 130— is it 139? 130? I believe it's 139. Lord, I should just look it up real quick. Let me see, hold on one sec. Uh, Psalms 139. Yeah. Search me, O God, and know my heart. Test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting. So like, the question is, this is the danger of selective faith. We believe that I have enough faith to shout, jump, and I'm not knocking shouting, trust me, I'm not knocking it. I love the praise, I love to lift my hands, I cry, but all of that means nothing if my faith is not rooted in Christ and his redemptive work. It means nothing if I don't really truly have faith in the Holy Spirit to confront me, to convict me, and to help sustain me, to help mature me, to walk out this salvation. Like, our soul needs salvation. Like, we have been justified. That is a gift, and it came with the ultimate sacrifice through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. So, so none of us can boast. Like, it's through Christ— justification is through Christ Jesus alone, but the sanctification is a process. It is pairing, it is in a tandem intimate relationship with the Holy Spirit and consistently yielding to him. And if I had time, I would do a teaching on, uh, the distinction between the indwelling and the filling of the Holy Spirit. And I think a lot of us, because we've been programmed because someone laid hands or we went up in tongues or whatever, or we felt, um, it was baptized and all these type of things. I think that we just believe because we were filled or whatever, we had that moment and we don't do anything. I think we still feel like that. We might be clinging to a feeling that's 10, 15, 20 years ago. But biblically, like, I don't care about doctoral statements and things, doctrinal statements that don't apply with scripture. A feeling is a continuation, is not a one-time event. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit— hey, he comes, he never leaves. But filling is what we participate in. That is a continuous process, a continuous process until we have our glorified bodies. Sanctification, because we're being renewed day by day, moment by moment. So essentially, faith isn't— it isn't proved by what I claim to believe. It's not essentially— to me, according to the scripture, faith is revealed in what I let God change in me. That is a mature 100% faith. But the other, it's all selective. And so I just, man, like, the thing is with me going forward is that I just, I truly desire to live my life in a way that shows God that I have faith in his finished work, that I have faith that God can change me, can transform my life, that through the power of his word, through prayer and trusting and yielding to him, to count the cost and desire to look like Christ— I have faith in all of that. Also too, as I look into self-control, delayed gratification, like, I have content in all things. Like, we quote that verse uh, like, I can do all things through Christ that strengthen me. But that was a lot of— that was in the context of contentment. And a lot of us, we're not content. We, we live in this I deserve, like, oh, I'm not gonna go there. But the thing is, and then we, we start to kind of have again this selective faith, like, oh, God can do it here, but he don't have— I don't have enough faith that God can keep me content because I'm driven off my emotions and what I think I deserve. Or I have enough faith that again, I'm gonna get up here and I'ma woo the crowd, I'ma sing this amazing song and do all this type of stuff, but I don't have enough faith that he can process me in, uh, in private. That I'm doing other things in private that other people can't see, but I don't have enough faith, as my wife said, that God sees me. He sees everything. He knows, and he knew that I was going to commit the act. Like, I don't have that type of faith because I'm so convinced is that, well, I'm fooling people and I'm working my gift, but it's not truly to glorify God. It's really to, um, glorify myself, to make myself look good. Because a person that— again, and I've been there, I've been there where I've used the gifts that God has given me with a posture to just be a— a practice in opposition with the very thing I was teaching. I've been there. It is so easy to fall into that trap, man, if we are not truly uh, becoming one with Christ. It is easy. It is. I said this in a message that I preached not too long ago, um, it's easy for me to demonstrate selective faith and have a form of godliness but not of power because I've been around the local context of church in my whole life. I have. But again, that's, that's another episode for another day. So again, to end on a note is that, man, I would just really truly challenge all of us to stop and really like listen to the context of this episode, look at the guide that'll be posted with it, and say, hey man, do— have I fallen into the danger of a selective faith? Have I fell into the danger of a selective faith, or am I truly living out a holistic faith with Christ? Like, that's it. So man, I love you all. I'm praying for y'all. I pray that this monthly format Blesses you. And, uh, we'll just get into more and more content. And again, like I say, depending on how it does, format may change again, but this is a better pace for me. And also too, like I said, I'll be dropping some bonus things and trying to talk to some, some, um, some real-time whatever things, man. So just keep everybody that you know, uh, in prayer. Uh, get a part of a local church, man. Pray and ask God. I understand fellowship and all of that. Uh, but I just encourage you, uh, there's no perfect local church, but just pray and ask God, man. Really examine, study the leaders, study their teaching, examine their lifestyles, examine the people lifestyle, and be a part of a community. Because there are some great local churches out here. Again, I'm not talking about perfect, man. We're not going to see that until the day that Jesus Christ comes back and we are in our glorified state. Uh, but I would just encourage you, and if you're not in a local church, if you've been hurt by one and all that type of— try to find a local community to be a part of, uh, a group that's truly going to hold you accountable. But ultimately, I pray that you be a part of a local church because they need you. Like, they need you. So I love you all, I'm praying for you, and always feel free to reach out to me if you want to talk, whatever. Uh, biblically, uh, if you're not into this biblical stuff, hey, I still hold space to talk with you, uh, because at the end of the day, God made you, uh, he loves you, and there's nothing that can separate you from his love. And so I want to model that as well. So again, whether you're a believer or not, hey, I'm open to talk, uh, long as it's proactive and, you know, we're truly here, uh, for one another, uh, if that makes sense. So, uh, that being said, man, be blessed. Take care, and, uh, man, God is faithful. Thanks for joining me today on the Student Life Podcast. And remember, learning never stops and wisdom grows as we seek truth in both scripture and life. And until next time, keep walking faithfully and thinking deeply. Be blessed.