Values: Making A Comeback

See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.

Colossians 2:8

For several years John met with a small group of men. They experienced a real bond in Christ, and they were mutually committed to the Lord. They met regularly for Bible Study and accountability. There was nothing superficial in their relationships.

Some of the brothers in his group counseled John against becoming involved in a questionable business relationship, but John forged ahead anyway. Soon, his desire to come apart daily to meet with the Lord diminished. He eventually dropped out of the group. Several years later his values only vaguely reflected Biblical principles. Over a span of several years, a swirling whirlpool of selfish desires relentlessly pulled him into its vortex until one day the world swallowed him up, just as Jonah was swallowed into the belly of a great fish. He walked away from God.

Are you at high risk to be swallowed up? Once someone walks away from the Lord it is hard to make a comeback. It is easier to continue in Christ than to make a comeback. “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him" (Colossians 2:6-7, emphasis added).

What poses the greatest risk to not continuing in Christ? The greatest risk is the crisis of values which inexorably comes when we follow hollow and deceptive philosophy. It may not come until we have traveled for many years down the road of self-deceit, but it will come.

The crisis of values is no less than a bad case of the -ism’s—materialism, relativism, humanism, hedonism, liberalism, legalism, secularism and so on. I doubt few of us ever set out to become a materialist or a relativist or whatever. It is more that without self-examination we atrophy from the Christian value system into something less. Not that we abandon the spiritual connection, but slowly, almost imperceptibly, we undo the moral knot to which we pledged ourselves. When once we redraw the line, there is less pressure against redrawing it, and less and less each time thereafter.

Why Comebacks Are Hard

It is harder to make a comeback than to continue in Christ. We have to deal with the effects of sin in our lives. Once we have undergone and completed His discipline, He rejoices and welcomes us with celebration. But the road back is a hard road. We have left a trail of casualties: hurt people, broken relationships, poor choices, financial problems, and lots of pain—emotional and spiritual pain.

God wants us to make a comeback. He wants us to make a comeback more than we do. Nothing frustrates an employer more than to want an employee to succeed more than the employee himself wants to succeed. God is the same; He wants us to succeed. This is transparent, because were it not for His grace, none of us would ever be able to make the comeback. He finds us; we don’t find Him.

How to Start a Comeback

How can someone start a comeback? From the belly of the great fish Jonah cried out, “When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, Lord, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple. Those who cling to worthless idols [the -ism’s] forfeit the grace that could be theirs" (Jonah 2:7-8). Jonah could not know it, but when he humbled himself, God initiated his comeback. When we humble ourselves and turn back, God initiates our comeback.

At the point Jonah turned back, how did God respond? Did He call for a celebration? No, He did not. Once we have been swallowed up, the first step back is merely to make it back to dry land. “And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land” (Jonah 2:10).

When we start on the comeback, we start from where we have been—in the belly of the world which swallowed us up. God spits us up onto the shore by His grace; it is an inauspicious starting point from which to make a comeback.

The comeback will be embarrassing. The odor of where we have been remains until we cleanse ourselves. The people we hurt will not trust us at first. We must still work through the human consequences of having untied the moral knot—of being taken captive by hollow and deceptive philosophy. Painful and embarrassing it may be, but He does let us come back.

Do you have a case of the -ism’s?. Have you been taken captive, swallowed up into the belly of the world? If you have been swallowed up, are you ready yet to humble yourself? Are you ready to start your comeback? If you are willing, He is willing.

I SURRENDER

Lord, I have been swallowed up by the world. I have a case of the -ism’s. Lord, my life was ebbing away, but I have remembered You. Do not let me forfeit Your grace. Grant me a second chance. I renounce the idols and -ism’s which have slowly swallowed me up. Help me retie the moral knot. Help me to make a comeback. Amen.