Monday, November 17, 2008

Dr. Lloyd Jones with a blast on 'Formal Christianity'

One thing I have felt, even spoken of, alas without the powerful eloquence of Lloyd Jones (whom I am set to quote), is the foolishness and stupidity of living halfheartedly as a Christian, in a sense just kind of being a half-Christian. Well, yesterday I stumble upon these astounding words from Dr. Lloyd Jones (A preacher recognized by Piper as one of the best of the 20th Century) in a book called, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount.

He is preaching on Matt. 5: 15 & 16 where Christ calls us to LET OUR LIGHT SHINE. In the middle of his sermon Lloyd Jones says these words about this way of life I was referring to above, he calls it 'Formal Christianity.' Read this:

"... there is nothing in God's universe that is utterly so useless as a merely formal Christian. I mean by that. one who has the name but not the quality of a Christian... They appear to be Christian but they are not. They want to appear as Christians, they are not functioning as Christians. They are salt without savour, light without light, if you can imagine such a thing.

...The formal Christian is a man who knows enough about Christianity to spoil the world for him; but does not know enough about it for it to be of any positive value. He does not go with the world because he knows just enough about it to be afraid of certain things... that he cannot be wholeheartedly with them. On the other hand he has no real fellowship with the Christian. He has enough 'Christianity' to spoil everything else, but not enough to give him real happiness, peace and joy, and abundance of life. I think such people are the most pathetic people in the world. Our Lord certainly says they are the most useless people in the world. They do not function as worldlings or as Christians. They are nothing, neither salt nor light, neither one thing nor the other...
They are finally outsiders.
They are more outside, in a sense, then the man who is entirely worldly and makes no claim or profession, because he at least has his own society!"


Hard but true. Hot nor cold, we cannot play the 'luke-warm' game with a Holy God.

Simon

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