Unless you have been completely out of touch the last few days, you know by now about the leaked Supreme Court document that seems to imply the high court’s intention to overturn Roe vs. Wade, which would make abortion unconstitutional. Of course, this has prompted many protests by those who support abortion. During news coverage of one these protests in Palm Springs, California, a person interviewed made this statement, “This issue should be decided by voters not unelected judges.” This is a prime example of inconsistency. The original right to abortion was not decided by voters but by unelected judges.
Inconsistency is what creates confusion and conflict. You see it in virtually every aspect of life. In the world of sports, those who officiate and enforce the rules are expected to enforce the rules the same for both teams, however, there are times when it does not happen. We will hear politicians or other prominent people proclaim their faith in God and then turn around and say or do something that goes completely against God’s word! Every book written on parenting (at least the reliable ones) stress the importance of being consistent with your children. That is the only way they can truly understand what the parent desires of them.
Throughout the Bible, we see people who were inconsistent. It is not difficult. You could make a list of everyone who has a prominent role in the scriptures and easily pick out inconsistencies in their lives, except Jesus, of course! Adam walked with God yet ate of the forbidden fruit. Noah did exactly as God instructed in building the ark yet got drunk after the flood. Abraham was a friend of God yet failed to trust God and lied. Moses was called by God to lead Israel out of Egypt and witnessed many signs of God’s power yet struck a rock to get water when he was told to speak to it. Davis was a man after God’s own heart, but he committed adultery with Bathsheba, arranged to have her husband killed, and took a census of his fighting men after God explicitly told him not to! Solomon, when he became king, asked God to give him a discerning heart so he could rightly lead God’s people and distinguish between right and wrong. Solomon then took many wives and concubines for political reasons (which God had forbidden) and built altars and temples to the gods of these foreign women. At the end of His life, Solomon did turn back to God lamenting many of the things he did in life.
So many Christians today are inconsistent in their lives as well. We will hear people proclaim that God is the most important thing in their lives yet make choices that demonstrate otherwise. People choose not to attend worship in order to have “family time.” Family is a gift from God and what better place to recognize that than worshipping the One who gave us our families?! People choose not to be involved in church activities or be involved in ministries. How is this showing that God is most important? You can just look at people’s social media pages, look at the things or pictures they post and see if their actions are consistent with what they say. It was said in years past, if you want to know somebody’s priorities, just look at their checkbook. Now, I guess, it would be look at their credit card statement.
Friends, there are so many more examples, but I think you get the idea. Parents, if we want our children to be faithful Christians when they grow into adulthood, we need to be faithful Christians all the time. Our lives must demonstrate that God is first, and nothing comes before our relationship with Him. Being consistent in our faith is the only way to draw people to God and to demonstrate that we practice what we preach!
Read Joshua 24:14-24