My Facebook friend and preaching colleague, Warren Berkley, publishes a blog called Berksblog where he frequently shares short, thought-provoking quotes from various authors.
Recently, he posted this striking quote from Jennie Allen’s book Get Out of Your Head
“People do not drift toward holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated.”
Although often attributed to Allen because she included it in her book, the quote actually originated with theologian D. A. Carson in his book For the Love of God.
It’s a widely shared quote that speaks to the importance of spiritual discipline and the contrast between drifting and the intentional pursuit of godliness.
The danger of drifting away from the Lord is an age-old problem. In Hebrews 2:1-3, the writer issues this admonition.
“Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him?”
To keep from drifting and to pursue holiness, godliness, and righteousness, the Hebrew writer reminds us of four important points.
#1 We must pay careful attention to keep hearing what we’ve heard before.
Just because we’ve read a Bible verse once doesn’t mean we fully understand it. Hearing a sermon topic doesn’t automatically mean we’ve internalized it. Knowing the Truth is not the same as obeying it.
Are we paying careful attention? Closer attention? Full attention? Are we giving earnest heed to God’s Word and allowing it to shape our lives?
#2 We can become unfaithful.
The Bible teaches the possibility of apostasy. Just like Paul said some Galatians had “fallen from grace” (Gal. 5:4), the Hebrew writer affirmed that we can “drift away.”
Like someone floating on a raft in the ocean, we can slowly move farther and farther from the safety of the shore without even realizing it at first.
Spiritual drifting rarely happens all at once. It usually occurs little by little through neglect, distraction, compromise, and spiritual complacency.
#3 We must stay focused on the great salvation for daily maintenance.
Think about your salvation. The writer calls it “great.” To speak of something as great is to say it is remarkably wonderful, extraordinarily significant, and eternally valuable.
Don’t take “so great a salvation” for granted. Appreciate it. Cherish it. Thank God for it.
#4 Realize the danger of drifting.
Rarely, if ever, does drifting lead to anything good. Not in the ocean. Not in marriage. Not in our jobs. And definitely not in our relationship with the Lord.
The writer warns of impending judgment on those who neglect their spiritual health and allow themselves to drift away.
Stay focused. Be persistent. Pursue holiness. And be aware of Satan’s schemes to deceive us into thinking we can grow spiritually without effort.
No, Christians do not drift into greater spirituality. They drift into danger. Faithfulness requires intention, vigilance, and daily pursuit
–Ken Weliever, The Preacherman
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