Locke always has something good to say and he always articulates it so clearly. I've enjoyed all of the excerpts of his that we've read so far, but I think this one takes the cake solely for how applicable it is. In section two, he talks briefly about the nature of faith, and it really stood out to me. In speaking on how faith can only be practiced on an individual basis, he explains how no one can merely believe what they're hold no matter how badly one may want to. A personal commitment of faith must be made to every strongly-held belief, or else professing those beliefs would be lying.
"Whatever we audibly say, whatever outward worship we conform to, if we aren't fully convinced that what we say is true and how we worship is pleasing to God, we'll merely have set up obstacles to our salvation by adding hypocrisy and contempt of God's majesty to our catalog of sins."
This was a perspective that I hadn't previously thought much about, and no matter how much I read, this was the sentence I kept coming back to. The word that really grabs my attention here is "contempt." What Locke is saying here is that weak and shallow faith is blatantly disrespectful to the God of all creation. These are strong words, and honestly, they're true. To claim to love and serve God with your mouth but live in a way that displays something different is to devalue the name of God entirely. If you can find it within yourself to lie about your devotion to Him, then you have shown that you don't have true reverence for Him, and that is entirely sinful. It's the same as finding out that someone you really trust has been lying to you. "They told me they were my friend, so why aren't they acting like it?" I've found myself in a situation like this recently, and it made me feel small and unwanted. I desperately want to avoid treating the King of the universe like He is in any way small or unwanted.
I didn't expect to walk away from one of Locke's letters feeling convicted, but today that's what happened. I would encourage you all to evaluate the condition of your hearts. Are you truly pursuing the God you claim to love? Do you wear His name because you want to serve Him or because you seek the approval of others?
gray & Hailey
"Whatever we audibly say, whatever outward worship we conform to, if we aren't fully convinced that what we say is true and how we worship is pleasing to God, we'll merely have set up obstacles to our salvation by adding hypocrisy and contempt of God's majesty to our catalog of sins."
This was a perspective that I hadn't previously thought much about, and no matter how much I read, this was the sentence I kept coming back to. The word that really grabs my attention here is "contempt." What Locke is saying here is that weak and shallow faith is blatantly disrespectful to the God of all creation. These are strong words, and honestly, they're true. To claim to love and serve God with your mouth but live in a way that displays something different is to devalue the name of God entirely. If you can find it within yourself to lie about your devotion to Him, then you have shown that you don't have true reverence for Him, and that is entirely sinful. It's the same as finding out that someone you really trust has been lying to you. "They told me they were my friend, so why aren't they acting like it?" I've found myself in a situation like this recently, and it made me feel small and unwanted. I desperately want to avoid treating the King of the universe like He is in any way small or unwanted.
I didn't expect to walk away from one of Locke's letters feeling convicted, but today that's what happened. I would encourage you all to evaluate the condition of your hearts. Are you truly pursuing the God you claim to love? Do you wear His name because you want to serve Him or because you seek the approval of others?
gray & Hailey
Comments
I completely agree. worship never starts with the mouth. true worship comes from the heart and is communicated through attitude and amplified through actions. it is a common misconception that I must sing in order to worship God and that is a falsehood that. I wish to irradicate.