Man Gave Names to All the Animals

Bob Dylan released 3 great records (records?) in the 1980's that very openly declared his faith in Jesus. Saved, Shot of Love, and Slow Train Coming (where the header for this entry is taken from) were (and are) great musical expositions of faith (albiet dated in places!). i love those records (upgraded to cds--and now playing fairly loudly as i write this!)...and i sometimes wonder what became of his (dylan's) faith.

i admit, i don't know him...and i don't want to be judgemental. his music still has some spiritual elements to it--but, it just ain't the same. so, what happened? i don't know. but i think something did. i've been meaning to pick up his autobiography...

but it prompts the question, why do people backslide? i think, to some degree, all Christians backslide...growing colder in their faith for periods of time; and it is understandable. but why do some people "quit" the faith altogether? here are 3 (hey, i'm a preacher; we think in threes) reasons:

1. Misplaced expectations-
we expect God to do what He never said He would do. When i first committed my life to
Jesus, i told God "if You make my life right, i will follow you forever." admittedly, i meant "if
You give me everything i want..." I thank God i developed some Xian friends who helped me
understand life wasn't about what i want, but about what God wants. He promised to fix me
on the inside...He didn't promise to fix all of my situations.
It goes the other way to. Dylan was "a spokesman for his generation". immediately the
church pounced on him to be their spokesman...new xians are babes...don't expect them to be
grown up right way.
2. Pride-
the whole idea of being xian is to recognise our need for God: His forgiveness, His
redemption, His sustaining power. as the proverb says "the fear of the LORD is the
beginning of wisdom, but fools (those who are morally corrupt) despise wisdom and
correction" Trust in God...not in man (even yourself).
3. No change in life style-
i think we xians need to be involved in the lives of people who aren't xian. we need to be their
friends; if we don't love them, how will they know Jesus does? my wife and i went to a party
once where we were in the distinct minority in terms of faith. we had some reservations...but
we decided to open ourselves to thier lives..that's what Jesus did, right? we didn't "witness",
we loved. we didn't "proclaim the gospel", we lived the gospel and proclaimed it with our
actions. we didn't "invite people to church", but we had inviting attitudes and demeanor.

pray for the backslider. pray for dylan. live your life in a way that demonstrates God's goodness and love. go and buy those dylan records--they rock.