This post is the third part of a message given in June 2010 by Jim Overholt, President of Strongtower Financial* to a staff chapel service at the California Southern Baptist Convention.  Currently we are working through the 4 objections Pharaoh gave to releasing the Israelites.

The Second Objection

The second objection is even more subtle.  Verse 28 says, “I will let you go, but you may not go very far away.”  If he can’t keep us here, he will try to keep us close.

Christians on Sunday – Egyptians on Monday

It is perhaps one of Satan’s greatest masterpieces that he has convinced so many professing Christians to rest satisfied with looking to the cross for salvation while remaining—for all practical purposes—in the world.  As we saw earlier, there is a big difference between giving up certain worldly things, and giving up the world, and there is probably more damage to our collective testimony caused by an apparent half-hearted giving up of the world than by remaining in it altogether.  One foot on hallowed ground, and one foot in Egypt.  Christians on Sunday, Egyptians on Monday.

God doesn’t like the border position, either in us individually or in us collectively, so I tend to worry when I hear surveys and statistics that indicate that there is no difference between the behavior, social ethics (e.g., marriage and divorce), business ethics, and even the politics, of Christians versus the rest of society.  Or that some of the so-called seeker-friendly churches have increasingly adapted the customs, language, and in many ways the moral values of the world.  Don’t get me wrong, I like “contemporary” churches.  And I like “seeker friendly” as it relates to informality, contemporary music, less liturgical, and so forth.  What worries me is the compromising of the message in a misguided effort to make it more attractive, perhaps less challenging.

Part 4 to follow

Mr. Overholt joined Strongtower Financial in 2006, bringing with him more than 25 years of experience in the financial services industry. During his career, he has served as the chief executive for some of the largest and most successful companies in the financial industry. In addition to his extensive investment, insurance and capital management experience, he has always been active in ministry including most recently serving as the Executive Director of Mission America Coalition.

*Disclosure – Strongtower Financial is the fund manager for our current sponsor.