Just a note, I am doing this series Sunday mornings and night through the first of November. So, don't miss a service.
You ask, Who is Habakkuk? And Why do we concern ourselves with him today? You don’t know anybody named Habakkuk. No one will ever name their child
Habakkuk. And further more, that
part of the Bible is so old, what good does it do us today?
In our contemporary churches, it is very popular to ask what
a book of the Bible or even the Bible itself has to do with our lives. I am not against that question for all
questions are legitimate as long as you are open to an answer. So I welcome that question and consider
it healthy.
The problem arises when we seek only to find how something
applies to us and that’s all we want. Give me five helps for raising children,
give me the key to a successful marriage, help me balance my check book. Now there is nothing wrong with those
issues, but we must be very careful to make a “god” out of the solution and
want only an answer.
I saw an article the other day in the paper that said my
generation is sicker, having more doctor visits earlier in their lives and
already having difficulty in their 50s to reaching down to pick up their
grandchildren. The reason – we have been raised with doctors and medicine and
if we have a medical issue, we go to the doctor and get a pill. We don’t want to talk about changing
our diet, exercising or changing our lifestyle.
This carries over spiritually. Preacher, give me a pill to help me and if I’m not better by
next Sunday, I’ll come back and get another pill. But if I don’t like the pill you are prescribing or if it is
not working, then I will go to another doctor (church) and see what they have
to offer. Because the only thing
that matters is that I get my problems fixed and get them fixed the less
painful way possible. Whoever has
the answer get my attendance.
This is not following Christ. This approach is self-centered and works oriented. We want something that works and we
don’t care who said it, where it came from or what the long term affects might
be, we just want it to work.
We think we can’t find the favor of God by following some
advice. God’s Word is not advice
on the same level of Oprah or Dr. Phil.
It is the eternal, never-changing command of God that is good for every
generation no matter if they live with a walking cane or a pierced tongue.
Church, I can’t go there. I can not just use your money that you invest in my life to go to the pulpit Sunday-after-Sunday to give you “the three latest steps to get
over the discomfort of your ingrown toe nail.” It will be doing you great harm if that is all the pulpit at Rainsville First is. Why is this
disservice to you?
- This type of preaching is how cults starts. Just enough “Bible” sprinkled in to make it look good.
- This is how you get off in wrong doctrine. What we believe controls ultimately how we behave. Don’t chase the symptoms of wrong behavior, change the source of it – the mind – what you believe.
- This is how you your life will fall apart. When things in your life do begin to fall apart and there is no “rock” for you, then what does it matter how practical the little sermon was or how beautiful the house was when it all comes crashing down.
You need to know what you believe and why you believe
it. And the answer to the “why” is
not “because that’s what the preacher said.” I’m not trying to make the pulpit to be a seminary class,
but the pastor is a teacher who should be a “theologian-in-residence” who
teaches the people of God week after week the things for which to build their
lives.
So, why study Habakkuk?
- It’s a dialogue between Habakkuk and God with Habakkuk complaining to God about what He is doing. Ever been there?
- It is the foundation for understanding faith as revealed in the New Testament. Since faith is the most important, most essential topic – then we need to understand it well.
- This book along with Romans was used as a lightening rod to start the Protestant Reformation so we need to understand our history.
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