Testing… Testing…
Our culture today has twisted the idea of ‘testing’ into an inhumane process akin to the antiquated ignorance of expired principles like ‘honor your father and mother,’ ‘be ye holy,’ and ‘respect your elders.’ Sadly, this anti-testing attitude has been pervading the church for decades as well. Many conversations where a Godly leader or elder could be lovingly challenging a bad belief system or ungodly actions in an individual can be immediately shut down hard by responses like:
- “Well, I believe…!”
- “You can’t judge me!”
- “My intentions were good.”
- “So? God still loves me.”
- “We are all still sinners, ya know.”
- “I’m under grace, not the law… so it’s ok to still have a buncha brokenness.”
The idea of testing in days gone by was of great value because it proved or verified a statement/opinion/substance, which has been historically of great value. This should be a good thing… alas, many good things have been condemned as bad today. Society has been made fragile and overly sensitive by allowing emotions and feelings to become the captains of our soul sailing. There should only be one set of hands at the helm, and they have nail-pierced scars.
The spiritual devastation caused by this degradation is clearly illustrated by the progressive definition of ‘faith’ today.
Faith has become an inanimate object that we have been encouraged to ‘grow’ more than a fruit that should be ‘developed.’ The difference between these two is subtle, so I will try a couple of illustrations.
Oz Guinness in his book The Great Quest uses the analogy of ‘Faith’ being like a modern trophy hunter on an expensive safari in Africa. With the technological advancements in weaponry, the addition of a paid guide, and the skill sets developed through military sniper techniques, the ability to successfully slay a wild stag is nearly mechanical. With a ten-thousand-dollar rifle affixed with a modern scope, the unfairly equipped hunter today simply needs to move his index finger a few millimeters to end the life of his prey. This stands in stark contrast to what a young, desperately hungry lion would need to do in order to quench his hunger. The lion must stalk in silence and patient precision. When the exact right moment to launch the chase arrives, he must entirely commit to the chase. Every sinew of every muscle must be stretched to the very limit of its potential to effectively kill a wild stag. The lion is the image of Biblical faith while the hunter is the image of church-i-anity mental ascent that is miss-labeled as faith. The lion is a much more visceral image of complete dedication of spirit, soul, and strength.
Deuteronomy 6:5, 10:12-13 ESV
“You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”
“And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the LORD, which I am commanding you today for your good?”
ALL your heart, ALL your soul, ALL your might… the requirement of true faith is of much greater commitment (lion) than how we see it expressed today (hunter).
Another illustration of this point would be like an entertained crowd to be watching an archer with marksmanship accuracy, drive an arrow through an apple at 50 yards. They enthusiastically witness this accomplished task over and over to the enjoyment of the fans. Then, the archer turns to the crowd and says, “Do you believe I can accomplish this feat at 60 yards?” The crowd roars with an affirmative “Yes!” The archer repeats his question to an ever-increasing affirmation from the crowd. Then he points at a very excited man in the front row and says, “Do you, sir, believe that I can drive an arrow through an apple at 60?” The man’s screams out a rousing “Yes!”
Real faith is tested when the archer asks the man to come and hold the apple in his mouth while the archer fires the arrow…
1 Corinthians 3:12-14 BSB
If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, his workmanship will be evident, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will prove the quality of each man’s work. If what he has built survives, he will receive a reward.
The experience of life itself is a proving ground for sincere faith. Life is like a fire that will test each of us. God will never ’tempt us with evil’ (James 1:13) but He will try the genuineness of our faith.
James 2:20-26 BSB
Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God. You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.
Abraham as an example of the ‘first’ Jew is showing the religious folks the necessity of true faith that bears the fruit of whole-life commitment. The example of Rahab, a gentile prostitute, illustrates the same necessity is required of the unchurched as well.
1 Timothy 3:8-10a NASB
Deacons likewise [must be] men of dignity, not double-tongued, or addicted to much wine or fond of sordid gain, [but] holding to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. These men must also first be tested…
Testing is a Kingdom reality that was once embraced by the real Church.
1 Peter 1:6-7 ESV
In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
The ‘tested genuineness of your faith’ here is a beneficial and precious thing, so precious in fact that Peter compares its value to be higher than purified gold. Whoa… Both BOLD phrases above contain a form of the Greek word ‘dokimazo’ one is a noun (first usage) the other is the verb form. This is so interesting that the testing action (verb) done by fire (usually connotes the Holy Spirit and/or the sufferings/persecutions of the Christian life) has the amazing results of a genuine, proven type of faith that ‘passes the test.’
The first word for ‘tested’ here is a form of ‘dokimazo.’ (The second is ‘dokimazomenou.’)
Original Word: δοκιμάζω
Part of Speech: Noun/Verb
Definition: to test, by implication to approve, I put to the test, prove, examine
Usage: I put to the test, prove, examine; I distinguish by testing, approve after testing; I am fit.
HELPS Word-studies
Cognate: 1381 dokimázō (from 1384 /dókimos, “approved”) – properly, to try (test) to show something is acceptable (real, approved); put to the test to reveal what is good (genuine), (“to approve by testing”) is done to demonstrate what is good, i.e. passes the necessary test.
Dokimázō does not focus on disproving something (i.e. to show it is bad), but rather to demonstrate the purity of what is being tested. This word is also applied to love. This is where things will get a bit challenging and raw for some.
2 Corinthians 8:8 BSB
“I am not making a demand, but I am testing the sincerity of your love in comparison to the earnestness of others.”
There is a similar word used in verse 24 which drives the point even deeper into the consciousness of a committed disciple:
“In full view of the churches, then, show these men the proof of your love and the reason for our boasting about you.”
The word ‘proof’ here is ‘endeixis.’
Original Word: ἔνδειξις, εως, ἡ
Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine
Definition: a pointing out or indication, a proof: a pointing out or indication, sign, token. Emphasizing the character of the demonstration which is made obvious (undeniable, conspicuous).
Notice, the term ‘character’ in that definition. Character can ONLY be known through testing.
In these two instances above being applied to ‘love,’ the testing was proven out through generous giving towards the needs of the Christians suffering persecution in the Jerusalem church. The proof of genuine love was sacrificial giving. The testing of the sincerity of their love was sacrificial giving. (I do not want your money, so you can unclench your fist from your wallet…) Peter said the genuine faith that ‘passes the test’ is the kind that is the all-in kind that has withstood various ‘grievous’ trials. Paul (in Timothy) declares that it is necessary for a person who desires to hold the position of a Deacon (elder) they need to be tested in their character. And, the heart of God commands that our covenant-loyalty in love must exude from ALL our heart (center of our being), ALL our soul (mind, will, emotions, personality), and ALL our might (physical life).
This just got really real… in a hurry, Beloved.
In our fake, plastic, manufactured, minimally-committed culture giving someone a tiny percentage of ourselves is equivalent to the Gold Standard. Talking to people about their money is like putting a naked foot into a piranha-infested pond. I want to keep all my pinky toes, so I will back away from your water, but at least ponder what the world considers someone who fits the term ‘invested.’ They promote marriages with separate checking accounts (and the hiding of stash-cash that no one knows about) because it is ‘wisdom’ not to get in too deep. There is no reason to actually get married today because if you do all that legal stuff, it becomes a bloody mess to leave when it gets hard later on. Non-committed shacking-up is the ‘new normal.’ We go ‘church shopping’ in our modern ways because, if we keep the receipts, it is easy to just return them people when we don’t like them later on. This broken culture has even embraced the concept that gender is ‘non-binary’ meaning it can ebb and change like the emotions of a spoiled toddler addicted to sugar.
The worst one is how we build God into a version that best suits our opinion inadvertently assuming He will bow to our whims and wishes to be ‘all-in’ for us. But Jesus’ version of ‘all-in’ was the cross. His love was proven, His faith was tested, His sacrifice was complete, and He came out of the tomb as a victor over every trial and examination. This is the life we are called to, this is the way we are to live.
When a person knows all the answers, they do not fear the test. Jesus is the answer, Beloved.
This Great Awakening is dependent upon the remnant people, living remnant lives, with remnant attitudes. Not everyone will pass that test, but I know a bunch of folks who are ‘Greatly Loved’ and who are allowing God to ‘prosper their souls’ who will ace that bad boy with extra credit points for living in ‘the finished work of Christ’!
I love and believe in you!
Steve
