Divided Allegiance
1 Kings 18:16–21
16 So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him. And Ahab went to meet Elijah.
17 When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Is it you, you troubler of Israel?” 18 And he answered, “I have not troubled Israel, but you have, and your father’s house, because you have abandoned the commandments of the Lord and followed the Baals. 19 Now therefore send and gather all Israel to me at Mount Carmel, and the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table. 20 So Ahab sent to all the people of Israel and gathered the prophets together at Mount Carmel. 21 And Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” And the people did not answer him a word.
Divided allegiance is as wrong as open idolatry. “How long will you hesitate between two opinions?” Elijah asks the people of Israel. The easiest thing to do when you are outnumbered or overwhelmed is to remain in that mediocre state of noncommitment. That was where the people of Israel lived, but Elijah never went there. He told them, “You cannot continue in this period of divided allegiance any longer.”
The strongest words that were given to the seven churches mentioned in the book of Revelation, chapters 2 and 3, were given to the church at Laodicea. And the reason is clear: They were uncommitted. They existed in neutrality. “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth” (Rev. 3:15–16).
Get off the fence of indecision, Elijah told the people of Israel. Either you are for God or against Him.
Perhaps you have known God for many years but have never truly been committed to Him. Now is the time to change that. Stop hiding your love for and commitment to Christ. Let the word out! Tactfully yet fearlessly speak devotedly of your faith. Start now. There are so many strategic ways God can use you in your business, your profession, your school, your neighborhood. You don’t agree with the ungodly cultural drift that’s happening around you? Say so! You sense an erosion of spirituality at your church, and you’re serving in a leadership capacity? Address it! Neutrality in the hour of decision is a curse that invariably leads to tragic consequences.
Our most effective tool is the prayer of faith. When it came down to the wire, when Baal had failed and God was about to do His work, the one instrument that Elijah employed was prayer.
We can’t stay on the fence of indecision. Either we’re for God or against Him.
— Charles R. Swindoll
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