The Little Man on the Beach

Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip (or, “drift away from them”).  Hebrews 2:1

I remember when I was fourteen years old spending a week on the north shore of Lake Erie with my two closest friends, and the father of one those friends.  That week produced certain fond memories that have stayed with me through all of the years since that time.  Like all of our childhood memories, some are more vivid than others, and some are rather vague, requiring a little coaxing to bring them back to the front of our minds.  There is however, a certain memory from that week at the cottage that has been etched in my mind forever- not necessarily a fond memory- but a memory that throughout my Christian life has always served as an illustration of the very real danger of drifting away from God.

One afternoon during that week, the four of us headed to the beach for a swim.  I remember that it was overcast and very windy, the type of weather that has the potential to usher in a summer storm.   The waves were unusually high due to the wind, and provided a great time for my two friends and me as we engaged in some sort of game that involved knocking each other off of the two large inner tubes that we had taken out with us.  At some point, my friend’s father had had enough of the water and made his way to the beach to rest and keep an eye on us while we continued.

As the time went on, the wind increased, and the waves reached heights that I have never seen since on this particular lake.  As we continued with our game, we were unaware of how far we had strayed from shore.  Not one of us ever looked back toward the beach.  What we did not realize was that an undercurrent was at work, and although the wind was blowing fiercely toward the shore, and the large waves were rolling toward the shore, this subtle undertow was with each wave taking us further and further from the beach and into deeper and rougher water.  Yet, we played on, with our backs toward the shore and our faces toward the open water!

Now right around the time that the three of us started to have difficulty hanging on to the inner tubes, as well as keeping our heads above the waves, we barely heard a distant voice.  In retrospect, it is a wonder that we heard it at all given the distance and the wind.  Although we could not make out what was being said, we all turned around toward the shore.  And there he was, the little man on the beach- my friend’s father – appearing so small in the distance, waving his arms like a windmill.  I only heard his voice for a moment, and then the wind silenced any further communication.

I vividly remember the feeling of surprise and fear when I looked back to the shore and realized how far I was from it.  How did we get that far out?  Were we able to swim back?  My fears increased when I started to swim toward shore, and a large wave went over my head causing me to choke and sputter.  As the three of us started to head toward the beach, I was aware that there was a current working against us.  The same current that had so easily taken us out to open water was now fighting against our return, making our return the more difficult.

So we swam with some effort, and I kept my eye on the little man on the beach, until after quite a struggle he began to grow larger, and eventually once more became audible.  And as we made it to water that was no longer over our heads, I felt relieved, although the little man on the beach now seemed rather large and angry! 

Thus we came to safety exhausted.  But the little man on the beach was now the angry man on the beach, and proceeded to yell at us with all of his might- a tongue lashing that was well deserved to which none of us dared answer back. 

We silently returned to the cottage, and no one spoke for a while.  Some time before evening, however, my friend’s father broke the tension, said something funny, and fixed us some supper- we were forgiven.

Now I am certain that many of you reading this little story can see where I am going, as it indeed illustrates well the text from Hebrews.  For in both my story, and in the admonition to the Hebrews, the theme is the same: the very real danger of drifting away.  In my case, the danger was that of drifting away from the safety of the shore into deep and increasingly rough waters; in the case of the early Hebrew believers, the danger consisted in drifting away from the faith that they had initially received. In both cases, the drifting resulted in dangerous situations, which if unaltered could lead to tragic ends. 

Now, it is this spiritual drift spoken of in Scripture that we should be concerned with- for if the Hebrew church, that wonderful and precious church that had sat under the ministry of Christ himself, and was begotten by the preaching of Peter and the twelve apostles of the Lamb, could be in danger of drifting away from God, then how much more the church of our day?  And if the Hebrews needed to be exhorted to give the more earnest heed, lest they should drift away from their initial faith, is it outrageous to suggest that modern believers should seriously consider their ways as well? Likewise, if Paul, after writing two lengthy epistles to the Corinthians in which he addresses many sinful practices that had crept into and corrupted that particular church, closes his epistle with this exhortation , “examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith ”(2Cor. 13:5), is it too harsh, too judgmental, or too negative, to recommend that believers today do likewise?

For when those who profess to be the followers of Christ no longer abide by the same spiritual disciplines and moral standards that they had initially received as right, when they discard their early convictions and allow for and even condone behaviour that they at one time would have strongly opposed, it is evident that they have either drifted from God, or have never truly been in “the faith that was once delivered to the saints.”  

So how is it that a believer, or a group of believers, or a church, drift away from the things which we have heard?  The text tells us that the preventative measure against drifting away is to give the more earnest heed, or to pay closer attention.  Consequently, all that may be necessary to facilitate one’s drift from God is one’s own carelessness with regard to his spiritual life.  For certain this was the case in the story from my youth.  We drifted into danger because we were careless, being so preoccupied with our own enjoyment that we did not pay attention to where we were in relation to the shore.  So it is with many believers.  They are so consumed with the pursuit of their own happiness, and with enjoying this world to the fullest, that they have no accurate sense as to where they really stand with God.  Their happiness is to them the supreme objective, and their faith, prayers, doctrine, and devotion to God, are merely means which they employ to secure this end. 

But is this why you came to Christ, so that you through the power of the Son of God might have everything this world offers as well as the one to come?  If so your coming is in vain, your faith is in vain- you are yet in your sins.  But if you came to Christ for the forgiveness of sins, because he first loved you, and in turn you loved him and desired to follow him and obey him, why now make the Gospel something shallow and self-serving?  Is this the Gospel that you first believed?  Are these the things which we have heard?  Or have you at any time let them slip?

But it is not merely carelessness that causes believers to drift away from the truth, for indeed there are other forces at work more deadly than this.  Indeed, my two friends and I were not only in danger through our own carelessness, but it was the effect of an undercurrent or undertow, a subtle force, which proved to be our greatest foe.  Likewise, the greatest dangers for believers are those subtle influences, those “undercurrents,” which work to drag them further and further from the safety of historical, biblical Christianity.

In Hebrews chapter 3, the writer sets forth two of these spiritual “undercurrents”: (1) an evil heart of unbelief, and (2) the deceitfulness of sin.

Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.  But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. Hebrews 3:12,13

This passage, inasmuch as it is only a number of verses removed from our initial text, can safely be viewed as conveying a similar theme to that of the text.  However, in this passage we are not only dealing with drifting away from the things which we have heard, but rather with facing the tragic results of that drift- a departure from the living God. You see friend, it is impossible to drift away from biblical Christianity, from the gospel of the first century, and from the morality of the Scripture, and yet maintain a genuine relationship with a living God. 

Consider these two “undercurrents” which the writer exhorts the Hebrews to beware of.  It is an evil heart of unbelief that facilitates our departing from the living God, or our drifting away from him.  But what is meant by unbelief, and why is it considered evil?  Firstly, the writer in no way uses the term “unbelief” as the modern minister tends to.  To the modern preacher, unbelief has to do with lack of confidence with regard to receiving temporal blessings, or with possessing a less than ultra positive outlook toward life.  But if this is what is meant by a heart of unbelief, it hardly seems proper to attach the adjective evil to it.  No, the writer’s idea of unbelief is this: it consists in taking the warnings, commandments, and moral standards of Scripture lightly, or rejecting them altogether.  It is synonymous with disobedience, for when one lives in disobedience, or is contrary to the scriptures, he shows that he does not believe them, for if he believed them, he would consequently fear the wrath that they predict for those who transgress them; and thus, he would not be able to continue as he does- for he would realize that his days are numbered, and that the time of his judgment is at hand.

But the unbelieving and disobedient have no such fear, for they have put to silence their conscience a long time ago.  They may imagine themselves to possess a relationship with God, to be the “sheep of his pasture,” but in truth, they do not hear the Shepherd’s voice.    Jesus Christ has become to them the little man on the beach, whose voice they can no longer hear.  He calls, but they are far from shore.  He waves, but they do not look back.  They have drifted away; they have departed from the living God.

Now we move to the second “undercurrent.”   Notice that the writer does not merely warn regarding sin, but rather the deceitfulness of sin.  He who practices sin will of necessity be deceived by it.  It may appear harmless, it may appear to be of little consequence, but its fruit is death.  And the destructive effect of sin is that it not only separates the transgressor from God, but it in turn hardens the sinner’s heart.  With each disobedience and transgression, the sinner becomes duller, his conscience quieter, and his boundaries and standards become increasingly vague.  It becomes easier to transgress further, to live by different standards, and to condone those things that he once condemned.  And with each step he takes, he justifies himself, concluding that he must yet be acceptable to God, for within himself he does not sense God’s disapproval.  But he has been hardened through the deceitfulness of sin, for though he can no longer hear the Voice of disapproval, the Divine disapproval regarding his life is certain, being clearly set forth in the word which he has transgressed.

Now it is certain that one’s safety, or security, cannot be determined by his own feelings or opinion regarding the subject.  It is quite possible to be in real danger and to be completely unaware.  So it was for my two friends and me.  We were in trouble, yet were ignorant of our state. In this is deception defined.  It is that state of mind in which an individual believes himself to be secure, to be right, and to be acceptable in the sight of God, when in truth he is none of these.

As I have over the years thought back to that day on the lake, I have sometimes wondered what might have happened if we had continued to drift away.  Would the three of us have made it safely to shore?  Thankfully, we were somehow able to hear the faint cry of my friend’s father at the right moment, and begin our return to safety.

Sadly, I have also often wondered what will happen to the many believers whom I have known, who have drifted away from the clarity of true Christianity, and into various other forms which in truth are contrary to Jesus Christ.  Many have drifted from the simplicity that is in Christ, and have exchanged it for a self-centred, shallow, success driven expression of Christianity-  supported only by a relatively few verses of Scripture, but condemned by the whole of the word of God, and contrary to that which the saints have believed throughout every century of the church’s history.  And others have abandoned the purity that is in Christ, that moral excellence that is begotten in all that are born of Him, to allow for adultery, drunkenness, homosexuality, fornication, and all manner of corruption- within themselves, their children, their “brethren,” and their leaders!

How are the mighty fallen! Tell it not in Gath.

But my concern is with you who read my exhortation, who although you have drifted, may still be within earshot of the Man on the beach, the Son of Man, whose voice may be for the present hard to hear, and whose influence may now be “little” in comparison to an earlier time when you were “closer to shore.”

Can you see him there now, the little Man on the beach?  Made little only in your conscience through transgression, but in truth remaining large in both judgment and mercy.  Will you begin your swim back to shore?  I am confident that as you swim, the Man on the beach will become larger in your sight, and his voice will be as the sound of many waters once again.  And who knows, He may even have fixed a table for you on the shore, and you may hear him say:

“Come and dine.”