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Yes, I know that nothing good lives in me—I mean nothing good lives in the part of me that is earthly and sinful. I want to do the things that are good, but I do not do them. I do not do the good things I want to do, but I do the bad things I do not want to do. So if I do things I do not want to do, then I am not the one doing them. It is sin living in me that does those things. So I have learned this rule: When I want to do good, evil is there with me. In my mind, I am happy with God’s law. But I see another law working in my body, which makes war against the law that my mind accepts. That other law working in my body is the law of sin, and it makes me its prisoner. What a miserable man I am! Who will save me from this body that brings me death? I thank God for saving me through Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 7:18-25 NCV
A few weeks ago, our pastor told the story of a missionary visiting an indigenous tribal chief whom the missionary had brought to Christ. “How is the Christian life?” the missionary inquired of the new follower of Christ. “Ah, the Christian life is a difficult one. It feels sometimes as though two dogs battle within me: a good white dog, and an evil black dog,” lamented the chief. “Which dog wins?” asked the missionary. The chief sagely replied, “The dog I feed the most wins.”
Well, seems as though the chief was plagued with the Double-Minded Malady.
Remember the old adage “two heads are better than one?” Using two noggins may in some instances be advantageous… except when two heads occupy the same space! Clearly, we only have one literal head, but when we have Double-Minded Malady, our thoughts, affections, hopes, and purposes are always at odds with one another.
I don’t want to catch this Double-Minded Malady! I know that the best way to ward off illness is to be prepared, or inoculated. So, I did some research—I surfed Internet, googled the term double-minded, and read my Bible. The first occurrence of the term “double-minded” is found in Psalms 119:113 where King David contrasts the laws of God with double-minded men saying, “I hate double-minded men, but I love your law.” Of course, King David was clearly aware of the double-minded malady. At certain moments in his life, he came down with the illness himself. The Apostle James, however, is the one who defines the double-minded malady.
James uses the term double-minded twice in his New Testament letter addressed to “all of God’s people who are scattered everywhere in the world” (James 1:1) and it is the theme throughout the letter. James describes a double-minded person as someone who is divided in his interests or loyalties, wavering, uncertain, two-faced, and half-hearted.
John Gill’s Exposition of the Bible defines the double-minded person as “one who is unstable in all his ways; he is confused in his mind; restless in his thoughts, unsettled in his designs and intentions; inconstant in his petitions; uncertain in his notions and opinion of things; and very variable in his actions, and especially in matters of religion; he is always changing, and never at a point, but at a continual uncertainty, both in a way of thinking and doing: he never continues long either in an opinion, or in a practice, but is ever shifting and moving;” in direct opposition to the Father, “with whom there is no variation of shifting shadow.” James 1:17.
The prophet Elijah held that such non-commitment as “limping between two sides,” (1 Kings 18:21). And Joshua told his people to make a firm commitment to one side or the other. He said, “Choose this day whom you will serve,” (Joshua 24:15).
I don’t know about you-- if someone were to describe me as two-faced, or half-hearted it would really hurt! But we’re all guilty. Even Paul (Romans 7:18) clearly struggled to bring his heart around to the singular focus of Christ and Christ’s behavior. John, who baptized Jesus Christ, witnessed the Holy Spirit descend upon the Savior “in bodily form like a dove” and heard a voice from heaven declare, “You are my beloved Son; in You I am well pleased” (Luke 3:21-22). Yet, while in prison, John sent men to ask Christ “Are you the Coming One, or do we look for another?” (Luke 7:19-20). And Peter—we don’t have enough time to discuss his double-minded malady!
Jesus said that He would rather people be for Him or against Him rather than be half-hearted. He called it being "lukewarm" and He was, and is, disgusted by it (Rev. 3:15-16). He insisted that no one can serve two masters (Matt. 6:24). The Lord calls upon us to make Him our clear-cut choice.
So, what to do in this era of attention deficit disorders—real, imagined, or self-imposed—to stay single-mindedly focused on Christ? Those of us in recovery plans such as AA, SA, NA, or CR are aware of “triggers” that lead us into sin. Add to the triggers the constant bombardment of “corrupt” communications—from coworkers, friends, television, books, movies—behavior far removed from that God expects of His followers is ubiquitous.
Whether in recovery for past sins, or simply struggling to walk in Jesus’ steps, we are flawed, imperfect individuals. To make sure we don’t “catch” the double-minded malady, the Apostle James outlined environments where our attention may be misled. Ask yourself the following questions to determine if you have the symptoms of double-minded malady:
What Kind of Prayer Life Do I Have? As a Christian, the first area where double-mindedness demonstrates itself is in our prayer life. Do we pray assuredly? Do we pray with doubt? Doubt in our communication with God short-circuits our relationship with Him. Before asking God for anything, we need to ask ourselves “Is what I am asking His will?” “Is my attitude and is my life in God’s will?” “Are my motives self-centered or God-centered?” James 1:6-8 says, But when you ask God, you must believe and not doubt. Anyone who doubts is like a wave in the sea, blown up and down by the wind. Such doubters are thinking two different things at the same time, and they cannot decide about anything they do. They should not think they will receive anything from the Lord. We must remain single minded in our prayer lives.
Do I Hear God’s Word and Live God’s Word? James admonishes us against only hearing the Word, and not living the Word. James says that double-mindedness can creep into our attitudes, and advises us to be doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves (James 1:22). As followers of Christ, studying God’s word is the way to become like Christ. We must move beyond just feeling good after reading the Word, to actually striving to be good. We must not let a pleasant, satisfied feeling from learning the Word deceive us into thinking we’ve accomplished something when we haven’t. Christ spoke of imprudent people whose lives are not built on the Rock. Everyone who hears these sayings of Mine and does not do them is foolish (Matthew 7:24-26). Although no one can earn salvation by anything they do, we can lose our salvation by being hearers only (Hebrews 2).
Am I Guilty of Selective Obedience? Next, James targets double-minded keeping of the law (James 2:8-13). For centuries the Christian world has been of two minds concerning God's law. Its double-mindedness has resulted in the breaking of the royal law according to the scripture (v8). The Old Testament records God's giving of the royal law, which is summarized in Leviticus 19: You shall love your neighbor as yourself (v18). James shows the double-mindedness of embracing one point of the Ten Commandments while breaking another point of this law of love. Notice that the breaking of one point of the law is the same as breaking the whole law (vs 10,11). James warned against inconsistency in our obedience to God. It's much easier to address the broad expression of God's royal law—love (Leviticus 19:18)—than to embrace the specifics of it (Exodus 20:1-17). Without specifics, we each decide for ourselves what love is. But The Bible plainly defines love: For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome (1 John 5:3). What sin do you hate the most? Stealing? Lying? Adultery? God wants us to hate every sin. He wants us to hate the breaking of any of the Ten Commandments, as well as anything else that is not pleasing in His sight (1 John 3:22).
Am I a Believer, but Not a Worker? It’s great to have an unwavering belief in the Father, but do my works reflect that belief? In Chapter 2, James warns that faith means more than just belief in God. As followers of Christ, we should be aware that faith without works is dead (v20). James says we should show tangible evidence of our beliefs: Show me your faith without works, and I will show you my faith by my works (v18). Belief is not enough. Even the demons believe and tremble! (v19). Are my actions clear indications of my loyalty to Christ?
Do I Have My Thought-to-Mouth Filter In Place? Ouch. Probably not. Am I guilty of having an Unbridled Tongue? You know the shame: you think something ugly about someone, and before you can stop the words, they are leaving your lips, the forevermore un-retractable inappropriate comment. “We use our tongues to praise our Lord and Father, but then we curse people, whom God made like himself” (James 3:9). An abusive conversation can undermine the powerful influences of prayer, the inspired reading of God's Word, the impartial treatment of people, and faith with works. Before passing along information that could hurt someone, ask yourself: Does this need to be said, or do I just want to say it? Would more harm come by saying it or not saying it? If it needs to be said, am I sharing it with the right person? We all make many mistakes. If people never said anything wrong, they would be perfect and able to control their entire selves, too. (James 3:2)
Is My Lifestyle Reflective of God’s Will? Remember God’s Perfect Law? God's law expresses His will. Jesus spoke of His return in Matthew 7:21-23, when many will cry out “Lord, Lord,” to Him but sadly His reply may be I never knew you, depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness. It doesn’t matter how much you believe, Christ said that only he who does the will of My Father in Heaven (v21) will enter His kingdom. God’s will and law are spoken of together, because His Law is an expression of His will.
And finally, How Does My Heart Look? Jesus said, Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks (Matthew 12:34). We cannot always control what we hear, but we can control what is in our hearts. Every moment the prince of the power of the air relentlessly appropriates us with a multitude of improper thoughts. We must take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ (2 Cor. 10:5). Remember, the stronger your desire to enjoy the Father and His word, the more vigorously the enemy will try to steal your attention! The enemy will go to great lengths to entertain and divert your thoughts away from Jesus. James advises us to purify our hearts. We must assimilate God’s words and ideals; they must become a part of us—in our hearts and minds.
What is our best prevention against the double-minded malady? We must bring ourselves back, front and center, in each situation, each new day. What we focus on in any given situation will determine our attitudes and our responses. Realistically we know that we’re unable to just focus our heart and minds at one setting and expect to be permanently locked in. Circumstances change, new diversions arise. We must fill our minds and hearts with the right thing. Our Lord deserves better than a lukewarm response to attacks of the enemy.
There is only one requirement for single-minded devotion: Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. He must be our focus.
So give yourselves completely to God. Stand against the devil, and the devil will run from you. Come near to God, and God will come near to you. You, sinners, clean sin out of your lives. You who are trying to follow God and the world at the same time, make your thinking pure. James 4:7, 8. NCV
