I come from 3 generations of godly heritage. My grandfather was a Methodist minister, church planter and educator. I was raised by my aunt who was an Anglican minister and returned home to my mother at the age of twelve and we attended a Methodist church in my small town. In the late seventies, the wave of the Charismatic Movement hit our nation. My aunt was the first to encounter the Holy Spirit and her transformation was phenomenal. Seeing the change and hearing her tell of the experiences she was having with God, I longed for that kind of christianity. I was tired of my dry Sunday religion. During one of our family prayer times, God turned up. I experienced an overwhelming rush of what I can only describe as a massive waterfall, come down on me and I began to experience something inwardly that I had never experienced before. It was physical and emotional. I began to speak in tongues – not just repetitive sounds – but what sounded like a full on language. The consequence of that experience was a deep hunger for God’s word and His presence. I spent much time reading the Bible and in prayer. For the first time I began to understand the Scriptures and I began to hear God in my inner Spirit. There was an inner knowing that God was speaking to me. That wonderful experience of a personal relationship with the Holy Spirit has continued since that day. I have never forgotten that experience. It’s etched into the deepest recesses of my mind. The experience was so real that I can never deny the reality of the living Christ.
It is my firm believe that every Christian must be able to point to an actual event in their lives where they encountered God in such a way that totally transformed the trajectory of their lives. It may not be similar to my experience. It doesn’t have to be spectacular in nature like the experience the apostle Paul had. It could be as subtle as the experience of the great reformer John Wesley who experienced his “heart strangely warmed”. The point I’m making is that being a christian is more than embracing the faith of our parents. It’s much more than merely attending church on a Sunday. If you have never experienced God in a personal way and are not continuing to experience Him daily, then my suggestion to you is to consider that you may be stuck in what I call a hand me down faith. We cannot live by someone elses’s experiences of God. There is no such thing as second hand faith.
In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus speaks about two types of followers. The crowd and the disciples. In Matthew 12, we begin to notice Jesus making that distinction.
Matthew 12:46-50 (NLT) As Jesus was speaking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him. Someone told Jesus, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, and they want to speak to you.” Jesus asked, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” Then he pointed to his disciples and said, “Look, these are my mother and brothers. Anyone who does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother!”
The contrast Jesus was making is very striking. Using the opportunity presented to Him, Jesus makes the clear difference between the crowd and who he considers disciples. The crowd were those who related to Jesus from a distance. They “stood outside” his sphere of influence and were wanting to relate to him from that place. The disciples on the other hand were invested in Jesus’ message and followed his teachings. The crowds were observers listening from the outside, while disciples were followers doing “the will of God”.
Matthew reemphasises this distinction Jesus was making. In the following chapter, we see the disciples asking Jesus why he taught in parables and Jesus once again makes a clear distinction between the crowd and disciples.
Matthew 13:1-3 (NLT) Later that same day Jesus left the house and sat beside the lake. A large crowd soon gathered around him, so he got into a boat. Then he sat there and taught as the people stood on the shore. He told many stories in the form of parables
Matthew 13:10-12 (NKJV) And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?”He answered and said to them, “Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.
This time the contrast is made plain. Not only is there a difference between two groups of people who relate to Jesus, their access to the things of God is also dependent on that relationship. The crowd is a group who gathered to hear the teachings of Jesus and left after Jesus had finished. They are attendees who come, listen to Jesus’ teaching and then move on. Using Isaiah’s prophecy, Jesus seems to imply that the group has no desire to go any further in trying to understand his teaching and pursuing the healing that comes from embracing it.
Matthew 13:15 (NLT) For the hearts of these people are hardened, and their ears cannot hear, and they have closed their eyes— so their eyes cannot see, and their ears cannot hear, and their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to me and let me heal them.’
The disciples on the other hand not only heard the teachings of Jesus but stayed on to seek after understanding. Their pursuit for more gave them access to what Jesus called “the mysteries of the Kingdom”.
In every church there are these two groups – those who gather and those who seek after God. Those who gather are happy to accept someone else’s faith, someone else’s experiences with God. They are satisfied with someone else’s revelations from God. The more a person stays in the crowd mentality, they expose themselves to a dullness that eventually turns into a hardening of the heart – “whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.” True disciples aren’t satisfied with another person’s knowledge of God or experiences with God. They want to know God personally. They want to experience God themselves. They are not satisfied with hand-me-down experiences of God. Never ever settle for a second hand faith.
The effects of hand-me-down knowledge
There are two Old Testament stories that remain examples for all of us on what happens to God’s people when we rely on hand-me-down revelations from God and not seek after Him ourselves.
Adam and Eve – Intimate knowing vs second hand knowledge
The creation narrative includes a life altering instruction from God to Adam about the two trees in the centre of the garden.
Genesis 2:15-17 (NLT) The LORD God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it. But the LORD God warned him, “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden—except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.”
After Adam received this instruction, we are told of the creation of the woman.
Genesis 2:22 (NLT) Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib, and he brought her to the man.
Nowhere in the two chapters of the creation narrative will you find Eve being given the same instruction as Adam was given about the two trees. We have always assumed that both received the instruction from God. I don’t think that was what transpired. Moses is intentional with timelines in the book of Genesis. He could have easily placed the instruction God gave regarding the two trees (2:15-17) after he narrated the creation story of Eve. There is a strong warning within this story that is missed if we do not see the author’s intention. One of them was given a direct instruction, while the other received second hand information.
Eve was susceptible to the lies of the enemy because she had received second hand knowledge.
Genesis 3:1 (NLT) The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the LORD God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?”
The cunningness of the serpent is evident in the fact that the serpent knew who to target with the question “did God really say?” If you want to create doubt ask someone who does not have direct knowledge of the event. That is why Paul said that Eve was deceived and sin followed. Second hand knowledge makes us susceptible to deception and prevents us from experiencing true intimacy with God.
Genesis 3:8 (NLT) When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the LORD God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the LORD God among the trees.
Second hand faith is faith based on hand-me-down knowledge. Theology (words about God) can never replace Christ (the Word who is God). Many know the Apostle’s Creed but do we know the Christ of the apostles?
Moses and the Israelites – seeker vs consumer
The second example of the danger of second hand knowledge is found in Deuteronomy. The context is the people of God who were in the wilderness. They were at a cross road of their relationship with God. They could choose to enter into a more personal relationship with God or stand back and experience Him from afar. Be part of a crowd or become disciples. They choose the former.
Deuteronomy 5:23-27 (NLT) “But when you heard the voice from the heart of the darkness, while the mountain was blazing with fire, all your tribal leaders and elders came to me. They said, ‘Look, the LORD our God has shown us his glory and greatness, and we have heard his voice from the heart of the fire. Today we have seen that God can speak to us humans, and yet we live! But now, why should we risk death again? If the LORD our God speaks to us again, we will certainly die and be consumed by this awesome fire. Can any living thing hear the voice of the living God from the heart of the fire as we did and yet survive? Go yourself and listen to what the LORD our God says. Then come and tell us everything he tells you, and we will listen and obey.’
Notice the hypocrisy of the eldership of that generation. They ask the question Can any living thing hear the voice of the living God from the heart of the fire as we did and yet survive? They confess that they have just heard the voice of God and survived but choose not to risk it ever again. For generations they have heard of their forefathers Abraham heard the voice of God and experienced visitations from God; Jacob who wrestled with God. They have just experienced God themselves and know first hand the God speaks to Moses on a regular basis. Yet they decide that listening to God was too much of a hassle and decide to outsource that experience.
Go yourself and listen to what the LORD our God says. Then come and tell us everything he tells you, and we will listen and obey.’
We know the tragic consequence of such a decision. The entire generation except for Joshua and Caleb would not enter the promise land but die in the wilderness. Second hand faith relies on someone else’s experiences. Second hand faith produces consumer christians looking for a service provider. The disciple however is a seeker christian pursuing a personal experience with Christ.
Are you part of the crowd or are you a disciple? Intimacy with God is the heritage of every believer. Jesus said that it was something given to the disciples.
“Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven…”
The “you” Jesus was speaking to were those who went to him seeking personal understanding. Don’t settle for a hand-me-down knowledge of God. Don’t accept someone else’s ideas of God. Have a personal relationship with Christ and get to know God intimately through the Holy Spirit. Don’t settle for a second hand faith. Don’t be satisfied hearing someone else’s testimonies or experiences with God. Pursue God yourself. Experience your own Divine encounters. Live your own prayer answering, supernatural, miracle filled life with God. If you choose to do so then here is my suggested action plan:
1. Carve out a specific time with God everyday. Make it a point to keep away from all distractions while you are spending time with God. Read the Bible regularly and in an organised way. Make use of the many Bible reading plans available online. Here is one really helpful site I recommend https://www.biblestudytools.com/bible-reading-plan/
2. Seek God out intentionally. Don’t just read the Bible mechanically. Seek to understand what God is saying to you. He is always speaking. Are you are listening Look for one candle of truth daily. One thing you can take out of your reading for the day. Think of that thought throughout the day. Ask the Lord for an opportunity to experience what you read that day. Look out for that Divine moment daily.
YOU DESERVE GOD’S BEST LIFE FOR YOU. DON’T SETTLE FOR A SECOND HAND FAITH.