“Zion shall be redeemed by justice, and those in her who repent, by righteousness. But rebels and sinners shall be broken together, and those who forsake the Lord shall be consumed.” (Isaiah 1:27–28, ESV)
I was a member of a church once that relocated to the corner of Middle Ground Road and Montgomery Cross Road. This was an interesting choice of road names for a church. The church had taken its name from its former location and wanted to change the name. Since the charter members had named it after the road on which it formerly sat, the new members thought it might be appropriate to name it after its current address. Its official address was on Middle Ground Road. The thing is that there is no middle ground for the Christian faith.
Here, Isaiah records that there will be the redeemed and there will be the consumed. On one side, Isaiah speaks of those justified by faith. On the other side, he speaks of the rebels and sinners who forsake the Lord. There is no middle ground.
This principle drives me passionately in my Christian witness. I realize that there are only two paths for people. There is the path of righteousness in Christ and there is the path of unrighteousness without Him. There is the path of everlasting life in Christ and there is the path of everlasting punishment without Him. There is no middle ground. This thought of the two paths drives me to witness because I realize that if it were not for God’s grace, I would be on the path of the unrighteous, without hope and destined for destruction.
I view the multitudes of people who are ignorantly walking the path of unrighteousness with a great deal of sorrow. Most of these feel they are good people. Most feel there is a middle path of self-righteousness. They, like me before experiencing God’s grace, do not realize that they are on the path of unrighteousness and destruction. How sad. Therefore, I pray for them and try to witness to them, for there is no middle ground.
The church I mentioned earlier finally chose a new name. It was the only name appropriate for a congregation of believers. They did not choose Middle Ground. They chose to call themselves Cross Road Baptist Church for there is only one path, the path of the cross. Consider those whom you meet in life. Are they on the cross road or do they consider themselves on the middle ground? You have the words of life and they must realize that there is no middle ground. Show them the way of the cross.
Renewing the Heart 