Double-mindedness
Some simple definitions of double-mindedness are “wavering or undecided in mind,” “unsettled,” “undetermined.” One who has a spirit of double-mindedness, probably struggles to make decisions and/or commitments. This person’s beliefs and convictions waver based on what or who is influencing her in the moment. In Matt 6:24, Jesus tells us that no one can serve two masters. If we are with Jesus, we are all in. A spirit of double-mindedness will cause us to “be of two minds,” one that claims to be on board with God and his Word, and another that is with the world. “With the world” basically means idolatry and catering to our flesh. So double-mindedness convinces us we can have it both ways, but Jesus says that’s not the case. One can’t totally be in Jesus’ camp, but allow worldly or fleshy factors to influence a decision.
Revelation 3: 14-16
"To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:
These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God's creation. I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.
This isn’t me, this is Jesus talking... I’m just sayin’. I like the idea of Jesus taking me up in his arms, not spiting me out of his mouth. But that’s just me.
While anyone can have a spirit of double-mindedness, it seems there are two main camps:
1. Those who are selfish, self-serving and focused on insuring their own needs are met. These people claim to know and love Jesus, but when it comes down to it, they choose Self first. They feel deserving and choose idols and flesh over obedience and faith.
2. Those who are afraid. They fear what others think, fear they will be rejected, fear they might be wrong. They operate in self-doubt and insecurity and the idea of putting a stake in the ground about a belief or decision is just too risky. These folks put man’s approval over God’s approval.
James has a thing or two to say about double-mindedness:
James 1:4-8
If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.
If you need wisdom, just ask. Trust you have received it and make a decision.
Don’t doubt. And if you chose to live in doubt and insecurity, don’t think you’ll receive anything from the Lord. You will lack stability in everything you do. So is it better to risk making the wrong decision than to live in indecision? In a word, yes. If you have asked for wisdom and believe that the choice you made is the Lord, you can’t go wrong. Isaiah 30 tells us whether we go to the right or the left, we will hear God tell us ‘this is the way, walk in it.” He is a loving Father. He can see our hearts and knows our motives. So if we misinterpret something and "go wrong," He is still delighted that our motives were pure - we thought we were obeying God. He will lead, guide and correct. Our job is to have faith, believe and take action. If there’s no decision, there’s no faith.
James 4:1-10
What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely? But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:
"God opposes the proud
but gives grace to the humble."
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
Again, our heart cannot “serve two masters.” It’s a question of Lordship. If Bobby Sue claims “Jesus is the Lord of my life,” but continues to hook-up with guys in her lust or insecurities, then Bobby Sue is double-minded. James points out that remedy for double-mindedness is submission to God. If we have double-mindedness, we may think this sounds easy, until it comes time to make a decision that feels scary or is flat out not what we want. But see, we can’t choose Jesus and also choose Self. We can’t choose Jesus and also choose Fear. So submission to God means always choosing him, what he wants for us, no matter how we might feel about it. We may be mad or scared, but at least we’ve put a stake in the ground and that’s faith in action - a step, a beginning. Eventually, our emotions will adjust.
At it’s core, one who has double-mindedness lacks conviction, and will change beliefs or loyalties with the tides. Double-mindedness causes us to live in dishonesty, even with ourselves as we will use whatever combination of truth and lies necessary to benefit ourselves. Double-mindedness convinces us to live under pretense, claiming to know Jesus, but really doing whatever the heck we want. This mindset is one of hypocrisy and rebellion. Yikes!
I mentioned that a part of my story was that I was flakey, or unreliable. I believe this was absolutely a double-minded spirit. Wavering on commitments was just how I lived. I honestly didn’t think anyone would notice or care, I was so focused on Self. But Jesus said, Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one. Matthew 5:37
I also let indecisiveness and doubt reign over boldness and discernment. I remember a particular shopping trip with my mom, my aunt and my cousin in which I stood paralyzed in indecision over whether or not to let my mom buy me a cool lamp with a scratch on it. It was marked down, the scratch wasn’t noticeable and yet my head was filled with insecurity over what my cousin and aunt thought and what others would think. I literally had no idea if “it was ok or not” to have a great lamp with a small scratch. You would have thought I was standing at the alter about to say “I do” to the lamp. Good grief!
Duplicity
While double-mindedness and duplicity probably often work together, they are not the same. Duplicity is “to speak or act in two different ways concerning the same matter with the intent to deceive.” Duplicity is willful deceit, misleading others in effort to hide one’s true intentions, manipulating and controlling information or other’s perspectives.
I think it’s interesting that Webster’s names duplicity’s antonym “straightforwardness.” Isn’t that kind of creepy? I don’t think I want to be the opposite of straightforward.
What does God say about duplicity?
The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity. Proverbs 11:33
To have duplicity is to be unfaithful, and it will destroy us.
Jesus dealt with duplicity:
Luke 20:20-26
Keeping a close watch on him, they sent spies, who pretended to be honest. They hoped to catch Jesus in something he said so that they might hand him over to the power and authority of the governor. So the spies questioned him: "Teacher, we know that you speak and teach what is right, and that you do not show partiality but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?"
He saw through their duplicity and said to them, "Show me a denarius. Whose portrait and inscription are on it?"
"Caesar's," they replied. He said to them, "Then give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's.” They were unable to trap him in what he had said there in public. And astonished by his answer, they became silent.
Jesus is one bad mamma-jamma. I love how He “saw through the duplicity,” like a smoke screen and didn’t fall for it. And then He drops a Jedi-mind trick question that shuts them up. I believe through the Holy Spirit, I could do the same. C’mon!
In conclusion, double-mindedness and duplicity = bad.
Submission, Humility and Truth = good! When you are tempted to take matters into your hands, remember this promise from God: Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4
He has kept this promise to me over and over again, and he will come through for you, too. Amen!
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