Spiritual Suicide

Introduction

Samson’s failure to guard his gifts and watch over his life led to the loss of his most important asset. Negligent homicide is the taking of a persons life through gross negligence or without malice. Irresponsible operation of a motor vehicle can result in the loss of life of either the operator or someone in the operator’s path. The inclusion of some stimulus that impairs the judgement of some person handling a potentially deadly piece of equipment or machinery can lead to the loss of life of either the operator or someone in the operator’s path. To classify such a tragedy as negligent, there must be no intent or motive to take the life of person who has been counted as a casualty. Incidents like these typically occur when when someone has been driving under the influence or become distracted while driving. This scenario is not limited to motor vehicle incidents. Some gun related fatalities are a result of negligent behavior. That is behavior that is irresponsible or inconsiderate. It is reckless behavior that results in harm.

When one person takes the life of another person that is considered homicide. When irresponsible or reckless behavior results in the taking of another person’s life we arrive at negligent homicide. But when negligent or irresponsible behavior results in the loss of your own life that is what I would like to call, for the sake of this argument, negligent suicide. The difference is a difference of liability. Who is responsible when we are the call of our own undoing? Most of the time, we are. Negligence can cause us to lose a lot of things. It can cause us to lose money, our, our material possessions, our jobs. All of those things are costly, but they are not as costly as the things you can’t put a price on. Irresponsible or reckless behavior can cause us to lose our marriages, our minds, and our peace. Those things are even more costly than material goods. But there is one thing more costly than all of those things. Negligence can cause you to lose your connection to God. This is the one thing that you cannot live without.

Samson’s negligence had not only put him in a position of compromise but it had caused him to lose the very thing that made him who he was. Samson’s extraordinary strength was not a result of his extraordinary work ethic, or his extraordinary genes. Samson’s extraordinary strength came directly from his extraordinary God. Samson’s vow or commitment to God as a Nazarite gave Samson a special connection to God. In the Old Testament there were two men that we know of who took the Nazarite vow. Those men were Samson and Samuel. The Nazarite vow is outlined in and in sum it is a vow that and individual is to be wholly consecrated to God. The vow is sealed through symbols like staying away from alcohol, keeping a razor from one’s head, avoiding contact with dead or unclean animals. This vow was not too much different than the vow all of us make when we accept Christ. Essentially what we are saying when we accept Jesus Christ is that we vow to live a life Holy and acceptable to God. It was Samson’s connection with God that made him who he was. It is our connection with God that makes us who we are. His strength came from consecration. Our strength comes from consecration. If we neglect to protect and nurture that connection it will die. If the connection dies, then our lives have been reduced to nothing. Without God we are nothing. We cannot live in a meaningful way without God. Without God we have no power. Sure we can move, breath, eat, excrete, but we cannot do more than that. When our connection with God ceases to exist, we cease to exist to some degree.

What caused Samson’s negligence? We know that Samson’s negligence caused him to lose the very thing that made him him. But what caused Samson to neglect the connection that he so desperately needed in order to survive? Perhaps the better question is what causes us to sometimes neglect the most important connection in our lives? I think there are two things that cause us to neglect our covenant with God. The first one is pride. Now the Bible does not state this but it would not be hard for one to see how pride could have been the main impetus for Samson to forget about his commitment as a Nazarite and fall into the lap of Delilah. Charles Haddon Spurgeon suggests that the devil often uses pride to lull us to sleep. As our accomplishments stack up and our walls fill up with plaques it is easy for us to look at those great feats and think that we’ve arrived. Samson had torn a lion into. Samson had destroyed and entire army with the jaw bone of a donkey. Samson had evaded the philistines before and ripped the gate to the city out of the ground and took it with him. We have to be careful because the enemy can use those accomplishments against us. It seems the more we accomplish, the less we need God. The feeling that we don’t need God makes it very easy for us neglect God when it comes to protecting what’s most important. This scene in Samson’s life helps us to understand why it is important that we remain watchful in order to avoid such a tragedy as the one he experiences.

I. Laziness (v.19)

First we must properly understand the form of negligence that is most imminent threat to our spiritual health. The imminent threat to our spiritual lives is laziness. Laziness is an opportunity for the enemy to do to you what the enemy can’t do to you when you are diligent. The Philistines understood that the only way they would be able to successfully apprehend Samson was if they somehow stripped Samson of his strength. The only way they could rob him of his strength was if they could some how get close enough to shave his head. The only way they could get close enough to Samson to shave his head, was to somehow catch him while he was sleep.

In the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus in his omniscience that his time for capture was drawing near. Jesus took his disciples to and he told them, “pray that you may not enter into temptation.” He then knelt down and prayed that famous prayer:

Luke 22:42 ESV

42 saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”

He prayed so earnestly that he began to sweat drops of blood. After arose from praying he came to his disciples and found them sleeping and Jesus said to them:

Luke 22:46 ESV

46 and he said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation.”

Jesus understood something that we often fail to remember. Spiritual laziness or lethargy gives the enemy an opportunity they would not otherwise have if you were alert. This is why he instructs his disciples to watch and pray. Samson’s slumber was not just a physical one, it was a spiritual one as well. He began to take his spiritual nap the moment he allowed Delilah to know his whole heart. If we are going to avoid spiritual suicide then we must not fall asleep spiritually. We must be alert at all times, and we must be diligent in maintaining healthy spiritual lives. We cannot expect to somehow grow as Christians if we never practice being Christians. Becoming a stronger Christian, or even surviving as a Christian requires you to conscious of your spiritual life at all times. Take time to examine where you are spiritually. Take time to understand your weakness. Take the time to build the appropriate boundaries so that you can’t be exploited. You must be watch over your spiritual life if you want to preserve your spiritual life. It takes effort to avoid the type of negligence that leads to spiritual suicide. It takes diligence to avoid the type of sin that wants to take you out.

Lazy Christians often find themselves unprepared for battle. Jesus knew his day was coming. He was prepared to engage with the enemy. But we are not Jesus. A lot of times we don’t know when, how, or where we will have to suit up and go to war. We have to be ready at all times. Lazy Christians are unprepared Christians. You cannot wait until the flood has commenced to start building a boat. You need strength before the temptation comes. You need strength before sickness comes. You need strength before it’s time to plan the funeral. You need strength before they mention divorce. You don’t know when. You don’t know where. Many times, you don’t know how you’re going to be tested. You must be prepared at all times.

This kind of laziness has many negative consequences. Going back to Jesus

Laziness makes you unprepared for battle, but it also makes you an easy target instrument of sin. Before Cain killed Abel, God warned Cain that if he did not manage the envy and jealousy that was eating away at him sin was crouching at his door and if he did not check his feelings, that sin would eventually consume him. This is exactly what happened to Cain. He was not watchful nor was he diligent in properly managing his feelings. This negligence led to the murder of his brother Abel. The neglect of his emotional and spiritual life led to his surrender to the sin that led him to kill his own brother. It is much easier to give in than it is to resist. We often give in because we are just too lazy to put up any kind of fight. We can’t bridle our tongues because it’s much easier to flap our gums than it is to zip our lips. As Samson slumbered he became a very easy target for the Philistines.

The bliss of laziness will be overshadowed by the pain that it brings. It will feel as if it’s much easier just to go with the flow, or to live in a way that makes you happy without any concern in regard to what makes God pleased. I sometimes envy folk who seem to live without any God conscious. They wake up. They do what they want to do, they live however they want to live. They seem to have it so much easier than the Christian. That is until God puts them to the test, or the devil engages them in battle. I’m jealous because it seems that life is so much easier when you don’t even try to do right. I’m jealous until I see the cost of this blissfulness. It seems good until temptation leads you to embarrass yourself. It seems good until sin causes you to hurt someone else. It seems like a blissful life until you realize that you don’t have the power of God on your side. Don’t let this blissful negligence fool you. No you may not be as consistent in prayer and devotion as you would like, but take the time to cultivate some sort of devotional life. Don’t get lulled into thinking that you don’t need to spend anytime with God. Sooner or later you will have to suit of for battle.

II. Loss

Laziness is the most imminent form of negligence, and laziness always leads to loss. We all can attest to the fact that laziness always comes with a price. It can cause you to lose valuable time and money. When we become slack with our faith