Ineffective and Unproductive

Ineffective: not adequate to accomplish a purpose; producing the intended or expected result.

Unproductive: not to to provide, furnish, or supply.

2 Peter 1:8 tells us "For if your possess these qualities {faith, goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness and love v.5-7} in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The last thing I want to be in my faith is ineffective.  What good is faith if it is not accomplishing its purpose or producing a result?  What good is it if my faith does not provide or supply what I need?  Useless. 

This is where I think the line is drawn between "church attenders" and "true believers".  Now far be it from me to be able to make the judgement as to who is whom in these two categories, but the categories exist nonetheless. 

Church attenders by my definition are the ones who are regular and active church members who have all of the head knowledge.  They are there because they are expected to be or because it is all they have ever known.  But the true heart decision to follow Christ and have a real relationship with Him has never been made.  This is an ineffective faith.  It will not produce the fruit of a deep and meaningful knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.  My heart aches for people who fall into this category.  They think they know all that they need to know, but yet miss the big picture of it all.  They are happy just where they are attending church and doing their duty, but typically there is no growth, no increasing measure.

Again, it is truly beyond my wisdom whether or not their knowledge and faithfulness to the church and the concept of Christ will attain them entrance into heaven, but I lean towards doubting its certainty.  Christ says He must "know us" in order to write our names down in His Book of Life and if the true relationship with Him is never established, how does He get to know us.  But then again, He says "all those who believe" will gain entrance into heaven. So, is the head knowledge and belief in Christ enough?  This is something I struggle with, as I feel much of my family falls into this category and feels that it is. 

And of course, true believers are those who trust in the Lord with all of their hearts.  They spend time with him in prayer and in His Word.  Their belief in Christ changes them to the core of their very being.  They know who He is and He knows them.  Granted, there are many different levels to this belief and knowledge in Christ. New believers are just starting on this journey and life-long believers have an understanding I can only hope for one day. That is why Peter tells us we will possess these qualities in increasing measure.  I don't think we will fully know Christ until we meet Him face to face. 

But isn't that a good thing?  I think it is exciting to think that I can keep learning each and every day and never get bored with it.  Never reach the end of the learning potential.  Never 'graduate'.  It means I can read the Bible over and over again and learn something new each and every time.  I can go through life situations, stumbling blocks and celebrations and see God in them in a different way every time one comes my way. 

It is a long list of wonderful attributes to aim for; things I stumble over time and time again.  But isn't one of them perseverance?  Increasing measure.  Just keep moving on and being effective and productive.  We may fail time and time again, but all He asks is that we don't give up, just do a little bit better next time.