A Pilgrims Progress - Some Thoughts on Talkative

As I have shared before, I am reading A Pilgrims Progress. It is skillfully and wonderfully written and has caused me to see some things in new light. Below is a piece of the story.

At this point, Christian and Faithful have come upon a man named Talkative. Talkative desired conversation about edifying things about God and Salvation. During the conversation Faithful was convinced that they had come across a brother and fellow pilgrim on the journey to Zion. That is until Christian advised him that he knew the man from his days in the town of destruction and that he was not what he seemed. Faithful decides to steer the conversation in the direction of what saving faith is really all about. Here is part of Talkative's answer and then Faithfull’s response.

TALKATIVE. Great knowledge of gospel mysteries.

FAITHFUL. This sign should have been first; but first or last, it isalso false; for knowledge, great knowledge, may be obtained in themysteries of the gospel, and yet no work of grace in the soul. [1Cor. 13] Yea, if a man have all knowledge, he may yet be nothing, and so consequently be no child of God. When Christ said, "Do youknow all these things?" and the disciples had answered, Yes; headdeth, "Blessed are ye if ye do them." He doth not lay the blessingin the knowing of them, but in the doing of them. For there isa knowledge that is not attended with doing: He that knoweth hismasters will, and doeth it not. A man may know like an angel, andyet be no Christian, therefore your sign of it is not true. Indeed,to know is a thing that pleaseth talkers and boasters, but to do isthat which pleaseth God. Not that the heart can be good ithoutknowledge; for without that, the heart is naught. There is,therefore, knowledge and knowledge. Knowledge that resteth in the bare speculation of things; and knowledge that is accompanied withthe grace of faith and love; which puts a man upon doing even thewill of God from the heart: the first of these will serve thetalker; but without the other the true Christian is not content."Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shallobserve it with my whole heart." [Ps. 119:34]

TALKATIVE. You lie at the catch again; this is not for edification.

FAITHFUL. Well, if you please, propound another sign how this work of grace discovereth itself where it is.

TALKATIVE. Not I, for I see we shall not agree.

This exchange has reminded me that although there are those in the visible church who have great knowledge of the gospel message, they are not actually Christians. I work with the teens in my church. Many of them have been raised in the church and they know more about the Bible than some pastors of other churches (the liberal ones….ha ha). Anyway, when you strip it all away it is just what knowledge. To paraphrase John MacArthur, hey haven’t made Jesus Lord. They aren’t living out there faith in fear and trembling and that leads me to believe that they have no faith……just knowledge.

This goes way beyond the teens I know. I feel that there are adults in my life where this may be the same thing. Is this judgmental….a little I guess, but the passage above reminds me that these conversations need to be had. We need to talk to those in our lives about such things to either help them strengthen their faith or to understand where they are so we know how to best interact (read: evangelize) with them. Of course all of this should be wrapped in respect and love, and we are not to walk around quizzing everyone like some crazed all knowing super spiritual Christian. We are to look for the opportunity and enter the conversation wisely.

Interestingly, the answer Talkative gives is very familiar. Is this what we are afraid of? To disagree? Something to think about.

Again, I highly recommend reading Pilgrims Progress. It looks daunting, but I read it in small chunks. There is a site called dailylit.com. You can go there and sign up for free and every day (or every other day) or once a week they will send you an email with part of the book. It usually takes me 5 minutes to really read and digest what they have sent. These books are all out of copyright so it is perfectly legal to read them for free this way. Check it out.