Elijah went before the people and said, "How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him."

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." -- Galatians 2:20

         The first word that caught my attention in this passage was "dancing." Verse 26: "And they danced around the altar they had made." Elijah makes a play on words between this "dancing" of the prophets of Baal and that of the people of Israel in v. 21 (NIV): "How long will you waver between two opinions?" Literally it says, "Stop hopping between two boughs." Elijah is drawing a comparison between the dancing and hopping of the Baal prophets, and the hopping of Israel in its wavering faith, serving Baal and then God, Baal and then God.

         So when the contest between Baal and God was held, to see which God would bring fire, or lightning, from heaven, to burn a sacrifice on the altar – and presumably drawing the rain of a thunderstorm to the parched land – it was the prophets of Baal who began to dance and hop. Their dance was a ritual intended to awaken the sleeping god. It was magic. The understanding of the Baal worshipers was that during the long drought, Baal, the god of rain, had died. And their magical dance would bring Baal back from death. The dance began slowly, but through the day turned to a frenzied, ecstatic hopping, until finally the prophets begin to slash themselves with knives. This is imitative magic. As their shed blood fell to the ground like rain, the god was supposed to notice and release the vital rain upon the land.

         How different it was when Elijah took his turn. Not a frenzied dance. No magic. Rather what Elijah does is described in liturgical terms. He prepares the evening sacrifice. He restores the altar. The text is guiding us to understand that Elijah is not trying to awaken a sleeping or dead god. Elijah is restoring Israel, renewing Israel. It is not God who is dead. It is the hearts of the people who have grown dead to God.

         Elijah then uses this play on the words "hop" and "dance." Elijah uses the Baal dance to expose the double life being lived by Israel. The people are hopping between Baal and the Lord God.

         Why?

         Why are we tempted to live this same kind of dance, this double life? A double life is a strategy for keeping peace and benefiting richly from the rewards of competing value systems. It is a strategy used by people when they are young. When you are at church you are full of faith and seem committed to Christ. When you are with another set of friends on Saturday night, you engage in what those friends are doing. The strategy is to keep peace with your parents and keep popular at school. It often works pretty well for a short time. As you grow older it becomes exceedingly painful as the hidden side is exposed, and one life crashes into the other. There comes a breaking of trust. Hopping leads to tripping.

         Adults do the same dance, often leading a Sunday life with church and family, and a very different life of values when doing business, or when trying to fit a particular social group. Some men fall into a very destructive trap of pornography or sexual immorality while trying to keep up an image of righteousness. For others it can be gambling or alcohol. There are all kinds of strategies used to keep the two lives separate, but at some point what is hidden becomes known.

         Leading a double life is always an attempt to keep peace in one area of your life, and to find riches or acceptance in another area. It is a hopping back and forth in order to gain peace and success.

         The call of our lives in Christ is to a commitment of the whole heart to Christ, to live as one person and not two, to live a whole life discipleship. Paul says, "Christ lives in me." That means all of me. It means not just Christ on my outward image, an external show for people to see, while other actions are kept hidden in darkness.

         The call of Elijah on the people is that they would live one life. That means a moral life. We are to be people who live in the light. We are to be people of integrity. But to do that we must learn repentance. We do not simply polish up our virtue so it can be seen. We do not assume our goodness and expect everyone to appreciate our qualities. It is quite the opposite. We admit our brokenness and confess our sins. The life in Christ is a life of continual repentance. It is a life of recovery. It is the hard work of being in all ways one person and not two. It is sharing the struggle and not denying it. We begin by taking seriously and to heart that we are sinners, not that we are trying to be perfect examples for everyone.

         We also live the single-hearted life in our stewardship. We are not called to be rich or wealthy. We are called to be generous. I find this is a lifelong area of growth for me. My father was a very generous man, and I came to see his heart through his generosity. But he was also a product of the Depression, and always lived with limited resources. So he carried anxiety about finances as well. I know both parts are in me. One of my spiritual journeys is to move from anxiety to generosity. I am not always successful in that. But I know that being crucified with Christ very much touches that part of my heart and will. I know that my process of repentance, renewal and restoration calls me to live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave his life for me.

         The question is, why does Ahab do the dance, why does he hop between Baal and God? Why does Israel dance? Why do we?

         I think the answer begins in our desire for safety. Notice that when Elijah lays down the challenge for the people to follow God, it says in v.21, "The people said nothing." They are quiet because they are waiting to see who wins. They are ready to join the winning team. They are afraid of Jezebel and what she can do. They want to play it safe.

         Along with our self-protectiveness is our lack of ability to trust, our unbelief. We hop because we don't really trust God with our lives. We carry fear with us. We fear that if we really live consistently for God we may lose our friends, we may not have good business contacts. We fear that if we give too much to God we may become poor.

         Finally, we sometimes act like Ahab because we feel trapped. Jezebel has real power. Ahab fears his wife and her power. He wants to follow God, but he wants a peaceful existence. He thinks it will work to worship both Baal and God. He ends up giving away his power. He wants peace, but he sows trouble.

Don't give away your power to people who do not deserve it. Don't make easy peace with your fears. Live by faith in the Son of God, in Christ who gave himself for you.

         Finally, we need to notice that the defeat of the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel does not result in the Great Victory over Baal. August Konkel writes, "Even the defeat of the Baal prophets and the downpour of the rain do nothing to incite Ahab to change his own course of action."

         In fact, Jezebel seems to get stronger and more determined. This is not a story about easy victory. The defeat of Baal comes slowly in the Scripture. If you keep reading, you find it only comes through obedience, and then finally it comes in the exile. Israel got rid of Baal once and for all on the long march to Assyria. The victory over Baal came through humility and not a one-time triumph. Yet this victory on Mt. Carmel turned the tide, it made a difference.

         Paul says, "The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God." It is a daily walk. It does not happen all at once. Faith is a way of life, not a one time experience of victory. A clear confession of faith is essential. But then you need to follow Christ. It is not the battle that is immediately in front of you that is most important. The roots of sin go deep. Victory is found only in the cross. Faith and not fire, is the victory that overcomes the world.

         If you are struggling today, be encouraged even in your struggle. The way to life is faith, is the daily walk, and is turning in weakness to Christ and allowing his grace to be sufficient.

         If you are living a double life, if you are hiding part of your life in darkness, Jesus calls you into the light. He loves all of you. You can trust him with the secrets of your life. You need not fear the powers of hell.

"Out of my bondage, sorrow and night, Jesus, I come, Jesus, I come;

Into your freedom, gladness and light, Jesus, I come to you.

Out of my sickness into your health, out of my want and into your wealth,

Out of my sin and into yourself, Jesus, I come to you."

         Amen.