“A Little Dab Will Do Ya”
Tim Phillips
My father passed away nearly 30 years ago, but if there is one thing that I will always remember about him, it’s that he liked to slick back his hair. Actually, he liked to part his hair on the side and comb it in a normal hair style, but he always used hair cream to do it. I’m not 100% sure which brand of hair cream he used, but I think it was Brylcreem. If you are old enough to remember the ads for Brylcreem, you probably remember the product’s slogan: “A little dab’ll do ya.”
Sadly, “a little dab’ll do ya” is the way many people approach matters of religion. A little religion, a bare minimum of Christianity, is quite enough for them. They will rarely (if ever) read their Bibles and pray. If they even attend worship services, it may be once a month. It may be only a couple of times a year. I remember a pastor who once told his congregation at a fairly large Easter Sunday gathering, “I see we have a lot of CEOs with us today: Christmas and Easter Only.” The joke, while probably unnecessary and inappropriate, unveils an uncomfortable truth. There are likely very many folks who consider themselves perfectly good Christians and think they are at peace with God, when in reality they are in love with the world and want little to do with the things of God. A little religion, they think, is enough to save them. A little religion, they think, will please God. And some of these folks are likely in our own churches.
The old ARP Form of Government had a rather dubious requirement for “active” church membership: that a person attend church quarterly and have a regular pattern of giving. So, potentially, a person could attend a worship service four times a year and still be considered an active member in good standing, as long as they gave a little money at some point. And even if the person did not meet this bare minimum requirement, they weren’t removed from the membership roll – they were simply moved to a different roll as an “inactive member,” where they could remain for up to three years (and often longer). There was much consternation when this was changed about 15 years ago (although I have heard some still use the language – and possibly still follow the old rule – of “inactive members”). The membership rolls of our churches were often inflated with those who had not attended a service in years (I personally know of situations where someone was still on the membership rolls of a church and had become a member of another church and were not removed by the session; in one case, a person had died and was still on the membership roll, which gives an all-new meaning to the word “inactive”). A person who has not attended a single worship service in three years is not an active member in any meaningful sense (excluding, of course, those who are homebound and cannot attend because of a physical infirmity). But we should be equally concerned about the spiritual condition of the “little dab” member who only attends occasionally or rarely, if at all.
This “little dab” way of approaching the Christian life isradically different from what the Bible teaches us about the implications of our commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus says, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it” (Matthew 16:24-25). Paul writes, “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me” (Galatians 2:20). Neither of those sounds like a light, casualcommitment. When compared to what the Bible teaches, a “little dab” of Christianity won’t do ya.
The Westminster Standards also speak of a faith that goes far beyond “Little Dab” Christianity. “Repentance unto life is a saving grace, wrought in the heart of a sinner by the Spirit and Word of God, whereby, out of the sight and sense, not only of the danger, but also of the filthiness and odiousness of his sins, and upon the apprehension of God’s mercy in Christ to such as are penitent, he so grieves for and hates his sins, as that he turns from them all to God, purposing and endeavoring constantly to walk with him in all the ways of new obedience” (Westminster Larger Catechism, Q. 76). “Sanctification is the work of God’s free grace, whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God, and are enabled more and more to die unto sin, and live unto righteousness” (WSC, Q. 35). If we are truly believers in Jesus Christ, then we are united with Him by faith (WSC, Q. 30). This union with Christ is a joining or cleaving to Him as our head and husband (WLC, Q. 66). The same kind oflanguage is used of Hezekiah’s devotion to God (2 Kings 18:6) and of Adam’s marital union with Eve (Genesis 2:24). Surely none of us would view a situation where a husband stays away from his family for long periods of time and only visits his wife once every couple of months as a healthy marriage. Why do we tolerate this within the church?
“Little Dab” Christianity affects so many aspects of the healthy Christian life. It’s likely one of the reasons behind the demise of the second service in so many of our churches. If I rarely come to the morning service, then certainly the evening service is even less necessary. “Little Dab” Christianity likely leads to a very low view of the sacraments as well. A family makes a big deal about the baptism of their newly born child, but then neglects to bring the child to worship and raise the child in the truths of Christianity (and things like travel ball and social media becomedominant instructional forces in the life of the covenant child). The Lord’s Supper becomes everything the Reformation fought against. “Little Dab” Christianity says I can simply show to church, without the least bit of preparation and self-examination, and passively receive the elements and assume that I’ve done my religious duty and God is pleased with me. If we wonder why our churches are weak and struggling and there is so little spiritual growth, “Little Dab” Christianity may just be the culprit.
What can we, as ministers and elders, do about this? For starters, we need to make sure our church rolls are accurate. We need to visit and speak with those who seldom attend, remind them of the obligations they took vows to uphold, and follow church discipline if necessary. We need to bring back evening services as a help and in the keeping of the Lord’s Day. We need to encourage our people about what it means to follow Christ. And we need to make sure that our people (God’s people) are reminded weekly of the glorious benefits of the being believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. If our people think the world has more to offer than Christ, then it makes sense that that’s where they will go. If they only hear a little about Jesus, then they will not know Jesus. But if Jesus Christ is preached and taught and proclaimed in truth, then nothing can compare with that. Let’s be done with “Little Dab” Christianity.