Hardened Heart isn't just an Old Testament phrase.

It’s happening here and now, right beneath our noses.

Many Christian leaders, whatever title they go by, refuse the call of being challenged, either by God or others. 

They double down hard when challenged to the point that I see more doctrine, opinions, and warped theology being preached and held in higher regard than the actual word of God. 

On the flip side, I see countless congregants guilty of allowing this to happen as well. They follow along like good little sheep, never asking questions and afraid to challenge when something is wrong.

There’s a system-wide failure happening; these are serious problems happening within the church today, and why so many have failed in following Jesus. They do not want to be challenged to be better, do better, or demand better.

I see the countless many who just want to go to church on Sunday and get a couple of hours in and maybe go to a weekly Bible group and call it good. They ebb and flow with the tide of those around them because they don’t want to create a splash and stick out or want things sweet and simple.

Either way, they are after participation points, so they can try and plead ignorance when they’re judged. This applies to church leaders as well. Just so you know, God sees right through that; no sand is too deep.

But how is any of this related to the usage of a “Hardened Heart” in the Bible?

Here is one good definition in a nutshell.

“So, hardness of heart in the Bible is a heart that is like stone in that it is unmoved, unfeeling, unresponsive — sometimes to human suffering, but, worst of all, unmoved, unresponsive, unfeeling toward God’s word and God’s mercies, God’s gospel offers.” (1)

I always used to only think of this term in regards to Pharaoh and Moses. I never thought of its application in this modern age until I ran into the above article. 

Looking further, I found more clarification on the matter. Mark DeJesus goes into explanations that I will paraphrase and help explain why I see this as a problem occurring in the church now.

He points out two or many reasons a person’s heart may become hardened.

 1. Hearing Truth But Not Acting On It

“Many are deceived into thinking they “know” something because they heard it. Yet that truth is not an active reality in their daily life. Truth is meaningless unless it has been activated through acting on it and allow it to manifest in your decisions.” (3)

“In some ways, a hard heart can be defined as someone who is “being exposed to Biblical truth, yet doing nothing with it.” (3)

2. Not Healing the Issues of Your Heart

“Masses of people right now are becoming hard, simply because they are not allowing God to heal the deep pain of their life.” (3)

“ The tender optimism once present has turned into a rock hard coldness. How do you get there? By not allowing God to heal your pain.” (3)

He goes on to explain five consequences of a hard heart in detail. I’m just recapping. Since I’ve had a chance to understand them better, I can see this happening more are more within the church.

• You’ll hurt the people closest to you.

• You won’t give up things that hurt you.

• You’ll block the flow of God’s movement and direction.

• You become numb and cold to the things that should move you.

• God will turn you over to your desires.

  
  

All of these are happening, and all of them are bad. But it’s numbers three and four that really made this issue click for me because it’s what I’ve seen and felt the most coming from people literally standing within the church meet and greet areas.

I’ve been to plenty of churches, where I have walked in all excited to check everything out only to encounter cold and unfeeling people throughout the whole congregation, shuffling along to their pew so they can get this over with. I even see it in the leaders of churches.

The movement and flow of God have been blocked by tradition, doctrine, scripts, and schedules, and there is no freedom for God to enter into such an arrangement. 

Hardened hearts didn’t end with Pharaoh and Moses; it’s still an ongoing and, in my opinion and serious issue facing the church today.

The church’s growth is in decline, the ability to hear God has turned into deafness, to many stubborn and unresponsive people are lining the church pews and pulpits. 

© Jane Isley

Sources:

(1) Desiring God; Do I have a Hard Heart?

(2) Gotquestions.com; What are the causes and solutions for a hardened heart?

(3) Mark DeJesus; 5 Deadly Consequences of a Hard Heart

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