Craig Carlisle says “how soon we forget” is more than a proverb — it’s a way of life.
“The problem is that most of our memories, especially with regard to great matters of the soul, are like a sieve that lets the fine flour through but catches and keeps the chaff,” he said. “We tend to hold fast to those things that we would be better off to forget and forget what we would be better off remembering.”
Carlisle, who is Alabama Baptist State Convention president and director of missions for Etowah Baptist Association, said Moses addresses this problem in Deuteronomy 8. He preached from that passage during his president’s address on the theme Compelled to Remember at the ABSC annual meeting Nov. 11 at Whitesburg Baptist Church in Huntsville.
“Thankfully Moses gives us principles that will help us avoid this pitfall,” Carlisle said.
1. We are compelled to obey.
“If we do not obey God, we forget Him,” Carlisle said. “We may preach in God’s name, we may go from meeting to meeting seeking a blessing, and we may be consistent in presenting prayer requests for God’s help in our lives. But if we are not obedient to God, that is the same as forgetting God.”
In Deuteronomy 8:11, Moses tells the people to “beware” that they don’t forget God by disobeying Him. Moses’ concern, Carlisle said, is “that they’re going to enter the promised land and their hands are going to be filled with gifts they’ve never had before.”
To be faithful, Alabama Baptists must “make a determined and heartfelt effort to keep His commandments,” Carlisle said. “We cannot trust our natural powers of recollection.”
2. We are compelled to be humble.
Moses uses words like “humbling,” “testing,” “hunger” and “provision” to help the Israelites see their utter dependence on God, Carlisle said. “This is what God does to the Israelites and to us. He brings us to the end of ourselves, so that we would acknowledge our helplessness.”
The experience of being in need not only teaches dependency on God, it also opens the door for God’s marvelous provision, Carlisle said.
3. We are compelled to overcome our forgetfulness by recalling that all we have is God’s gracious gift.
In verse 14, Moses describes how people “living in the lap of luxury take credit for their prosperity,” Carlisle said, noting that it’s easy in those situations to forget the rescuing God has done in the past.
“How many of you remember being in the bondage of sin and Jesus set you free? How many of you remember seasons in a spiritual wilderness and God gave you a word from his Word that lifted you up?”
He asked Alabama Baptists if they remember or if they are like the people of Israel.
“We naturally focus on our own hard work and perceived brilliance. Yet God gives the body, the brain and the talent,” Carlisle said. “How do we overcome our forgetfulness? A deliberate effort at memory begins our recovery.”
He asked Alabama Baptists to remember several “important things” as he leaves the presidency:
- Remember that the local church is the headquarters of the ABSC, Carlisle said. “You are the convention — pastors, leaders, laypeople, churches.”
- Remember that the Cooperative Program, now 100 years old, is “still the best way to fund missions and theological education,” he said.
- Remember that “making our churches safe places for children and teenagers must remain a high priority,” Carlisle said. “There is no excuse for any church not taking action to prevent abuse and predatory behavior inside their walls.”
- Remember to invest in the Calling Out the Called initiative to encourage raising up more pastors, he said. “The pastoral shortage crisis is real and is here. Presently we have 500 Alabama Baptist churches who do not have pastors.”
- Remember to “continue to let bivocational ministers know they are valuable, important and needed now more than ever,” Carlisle said.
- Remember to elevate the importance of churches praying for revival.
- Remember that “we are going churches for a coming Christ, and we pray that Jesus will come soon, but until then, we’re going to keep going,” he said.
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