Yin Yout
May 2, 2004
Dear Friends,
There is a popular radio show that uses the phrase “yin yout” all of the time. For those who don’t speak Southern, yin yout is short for “are you in or are you out?” In other words, are you committed?
Human nature being what it is, we often find ourselves commitment averse. Maybe it is an insight into our culture that we speak in terms of the “institution” of marriage and crazy people being “institutionalized” as well as being “committed” to a relationship and crazy people being “committed.” Coincidence? I think not…but I don’t want to commit myself.
Too often we act like indecisively to our own detriment like we are trying to cover all of the angles. It is like the man who had one foot in the fire and the other in a block of ice but was “on average” very comfortable. This is very much in line with an old Chinese proverb that says “Two leaps per chasm is fatal.”
If we are indecisive about some matters such as Coke versus Pepsi, it makes no difference. If we are indecisive about God, it matters a lot. Give me a person with a strong feeling for or against Biblical Christianity any day rather than someone who just doesn’t care. There is nothing more frustrating than teaching someone the Gospel only to have them in the end say “so what?”
From a Biblical point of view, this idea is best summarized in 1 Kings 18:21. “And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.”
The Bible makes it clear we have to make a decision. To avoid making a decision is to make a decision. “Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.” (James 4:4)
Every week I meet people who stuck fast in the middle of two opinions. Is the Bible the inspired word of God? Don’t know for sure. Does it matter what you believe? Maybe. Do you want to become more spiritual? Kind of. You want to shake them and say “yin yout?”
I have known people who have come to meeting every Sunday for years never to be baptized and never to fully participate. You wonder to yourself what they are possibly thinking. It is like going to a movie theater but shutting your eyes and plugging your ears for the entire show. What’s the point?
The children of Israel are classic examples in many respects of people who halted between two opinions. They put idols in the Temple of God. What did they think they were accomplishing by doing that? Time and time again during their history they had to answer the question — “yin yout?” One of the most famous replies which I hope more people could agree with was by Joshua when he said “And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” (Jos 24:15)
Yin yout?
Have a great week!
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