Don’t Let the Sandeman Get You

Ever heard of the sand man? Sure, he’s the creature who sprinkles sand in children’s eyes to make them sleepy. The Bible warns against sleep, however. "A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest... then will your poverty come upon you like an armed robber." If we are sleepy, we are admonished to wake up, for our Lord comes in an hour that we do not think. The lazy man has a lazy man’s religion. For want of a better term, we call it "pop religion." The typical lazy Christian in America loves his pop religion, even though he goes to great lengths to tell you he does not practice religion, but relationship with Christ. His pop religion tells him to talk a lot about love, even though he knows nothing about it personally in his life. His love tells him to avoid any commitment to Christ because that is legalism. He loves his pre-mature rapture theory. He is like a sleepy child being lulled to dreams by the sand man.

Or maybe it’s Sandeman himself making today’s parishioners sleepy. Now, Robert Sandeman has been dead for over 200 years, and unless you believe in disembodied spirits, he couldn’t possibly be sprinkling sand in little children’s eyes, could he? Robert’s religion came down to this: He said that in order to have right faith in Christ, all we have to do is to give intellectual assent to the truth about His death, burial and resurrection. He felt that if we believe in God to the same degree that demons believe in Him, then we had done all we need to do in order to be saved. His followers were so strict about this, they had no toleration for those who insisted that salvation depended on following Christ passionately with the whole man, not just the mind. Today, Sandeman sprinkles sleepiness in the hearts and minds of churchmen by his ministers who preach this very same doctrine of "faith." It is pop religion in a nutshell.

Now, we should know that Mr. Sandeman is not the perpetrator of such stupidity. He learned it from others, who learned it from others, who learned it from the devil himself. The devil is the ultimate sand man. He lulls us to sleep with promises of God’s unfailing love no matter that we hate the gospel. His prophets tell us we are special little children because we made an intellectual assent by inviting Jesus into our heart, or raising our forefinger, or some such acknowledgment of the truth. In contrast to this, Jesus said to his disciples (those who followed Him) to be on guard against such false prophets. Jesus sent his Holy Spirit to take up the banner. The Holy Spirit is sent to convict the world about sin, righteousness, and the judgment to come. This is passionate stuff, not meant for the lethargic or drowsy.

What happens to a man who buys into the Sandeman way of faith? He becomes dull and listless. His wooden prayers reach no higher to heaven than the stump of the tree from which they are fashioned. His love is a plastic thing, no more fit for human consumption than SaranWrap. Generally, he pretty much loses his faith and zeal over the course of time. As a minister, he may preach great sermons, full of comfort and peace for the wicked. He himself is devoid of any real feeling, except for what is left when the conscience has been seared with a hot iron. His affections are on things of this world, and his love gets him fleshly rewards. He is twice dead, plucked up by the roots. Oh sure, he maintains quite a lovely display of the social aspects of the gospel. He washes the saints’ feet, he gives holy hugs and kisses, he gives his possessions for the poor, and many other things that a normal Christian ought to do out of love. However, this is no love, but an outward show in order to assuage a deranged mind, a mind that thought it could rearrange the gospel to fit a trite belief system.

Be on your guard. Read your Bible passionately, have great emotional exercise of heart and soul. Don’t let anyone rob you of your reward by talking you out of pursuing faith and love. If you are in great emotional turmoil as you read this, know that you can come to Jesus Christ this instant. But there is no trite way to do it, no pat answer. You must call upon the Lord, but you must mean it. "Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light."

- Chris Simonson

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