Justin Taylor has posted a very helpful two minute or so illustration from D.A. Carson about two Hebrew guys named Smith and Brown on the night of the Passover. Watch it here (It starts at about the 2 minute mark and ends a little after 4):
When I first saw the title of this post I had imagined that Carson was discussing Smith who believed and put blood on the doorpost and Brown who was skeptical and didn’t put it on the doorpost. I was going to use this as a launching pad for a very brief point—that there is also probably a third guy present, whom I was going to call Twitchy.
Twitchy of course is just like Mr. Smith in Carson’s story. So, I didn’t need him. He puts blood on the door post but he doesn’t sleep very well that night. He trusts the Lord enough to cover slaughter the lamb and spread the blood but he spends his night indoors quivering and saying, “Boy I sure hope this works”.
Christian faith is like that sometimes. At times we are strong in our faith like Mr. Brown. We are trusting in Christ and we are graced with confidence and assurance. At other times we find ourselves a little more like Mr. Smith saying, “Boy I sure hope this works”.
Remember a weak faith can lay hold of a strong Christ.
Obviously we’d all rather be Mr. Brown. But the Mr. Smith’s of the world will stand amazed when the death angel passes over and the sons of God that took refuge in the mighty King stand with the Conquering Lion.
