I believe the continued refusal of the Call of God in a person's life is what is referred to as "blasphemy of the Holy Spirit." The perpetual rejection of God's overture to us is the one thing God will not overcome. In order for us to be free beings, free to love God and free to refuse God's love, requires that we can really refuse God's Call and God will honor our choice. I don't believe it is easy to do this! I believe it takes a concerted lifelong effort. It is not done casually or simply or merely once.
One of the stories in Lewis's "The Last Battle" comes to mind when I think about refusing the Call. It is the scene where a group of dwarves are in the 'real Narnia', (that Narnia that is the archetype of the one the children experienced). They believe themselves to be in a dark, smelly stable. In reality they are in a sun-drenched pasture of pure delight. They have decided they have been pushed and pulled in so many directions that they have decided not to believe in anyone but themselves. Their mantra is, "The dwarves are for the dwarves." The following is the concern of Lucy, Aslan and others as they try to bring the dwarves out of their self-imposed darkness and into the light of a new world.
"Aslan," said Lucy through her tears, "could you - will you - do something for these poor Dwarfs?"
"Dearest," said Aslan, "I will show you both what I can, and what I cannot do." He came close to the Dwarfs and gave a long growl: low, but it set all the air shaking. But the Dwarfs said to one another, "Hear that? That's the gang at the other end of the Stable. Trying to frighten us. They do it with a machine of some kind. Don't take any notice. They won't take us in again!"
Aslan raised his head and shook his mane. Instantly a glorious feast appeared on the Dwarfs' knees: pies and tongues and pigeons and trifles and ices, and each Dwarf had a goblet of good wine in his right hand. But it wasn't much use. They began eating andn drinking greedily enough, but it wasn't clear that they couldn't taste it properly. They thought they were eating and drinking only the sort of things you might find in a Stable. One said he was trying to eat hay and another said he had got a bit of an old turnip and a third said he'd found a raw cabbage leaf. And they raised their golden goblets of rich red wine to their lips and said "Ugh!" Fancy drinking dirty water out of a trough that a donkey's been at! Never thought we'd come to this." But very soon every Dwarf began suspecting that every other Dwarf had found something nicer than he had, and they started grabbing and snatching, and went on to quarrelling, till in a few minutes there was a free fight and all the good food was smeared on their faces and clothes or trodden under foot. But when at last they sat down to nurse their black eyes and their bleeding noses, they all said:
"Well, at any rate there's no Humbug here. We haven't let anyone take us in. The Dwarfs are for the Dwarfs."
"You see," said Aslan. "They will not let us help them. They have chosen cunning instead of belief. Their prison is only in their own minds, yet they are in that prison; and so afraid of being taken in that they can not be taken out. But come, children. I have other work to do." from Chapter XIII
There are whole cultures today that are imprisoned in their minds because they refuse to be taken in. This is one of the challenges the Gospel faces in Western and particularly Eastern Europe. Countries like the Czech Republic, one of the hearts of Protestantism with Jon Hus, and Eastern Germany, Luther's home, are growing more and more secular. After decades of manipulation by both government and church the people are more and more concerned about being taken in that they are becoming immune to being taken out.
This is happening in North America as well. We've blurred Gospel and government and life style so much that we are unable to hear afresh the Good News that Jesus has come to set us free from all the things we believe will save our lives.
Many refuse the Call of God, because like the Dwarfs, they refuse to be "taken in". Think on this. There are ways that even the most mature of Christians refuse God's Call because we fear being taken advantage of, or called to inconvenience, or we are simply set in our ways. How are we so set that we cannot be reached?
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