Pilgrim's Progress: Chapters Five and Six

Pastor's Note: Since it's in the public domain, Pilgrim's Progress is available for free from Project Gutenberg or can be purchased on Amazon Kindle (free for Prime members, $2.99 for everyone else).

I encourage you to pick up a copy of the book and read chapters five and six before reading the rest of this. The goal here is not to explain the chapter in its entirety; it’s making some observations from my reading and facilitate a discussion amongst ourselves that hopefully results in some learning and Christian growth. Be sure to avail yourselves of the comment section at the bottom of the page to weigh in with your own thoughts so we can talk about them.

1. Christian and Faithful both set out from the City of Destruction. Never forget that. No matter how good you may believe you’ve always been, you left the same city as every other pilgrim. Don’t deceive yourself. None of us have been on the path forever. We were all destined for wrath before God sent us our very own Evangelist.
   
   
2. According to Faithful, every citizen of the City of Destruction held Pliable in contempt. Nobody admires a traitor—even when the traitor is supportive of his cause or values. He couldn’t stick to his guns in the city, and he couldn’t stick to them on pilgrimage either. He was just a weak man who couldn’t decide who he wanted to be. Remember this when you’re tempted to abandon your walk to please someone else.
   
   
3. Adam the First and Moses are two peas in a pod. Moses was on Faithful’s trail because of Faithful’s willingness to even listen to the old man, and Moses doesn’t know how to show mercy. Law is law, and the willingness to listen to the old man in the first place is what God designed the Law to point out as wrong. If it weren't for Jesus who comes and bids Moses to forbear, he’d do worse to us than he did to Faithful.
   
   
4. Discontent spoke one truth: there is no opportunity in the Valley of the Shadow of Death to please Pride, Arrogance, Self-Conceit, and Worldly-Glory. Have you noticed in the middle of this virus how silent the prosperity gospel preachers have gotten? If God intends you to always be healthy and happy, where is He in a pandemic? No, we’re not always promised health and happiness. We’re promised faithfulness and a future. That means that in this world, we will have trouble. But take heart; Jesus has overcome the world.
   
   
5. Shame isn’t ashamed! He’s an interesting paradox of a character, but when you think about the way Bunyan did this, it makes sense. Shame wants Faithful to feel bad. Shame in a Christian is actually the same as pride. Shame berates Faithful for all the “valuables” he is leaving behind to walk the way he does. Faithful only escapes victorious when he remembers that the values of the Lord differ from those of the world. 
   
   
6. Talkative is funny. He sounds good and says he’ll be brief, but he never is. He just likes the sound of his own voice and believes being able to speak about a truth intelligibly is the same as living that truth. His solution is always more talk, never more action. This is his undoing. As soon as Faithful questions his actions, Talkative has no more desire to walk with our two pilgrims. Are you Talkative or Faithful? 
   
   
7. Evangelist—ever the truth-teller—warns our two pilgrims that one of them will meet his end at Vanity Fair. The two don’t shrink back. Interestingly enough, we’re given a view of Christian’s mind and see that he privately hopes to receive the privilege of being able to come sooner to the Celestial City. Do we face trials with this kind of confidence and longing for the world to come? Christians should never seek death, but we shouldn’t fear it when it comes, either.
   
   
8. Vanity Fair is a scary place. Every country has its own booth, and I’m tempted to believe that America would have a huge booth at the fair today. We’re a culture that entertains ourselves to death. How much time do we spend on vain pleasures that we could better spend on cultivating a relationship with the Lord and pursuing things of real value? I’m not being preachy; this is me, too. 
   
   
9. Vanity Fair’s vendors aren’t opinion neutral. They don’t just want Christian and Faithful to shop there; they want them to affirm the fair. One of the pilgrims’ chief offenses is that they care nothing for the goods. For a Christian to care nothing for the goods of the world is to state openly that they have no value. That is an offense to those who value them more than anything…and scary.
   
   
10. What is Christian’s response when Faithful dies? He keeps walking. We don’t get to stop. There will be pain. There will be loss. But until we’re at the end of our journey to the City, we must keep walking. Don’t sit down. Don’t go to sleep. Don’t take a break. Just keep walking until the chariot comes to pick you up.