The Stench Of Corruption

If you're enjoying a delicious sandwich while surfing the net, and have come upon this particular post, I suggest you either put down the sandwich, or revisit this article after you've finished your meal and it is well on its way down your digestive tract. Fair warning, I don't want anyone thinking to themselves, with a mouthful of half masticated sandwich, 'ewe that's gross.'
In the late nineties while living in Romania full time, I befriended a young man who became my workout partner at the local gym. He was preparing for a bodybuilding competition, and he seemed like the right guy to persuade me in pushing beyond my pain threshold. Yes, I know this is workout jargon some might not be familiar with, but please bear with me. The gym itself was nothing sophisticated, no blinking lights, no treadmills, no air conditioning, just a basement, with a few barbells and dumbbells, a guy's gym in every sense of the word.
In order to achieve his desired result, this young man had to consume copious amounts of food. Needless to say, whenever he wasn't raining, he was eating. His mother would cook him potatoes, strips of meat, and whatever else she could afford in order to get him to competition weight. One day he visited my home, and unbeknown to me, forgot a bag which held a few pieces of strip steak somewhere in my home.
A few days later I started to notice an odd smell in my home, but couldn't quite put my finger on where it was coming from. As the days went by, the smell got stronger and stronger, until I finally decided to look for the source of said smell, and not give up until I found it.
After looking though most of he house I finally discovered the plastic bag, unfortunately it wasn't a Ziploc bag wedged between my sofa and my radiator, with the pieces of meat in an advanced state of decomposition. I will spare you the ugly details, but it wasn't pretty. He had placed the bag on the windowsill and it had fallen, being obscured from view.
In case you were wondering if the preceding story was just to gross you out, it wasn't. There is a spiritual application, and one that is very relevant o the condition of today's church.
The stench of corruption is ever growing, becoming more obvious, and more pungent with the passage of time. If it stinks a little now, it will stink allot worse a few days from now, because corruption doesn't have an off switch, and as the decay continues to spread, it will become more pronounced.
Though today some simply wrinkle their noses at the aberrant teachings and doctrines floating around, the time will soon come when the smell will be overpowering.
The stench of corruption can only be masked for so long with entertainment, christian humor, blinking lights, big screen televisions and Dolby surround sound.
Eventually one must either find the source of the stench and remove it personally, or abandon his or her own home and leave it to the corruption.
With the passage of time, more and more people are beginning to see the grievous lengths to which some churches will go in order to fill the seats, and the stench that comes with willful compromise, with the salt having lost its flavor, and thereby it's power to preserve from corruption is becoming undeniable. Try as they might to be polite, to ignore the smell, to turn their heads, to attempt breathing through a handkerchief, some just can't stand it anymore.
In our attempt to remove Christ from the congregation and replace Him with self serving, self centered, and outright selfish messages, we've lost sight of the fact that a church absent of Christ is a church in name only. It is only through Him, and in Him, that we are kept from the corruption of this age, and from the decay of sin. Without Christ we rot away like the rest of the world the smell of our corruption growing worse every day, just in a cathedral like setting and plush seating.
Since God has a sensitive nose, the stench of corruption reached his nostrils long before the sheep were aware of it and judgment upon His house has already been pronounced, and is well on its way to being carried out. Yes, God is about to clean house, and lest anyone forget, judgment begins in His house first.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea Jr.

Post Script: Since I have the day off tomorrow, something that is very rare in and of itself, after much prayerful consideration, I've decided to tackle the current controversy that most of the Christian websites have been abuzz about, namely whether Jesus came to earth to be the Messiah, and whether or not Jesus refused by word and deed to claim to be said Messiah.
As always, the answers are found in the Bible, and in the end, if we hope to be guided in truth, wisdom, knowledge and understanding, the Bible must be our final authority. Until tomorrow, be blessed of the Lord.