Treason

The general and his armies of darkness gazed upon the City on a hill with a burning hatred. The citadel had not fallen, the walls had not been breached, and it was not for lack of trying.
The siege had been extensive, his armies had used every weapon in their arsenal, but somehow every attack had been anticipated and beat back. The King was wise, the city built upon the Rock, and the fact that the city was able to repel his attacks only served to fuel the general’s anger.
“It’s not working my general, the city is too well fortified. Maybe we should wait and starve them out”, one of his lieutenants said gazing malevolently at the city.
“They have the Word, they will not starve, they are nourished and well taken care of; the King loves his people. But perhaps there is another way. If we can’t starve them out, then we poison the food supply.”
“But that would mean finding someone to commit treason, to betray the King, to sell their birthright. And even if you find such a soul, it will take years for the plan to come to fruition.”
“Years I’ve got”, the general answered, “and as far as finding one who is willing to betray his Master, well it’s been done before. Appeal to their vanity, offer them treasure, and you’ll have plenty to choose from. Yes, I see now, the city must be breached from within. All we need is a way into the city, after that we will do the rest. Make it happen.”
“But who do we approach my general?”
“Why, those who have been assigned to guard the storehouses and granaries of course. Those who have been assigned to feed the people.”
And so the enemy made haste and sent in the well-concealed spies, who began to whisper into the ears of those whose responsibility it was to feed the people within the City on a hill. Many refused outright, sounding the alarm, for death would have been better than to betray the King. There were a handful however, who lent their ears to the enemy’s whisper, and once the enemy had their ear, it was all but over.
What they said made sense in a way. They were performing an important task after all, and no one seemed to appreciate it. They were feeding the people, and the people acted as though they were entitled. The pay was meager, the job was thankless, but still, treason?
The spies spewed their well rehearsed lines: “We wouldn’t expect you to do it for free of course, we take are of our own. Plus most of the people will never even know that the food has been tainted. They’ll thank you for making it taste better. You won’t regret this; just think of it, fame, fortune, and the adoration of your fellow man for being brave enough to step of the mold, to think outside the box, to be a revolutionary, a free thinker! Even our side will applaud you, embrace you, you’ll be able to reach more people, plus what’s the harm in focusing on social issues, prosperity, self esteem, global warming, rather than on Christ and the cross for a little while? Maybe it is time for a change; maybe it is time for a revolution of thought, a revolution of the mind. Doesn’t a global ministry sound good to you?”
And so the food supply in the great city was tainted, only a little at first, so as not to arouse too much suspicion, and to the surprise of all who had thrown their lot in with the enemy, and had betrayed the King, the people loved it. Sure it was less filling, but it tasted great.
Their great dining halls began to grow, and grow, and as soon as they would finish building one, they were forced to get started on another. Yes, bigger, more seats, brighter lights, more shekels in the coffers, while those who still chose to serve untainted food saw their crowds shrink and dwindle.
Some came upon the discovery that the more poison they added to the King’s food, the more the people loved it. Some began to increase the percentage of tainted food to such levels that the king’s food was almost nonexistent in their recipes.
Even among the traitors some began to feel uneasy about it, guilt eating away at them for having poisoned the King’s subjects, but they had to go along. What could they do? Expose themselves for what they were? Stand before the people in their great dining halls and confess to the fact that they were being poisoned? No, they would do no such thing. It was the people’s fault for preferring their food to the King’s food anyway wasn’t it? They weren’t to blame; they were just facilitating a need.
I could go on with this story, but I think everyone gets the point. As children of God, as those who still cling to the King and find His word nourishing and sufficient, we must face certain harsh realities. First, in many a church truth can now be quantified in parts per million. The necessary gospel has been replaced with an irrelevant gospel, for all that pertains to the physical, to this earth, and to the material is vanity, irrelevant banalities that keep people distracted from the truth that they are dead in their sins and going to hell.
Just in today’s news headlines I read that fifteen year old kids are contracting their own father’s murder, pre-teens are having sex in school, teenagers are cutting, and drinking each other’s blood, but no, the clear and present danger is global warming. Hey, it’s snowing in Houston! The climate could be put on the back burner just tad dear pastors and Christian leaders, let’s for the sake of our very existence focus on the relevant and necessary for a change. Let’s go back to the cross, to the Christ, and stop poisoning the sheep of God’s house because the enemy is getting ready for his final assault, and now the walls are weak enough, there are enough cracks in the defenses where he will breach the city.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea Jr.