Foolish Sheep and Wounded Shepherds!

Judgment is coming and deservedly so. Anyone who is halfway honest knows this to be a true and undeniable statement. Since God won’t judge the devil’s kids for something His own kids are doing, judgment always begins with His own first, because He is just.

Although the difference between being chastened and judged is worthy of a protracted thesis all its own, for the sake of this writing, let’s just say that one is used as a corrective measure, while one is used as punishment, or the carrying out of a sentence.

What is about to befall the Western church is not chastening. What is about to befall the western church is judgment. A judgment reserved for the rebellious and unrepentant, for those who have long been worshiping a god of their own making and design.

For the last few years we’ve been living in an upside down world, and it’s gotten so bad I wake up with vertigo most mornings. Recently I ran across a story that both enraged and disgusted me in equal measure.

There is a pastor in California who was forced to resign recently for posting something wholly factual and demonstrably true on his church’s sign. What he put on the church sign was the following: ‘Bruce Jenner is still a man. Homosexuality is still sin. The culture may change but the Bible does not.’

There was nothing false in any of these statements. All are demonstrably factual and true. Even if he puts on a wig and makeup, Bruce Jenner is still a man. Biology tells us as much, and I don’t see much of a spectrum between X chromosome, and Y chromosome. Binary. Two. Man and woman, as God created in the beginning when everything was new and unsullied. Even if the church has become permissive towards it, homosexuality is still a sin, and yes, though the culture has changed, the Bible does not.

The thing that made the bile rise in my throat wasn’t the fact that there was backlash from the godless in the community, it was the fact that all but one family in this pastor’s church gave the board an ultimatum that either he goes, or they go.

So here was a handful of families that had been spiritually fed by this man for years on end, a shepherd in whom they confided, a shepherd who gave them comfort and encouragement, and in order to appease the vile and wicked, they threw him under the bus without a second’s worth of hesitation.

It’s no longer feeding the sheep what they need, it’s no longer leading them to green pastures and pure waters, it’s about doing their bidding, dancing to their tune, and feeding them what they demand to be fed.

And you wonder why churches are closing their doors at a record pace in this country? And you wonder why less and less people are attending church?

Well, wonder no longer. Such movements always start to cannibalize themselves. The snake always starts to eat its own tail. First the sheep put pressure on the shepherd to speak the words they want to hear rather than the ones they need to hear, then the shepherd either acquiesces or is fired and another hireling is brought in who will submit, then the selfsame sheep who made the demands grow exceedingly disillusioned with their spiritual state because they realize they’re just treading water at best. These are like spoiled children who are never challenged, who are allowed to eat as much chocolate as they want, then blame the parents for throwing up and having stomach aches. They are spiritually immature souls, fooling themselves, and growing more despondent with each passing day because they are eroding spiritually.

Rather than take a step back and wonder why this is happening to them, they blame the shepherd who they forced into a position of teaching pabulum, and stop going to church altogether. Personal responsibility? God forbid! It’s always someone else’s fault, even though they are the ones who turned away from sound doctrine and sought out teachers to suit their own desires.

Yes, judgment is well deserved, and I for one can’t wait for these temples of vainglory to be hollowed out and turned into ruinous heaps. When supposed sheep make the heart of the righteous sad due to their ignorance, it’s time to cry aloud, “Lord, terry no longer! Bring Your judgment now!”

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea Jr.