Accountable

 It’s funny how the people who create the messes never own up to it. They’ll blame everyone and everything but never once take an ounce of accountability for their hand in the destruction of morality, family, or decency. The same people who screamed at the top of their lungs that finding a spouse, settling down, having children, and raising a family was too vanilla, too Leave it to Beaver, or too antiquated are now decrying the downfall of Western civilization because they see the natural end of what they started, and it’s a gruesome thing to behold.

It runs the gamut. From those who were sanctimoniously declaring that if you didn’t roll up your sleeve like a good little slave, you deserved to be put to death, to those who insisted that having children was for the birds, to those who praised states like California as they descended into a version of a third world barrio where walking from your car to your front door was deemed dangerous.

When someone insists that you should be doing a thing, whatever that thing might be, while they are doing the opposite, you probably shouldn’t be doing it. Ever wonder why the people running Silicon Valley won’t allow their children to have cell phones with screens? Ever wonder why the smug and condescending faces insisting that diversity was our strength moved out of the states they were trying to gentrify? Ever wonder why the screaming harpies insisting that killing babies is a constitutional right and you should kill as many as you can are advocating for migration in the tens of millions?

We live in a fallen world, and evil people with evil intent abound. It’s one of those hard pills that we must nevertheless swallow because far too many today are still of the impression that most folks are generally good and they want what’s best for you. They want what’s best for them. That’s the truth of it, and they’re willing to sacrifice you, your children, your happiness, and your future for fatter wallets and more power.

Some are slowly waking to the realization that their elected officials are selling them down the river and acting contrary to their benefit or beliefs. Those whose sole task is to represent the people aren’t representing anything beyond their personal self-interests. A handful realize that the people they idolize, whether in sports, media, or entertainment, have sold out. If ever they viewed them as anything more, they now view them as nothing more than a meal ticket and leverage for their next contract negotiation, but not enough are. Not nearly enough.

Before we shrug it off, thinking that’s the world’s problem, today’s church has become a mirror image of the world, wherein its leaders lie to the sheep’s faces, and they accept it as gospel truth. Whenever what they say turns out to be a pack of lies, they obfuscate and attempt to blame God for their lies not having come to pass.

It’s not their fault God didn’t read 88 reasons why Christ was returning in 88; He should have kept to their schedule rather than His, after all. The modern-day church is broken just as readily as this nation and the world. The more difficult things become for the average individual, the more obvious that will become.

In the midst of it all, however, there is a remnant. The remnant is not one particular denomination in one specific city or one particular state but handfuls here and there who walk in obedience to the Gospel rather than use it as a license for rebellion.

It is this remnant who will see God’s protection, provision, and providence. Amid the storm, they will have peace. Amid the darkness, they will be light. Amid the chaos, they will retain the joy of the Lord, and both the godless and the lukewarm will hate them for it.

It’s not as though they couldn’t have chosen obedience too. It’s not as though they couldn’t have humbled themselves at the foot of the cross and received forgiveness, and been restored. They chose not to, and the consequences of their actions are something they cannot take accountability for. As such, they will find someone to blame, someone to focus all their rage toward, and the remnant will be the convenient target.

I’m often asked why I don’t focus on the wrath of God, judgment, and the events of the last days more often than I do, and it’s because those things will not directly impact us as the saved and redeemed of God. The wrath of the ungodly is something that will directly affect us, and persecution is one of the things we must prepare for so that when it is unleashed, we might not flinch or draw back in fear.

The events are akin to mile markers telling us how close we are to our destination. We notice them as we pass by, understand the season we live in, and press on toward the prize. The persecution, on the other hand, is something we will have to contend with sooner rather than later. For us to remain steadfast, it must not surprise us that those claiming to be of the family of God will be among our most ardent persecutors. Some of you still don’t believe it, but on that day, you will remember that someone told you it would be so.

I’m fully aware that my words will land like a lead balloon for some, but unlike those of the world, I hold myself accountable to God and His Word. Hate me if you must, the line is long, and there may be a wait, but my hands are clean, and I’ve told you the truth. Perhaps one day, you will learn that those who lie to you are not your friends, and those who speak truth into your life are not your enemy.

Then again, the time is upon us when men no longer endure sound doctrine and, because they have itching ears, have heaped for themselves teachers. Men have turned away from the truth and been turned aside to fables because what was prophesied as a future event is unfolding presently, but most are too busy to notice.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.