Ripples

 If you’ve ever thrown a pebble into a still body of water, whether a pond, a lake, or a bucket, you know the effect one small stone has on the whole. The pebble itself will sink to the bottom, but the damage done to the stillness of the water continues to expand outward, creating bigger and bigger concentric circles. It takes a long time for the water to calm itself anew and for the peace and stillness to return.

Many pebbles were cast into the stillness of the contemporary church’s mind that, though released decades ago, continue to ripple and disturb the peace and tranquility. They shatter the stillness and bring about torrents of confusion and endless, fruitless debates about the most tertiary issues.

Those who cast the stones are long forgotten or barely remembered by those who would make idols out of men, but the negative effect of their teachings continue to reverberate and echo, bringing disorder and division on topics that ought to be straightforward enough if we would go to the Word, read it, and believe it.

Because the initial idea was weighed down with implications, and because people received it as gospel truth, they will deny the words of Jesus and the Word of God because of that initial declaration they latched onto decades ago.

Even though the Bible says all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution, because of the prosperity doctrine that has so been embraced by today’s church, Christians, especially in the West, reject the idea so thoroughly that they look down and mock those who are being persecuted and martyred for their faith.

Any pebble that disrupts the peace and stillness of the Word of God in your life must be looked upon with a critical eye, and its source must be traced back to its origin.

You can read the frustration in Paul’s exhortation when he was writing to the Galatians because even though they’d started on the right path, and their progress had been promising, some errant doctrine had seeped its way in and robbed the church of its peace.

Galatians 5:7-9, “You ran well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? This persuasion does not come from Him who calls you. A little leaven leavens the whole lump.”

Those are Paul’s words. He uses the past tense when referring to the Galatians running their race, lamenting that they had run well, but something had hindered them from obeying the truth. We’ve opened up enough cans of worms recently, so we don’t have to rush to open this one, but Paul is warning the Galatians that it doesn’t take a lot to ruin the whole. A little leaven over time, and eventually, the whole lump is leavened. The heart is not compartmentalized. It is a whole, and whatever you allow in it will affect the entirety thereof.

It’s easier to focus on the wrong thing when the wrong thing does not challenge us or threaten our status quo. We make fanciful excuses, insisting that we’re eating the meat and spitting out the bones, but Paul insists that it’s more than likely you’ll miss a bone and choke on it at some point.

You’ve been persuaded, but by whom and to what end? Those are the hard questions, and the answers may be harder still, but we have no choice but to ask them of ourselves. We have no choice but to confront the things we’d rather not because the danger they pose grows and multiplies. It is compounded and exponential. It’s not just one little thing; it’s one little thing that dominoes and cascades into bigger things until the confusion is so profound that anyone with a smooth tongue, white teeth, and an expensive suit can convince you of anything.

Disturbed men with a messiah complex don’t come right out and introduce themselves as messiah the first time they meet someone. It’s a slow process, one small lie after another, then the lies get bigger and more unbelievable until a nearsighted buffoon who played guitar badly talked a bunch of people into believing he was the Messiah. Not for nothing, but the coke-bottle glasses should have been their first clue that perhaps he wasn’t who he claimed to be.

True followers of Jesus will never attempt to replace Jesus with themselves. They will not claim to be on equal footing with Him or strip Him of glory that they might clothe themselves in it. We glorify Him, we worship Him, we follow Him, and we obey Him. Anyone who attempts to insert themselves into the position Jesus holds in your life should be rejected wholesale, without concession or compromise.

Jesus warned time and again not to make it about other men but about Him and His sovereignty and supremacy, but that would mean obedience and humility, and we’re not so good at either nowadays.

If you’ve ever played chess, you know all the pieces must be in the right place, on their designated square, for the game to begin. You can’t just place the pieces anywhere on the board and start moving them around; they have to be in the correct starting position to make it a valid game.

All the pieces are in the right place, and the game is set to begin. You’ll have peons making the preliminary moves, but as the game progresses, you’ll have rooks and bishops, knights, queens, and kings plot, plan, and execute attacks because their purpose is to win and to win, you must be vanquished.

I’m waiting for someone to ask me what advice I’d give to a believer, but they never do. It’s usually about end-time prophecy and the heralds of the last days. However, if they were to ask, my advice would be to understand the times you’re in and live accordingly.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.