The Spectrum

 Not everything in life is equally dangerous. Objectively speaking, jumping on a trampoline and jumping off a three-story building carry differing degrees of danger, although getting hurt on the trampoline is not out of the question. If you don’t believe me and have a few minutes to kill, go to YouTube and search for trampoline accidents.

How it’s okay for male castrations due to a trampoline mishap to still be available for viewing, but anyone even diplomatically discussing the varied forms of mental illness or the drawbacks of being a human pincushion gets censored and canceled is beyond me, but it is what it is. The point is you may get hurt on the trampoline, but you are almost guaranteed to get hurt jumping off a building. One is far likelier to occur than the other.

When we inverse how dangerous something or someone might be and assign a low danger quotient to something that will kill us and a high one to something that may leave a bruise but not a mortal wound, we are courting disaster.

A false prophet is more dangerous than any politician, ever. Sin is more dangerous for your well-being than any neighborhood. Between guarding your heart against corruption or a politician’s guile, guard it against corruption every time. It’s good to guard your heart against both, but some people can’t multi-task. If the Bible tells us to guard our hearts against sin, but we’re guarding it against everything else except for sin, when it ensnares us and keeps us from moving forward, we have no one to blame but ourselves.

The Word of God identifies the spectrum of danger, from most dangerous to least dangerous, and sin, whether hidden and not repented of or open and celebrated, gets the top spot without fail. Before we empty our closets of mixed fabrics, we must empty our hearts of sin. Before we denounce anyone not prolific in Hebrew as a heretic, we must confront our own rebellion. To prioritize the one while failing to do the other will lead to a self-righteous legalism that will reek of sanctimony and duplicity.

That’s just one example, but people choose countless pet doctrines as the hill they’re willing to die on when the Word of God never insists they should be our journey's primary focus.

Some are so ardent about it that they would readily break fellowship with other believers over tertiary issues like wearing a wedding band or shorts in the summer. You’re only allowed as much liberty as they decide, and if you step out of line, then Ichabod it is.

What God calls sin is sin, and there’s no debating it. If God does not call it sin, but your personal preference or conviction deems it so, it does not mean that it becomes general doctrine for everyone else just because you declare it.

After the revolution, one of the big debates in the Romanian church was whether or not musical instruments were proper during service. I know, silly argument, but there were church splits over this, and brothers stopped speaking to brothers because of it.

The reason for the schism was that up until the revolution, the faithful met in secret, and none would dare use instruments during worship for fear of being found out. Most of the songs were sung acapella, with one individual giving the right key with a harmonica, a pitch pipe, or a tuning fork.

After the revolution, when Christians were free to worship freely, some insisted that the status quo was good enough, while others yearned for the sweet, sweet sound of an accordion to accompany their worship.

The debate became problematic when one side went beyond calling it a personal preference and insisting that it’s what the Bible commanded. Both sides then began to cherry-pick verses to support their position, and rather than focus on worshipping God in spirit and truth, they started to point fingers at one another, insisting that they were in rebellion.

All believers have a common enemy, which is the reality the devil would prefer us to forget. While sin is crippling and deadly, a guitar, a piano, or even dare I say, a tambourine in the church isn’t, and that’s another truth the devil would rather we gloss over.

The children of God will need each other like never before. It is the preeminent reason the enemy is sowing division whenever and wherever he can. Unlike man, the devil learns from his mistakes, and he remembers quite clearly that the primary church survived and thrived because they were united in a singular purpose. They were not concerned about who got the credit, who got famous, who was popular, or who could start a spin-off ministry, but that Christ be glorified in all things.

By the time they have to wage war against the darkness, most believers are so exhausted from waging war with each other that they can’t even put up a fight. We’re so keen on barring the entrance for fellow believers that the enemy’s minions creep in unaware and proceed to dismantle the body from within. All the godless have to do is pretend to agree with the individual peccadillos, and since that, and not Biblical truth, has become the metric for whether or not someone is walking in righteousness, it’s easy to fool others that they are of the household of faith.

The moment the Bible was no longer the standard for those professing to be believers, it became a free-for-all with those who could tell the most comforting lies coming out ahead in visibility, prominence, following, church size, and accolades.

Deceivers continue to deceive because a vast majority want to be deceived. They don’t want the truth that will inevitably compel them to leave worldliness behind but the lie that will allow them to sup at the devil’s table whenever they are so inclined.

Guard your heart before you guard another’s. It’s the same principle they use on airplanes, where in case of emergency, you put on your mask first, then assist the person next to you if they need aid. The best way to guard your heart is to identify what poses the most danger and avoid it at all costs.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.