Seed

 What you plant is what will grow. This is why the seed matters. If you’re planning on carrots but plant alfalfa, it’s not the earth’s fault or the seed’s fault that you got a crop of alfalfa; it’s your fault for not being diligent regarding what sort of seed you planted in the soil. We may try to blame someone else, we may try to say the seed pouch was mislabeled, or that there was a picture of a carrot on the bag, but it was likely labeled appropriately, and we’re just looking for a scapegoat.

That’s why it’s also paramount to ensure that the seed you allow to take root in your heart is the truth, biblically sound, and scripturally rooted. Half-truths will produce whole lies. When the heart becomes overgrown with weeds and brambles, it takes a lot of effort to burn it out and start anew.

Don’t just accept anything or take someone’s word as to the source of what they are trying to feed your spiritual man. Double-check, go into the Word, see if what they say is there, and if it’s not, reject it wholesale. If the contents were never in the packaging, you can’t trust it. That’s why there are warnings on foodstuffs that if the seal has been tampered with or if it’s not intact, you should return it and not consume it.

That’s what draws out my empathy somewhat: that there are individuals who are so hungry that they’ll feed on anything. I have empathy for this hunger, not their willingness to allow spiritualized fantasies to present themselves as gospel truth. People who go dumpster diving don’t concern themselves with whether the seal is still intact on what they find in the garbage. They’re just happy there are no maggots crawling on it.

On the other hand, unlike food, there is no price tag on the gospel, and you can walk into any church, and they’ll give you a Bible for free. It’s not being spoon-fed, but then again, when you read the Bible for yourself, you know what you’re consuming. That’s always the tradeoff when you trust strangers with your spiritual succor and don’t take the time to study the Word for yourself: you never know what they’re feeding you and if they have an ulterior motive in doing so.

By the time Paul and Silas had reached Berea, they’d encountered enough believers along the way that they were vouched for and had garnered a certain reputation. They weren’t just strangers who showed up out of nowhere and started preaching. That didn’t stop the Bereans from searching the Scriptures daily to find out whether the things Paul and Silas were preaching were so.

For the most part, we’ve lost that desire to know whether something is true or not in our modern era. As long as it’s in agreement with our preconceived notions, we’ll believe it without giving it a second thought or confirming that what we’re hearing and what we’ve believed is in harmony with the Word of God. We just want our opinions validated; we don’t care if it’s the truth.

The problem with surrounding ourselves with yes men is that yes men usually have a vested interest. There’s a reason they’re defacto lickspittles who echo your sentiments back at you. Worse still, we expect God to be a yes man as well since we’ve become so used to them, and when He says no, we are shocked and appalled that He dared.

Doctrine matters, and it’s the substance of the doctrine that matters, not the manner in which it’s delivered or whether the individual teaching it is enigmatic, animated, or well-dressed. We’ve prized presentation over substance for so long in the church that if the delivery is well rehearsed enough, if the individual is hip and cool and can squeeze into a pair of skinny jeans, we’ll amen even the most disturbing of heresies. Oh, look, the guy in the muscle tee with the faux beard and the lumberjack boots just said we were God! He must know what he’s talking about; you don’t pretend to be that rugged without knowing a thing or two. And, like trained seals, a couple of thousand people clap and clamor even though the insinuation that man can be like God was the first lie the devil ever told.

A box is a box, no matter how pretty it is or how many bows it has on it. What matters is what’s inside. Tragically, we’ve gotten away from that reality to the point that if the box isn’t shiny and doesn’t draw the eye, we don’t care what’s inside anymore.

We’ve borrowed a page from the world, and it’s all about the delivery system. From supermodels trying to sell you double cheeseburgers with bacon as though they’d ever eat such a thing to other more nefarious individuals insisting that untested and unproven chemicals injected into your bloodstream are safe and effective just because they tell you they are. They’re wearing white lab coats, after all; surely, if you’re going to trust anyone, it’s someone in a white lab coat.

Now you have people standing behind pulpits teaching abject heresy, and we’re supposed to believe it because, well, they’re standing behind a pulpit. When Paul wrote Timothy, admonishing him to study that he may shew himself approved unto God, a workman that need not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth, it wasn’t exclusive to Timothy but to all who would answer the great high calling of being a workman in God’s kingdom.

Take heed to the seed you’re planting in the soil of your heart, and make sure it is the word of truth. This is an imperative that too few are taking to heart.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.