Paul also warns that in the last days, there will be blasphemers. Those who blaspheme God, the ways of God, the Word of God, and the truth of God have always existed in the world. There have always been men whose hearts were so darkened, whose hatred for a God they claimed they didn’t believe in reached such heights as to utter the most blasphemous things without giving it a second thought. The difference between then and now, between that time and this, is that the blasphemers will not be exclusive to those of the world but also found within the house of God.
It may seem paradoxical for someone who says they serve God
to blaspheme Him, but we’ve seen it time and again, not just from the laymen
but also from supposed leaders and governing bodies of churches and
denominations.
Between Merriam-Webster’s definition of blasphemy and the
definition of the root word for it in Greek, it is undeniable that many
so-called spiritual leaders and people of the cloth are, in word and deed,
blasphemers.
The modern translation of blasphemy, via the aforementioned
Merriam-Webster, is the act of insulting or showing contempt or lack of
reverence for God, the act of claiming the attributes of a deity, or
irreverence toward something considered sacred or inviolable.
The translation from Greek adds an extra layer by defining
blasphemy as speaking lightly or amiss of sacred things or slandering.
By these definitions, anyone who has stood behind a pulpit
and claimed to be a little god committed blasphemy. Anyone who has stood behind
a pulpit and twisted the Word of God to give permission to sin committed
blasphemy. Anyone who showed contempt for God because they deemed Him unfair,
misogynistic, non-inclusive, or outdated committed blasphemy. The list is long,
and had we the time, we could go through it point by point, but there are only
so many hours in a day.
Sobering as the reality of it might be, the truth of it is
that some of the most lauded, celebrated, and revered spiritual leaders of our
day are, by definition, the blasphemers Paul warned of.
There is a difference between those who blaspheme out of
ignorance and those who do it knowingly. Given that the preachers, pastors, and
evangelists who are guilty of blaspheming handle the Word and ought to know
better, they cannot use the excuse of ignorance to justify the things they’ve
taught and encouraged.
1 Timothy 1:12-13, “And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has
enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, although
I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained
mercy because I did it ignorantly and in unbelief.”
This is a man who understood what he had been and what he had
been transformed into. He didn’t try to soften the blow or put himself in a
better light. Were it not for his own words, we likely would have never known
that Paul had been a blasphemer and an insolent man. Due to the telling of
Stephen’s martyrdom in the book of Acts, as well as his subsequent reason for
being on the road to Damascus, we would have known Paul was a persecutor, but
that would have been all. He confesses to having been not only a persecutor but
a blasphemer and an insolent man, but he’d obtained mercy because he had done
these things ignorantly and in unbelief. What’s the excuse of many of today’s
most prominent preachers, teachers, and pastors?
Because certain people always feel the need to one-up their
contemporaries, recently, a mega-church pastor went beyond calling himself a
little god and went one step further, calling himself God almighty. The hubris
of some men continues to baffle me, and the fact that thousands upon thousands
are cheering them like trained seals, not realizing what blasphemy is being
uttered is beyond me utterly.
Then you have the new crop of prophets and prophetesses, at
least in their own estimations, who declare with a straight face that they’ve
been teleported to heaven via porta-potties, sat on God’s lap, braided His
beard, and gave Him their indispensable insight as to how He should
administrate the universe. It’s both insulting and irreverent toward God, the
very definition of blasphemy.
So before we get on our soapboxes and start declaring that
there are no blasphemers here, take a minute, look around, and listen to what
some people are saying about everything from God to the Word of God, to the
inerrancy of Scripture, to the supremacy of Christ, or the presence of the Holy
Spirit, just to name a few, and then tell me that they are not a clear and
present reality in our midst.
Anyone insisting that God has denied His nature and that He
is no longer a holy and righteous God in order to appease and facilitate the
proclivities and vices of modernity is likewise a blasphemer by definition. He
is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and in Him, there is no shadow of
turning. That’s what the Book says about the God such individuals purport to
serve, yet present Him as one who is willing to make concessions and change at
the drop of a hat.
Men’s opinions do not supersede the Word of God. We must
revisit this lesson and allow it to take root in our hearts. It doesn’t matter
who said it or how well respected they are within Christian circles; if their
words contradict the Word, they are in the wrong and need to be rebuked for it.
But that’s never going to happen because we like what they
have to say. It tickles our ears and makes us feel good, and in the end, for
many, feeling good takes precedence over being saved as long as they are constantly
reassured that they are saved even though there is no fruit or transformation
in their lives to confirm that reality. Believing a lie that boosts our egos is
preferred to a truth that humbles us. That, too, is addressed by Paul further
into his second letter to Timothy.
2 Timothy 4:3-4, “For the time will come when they will not
endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have
itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn
their ears away from the truth and be turned aside to fables.”
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