There is a rot in the contemporary church, and the odor of its putrescence has reached such levels as to become intolerable. It’s come to the point that if you go an entire week without some new horror perpetrated by individuals calling themselves the elite of the elite, pastors, preachers, bishops, elders, or prophets doesn’t materialize you chalk it up as a win, breathe a sigh of relief, but only halfheartedly because you know soon enough the other shoe will drop, and a new horror awaits.
It began when we abandoned prayer, fasting, reading the Word,
and insisting upon repentance. That was the genesis of it all, the spark that
lit the fire that seared the consciences of countless souls, and left only
devastation in its wake. It started when we became reliant on the gimmicks of
the world to draw people into the house of God rather than on God drawing men
unto Himself. It wasn’t quick enough. The growth wasn’t there. God wasn’t
moving at a pace we were comfortable with, so why not give Him a nudge? Why not
show Him what a little elbow grease, human ingenuity, and wholesale compromise
of Biblical standards could accomplish? Why
not start treating the church more like a business than the place where broken
hearts came to be mended, broken people came to be made whole, and hopeless
people came to receive hope that can only be found at the foot of the cross?
Why keep telling people to be reliant on God when we can
shift the focus and make them reliant on men, substituting a relationship with
the Lord and King of all with a discounted sort of fandom where everyone’s got
their favorite preacher, their favorite teacher, and it is to them they run for
succor and spiritual insight rather than to the Word of God?
Why keep resisting the world, fighting against the darkness,
when we can call a mutually beneficial truce and exist in a perpetual dusk
where it’s never truly dark and never truly light but something in between
where both sides can claim victory, where neither suffers defeat, and that
which we value above all else will continue its endless flow into our
burgeoning coffers?
Why preach the unfiltered, unapologetic truth, chewy bits, skin
and all, when we can put it in a blender and make it palatable for so many more
individuals, even though by the time it’s said and done, it no longer resembles
the truth it once was?
We conveniently ignored that the devil is a liar and he would
hold to no truce he agreed to. While we rested on our laurels, enjoying the
spoils of fame, enamored by extravagance, and amassing more than we could spend
in ten lifetimes, the devil continued his work unabated, the tendrils of
darkness leaking into the places that once shone bright, and the hearts of men
grew ever colder, harder, and more brittle.
It has festered ever since, gotten worse over time, and men,
absent the fear of the Lord, took greater and greater liberties in feeding
their flesh, in giving in to their base desires, and by their actions bringing
shame to the name of God and the household of faith.
We shamelessly dismissed, abandoned, and disregarded the
strictures of Scripture, insisting they are too stifling, too old-fashioned,
not compatible with our modern age, thinking nothing of the repercussions our
choices would have, or the countless lives our shamelessness would shipwreck.
Men who were supposed to be wielders of truth gave in to the
lie that you can have all of God and all of the world in tandem, and even if
some of their flock would not understand their new progressive stance on the
most heinous of practices, it was unlikely they would ever find out. I mean,
how would they? Everyone involved in leadership has a vested interest in
keeping the man behind the pulpit there, because he has become a brand, a
commodity, and the bonuses and raises every few months don’t hurt matters much
either.
Okay, so he doesn’t live what he preaches, but who does
nowadays? Yeah, he seems to be a bit too handsy, bordering on inappropriate,
with some of the younger ladies in church, but different people show affection
in different ways after all, so we’ll give that a pass too.
Well, yes, there have been rumors, and if they are true, it’s
not good. However, jealous people often say crazy things. They’re just envious
of his gifting; that must be what it is. Plus, the pastor keeps telling us
we’re not supposed to touch God’s anointed, so there’s that.
By the time the FBI or local authorities step in and charge
the monster with the monstrous acts he has committed holding him accountable at
least as far as the law is concerned, the bell has been rung, the milk has been
spilled, and innocent people whose one crime was to discount the biblical
admonition that cursed is the man who trusts in man are so broken and
untethered that their hearts turn to stone and bitterness and resentment become
their constant companion.
Anyone who dared to insist that this was not the way, that
this was not the truth, that what we were following after was cheap imitation,
counterfeits, greed and vanity was quickly brow beaten into silence, and if
they could not be made to be silent they were shunned and ostracized by those
they once called brothers because to upset the apple cart would be a fate worse
than death.
Well, you know, this isn’t helping the church’s image, don’t
you? You’re right, it’s not, but the only other option is to sacrifice the truth
for the sake of a projected image that is incongruent with reality and hope no
one notices. What’s the alternative, pray tell? Ignore it? Turn a blind eye? Tighten
the lid on the can of worms and hope it never pops free? Pretend it’s not
happening? Sweep it under the rug until the molehill turns into an unavoidable
mountain? Remain silent and thereby become complicit and have to stand before
God one day and answer for the deafening silence?
This is not about protecting an image. It’s not about
protecting a brand. It’s not about preserving a cash cow that keeps chugging
along because of the consistency with which the message of the cross is getting
watered down.
If that’s all it was about, then it’s been a wasted
existence, and we of all men are most pitiable. It’s not about faking it until
you make it or projecting an image that is a demonstrable, provable lie; it’s
about the body of Christ being whole, strong, vibrant, full of life, amputated and
excised of the dead and rotting limbs dragging it down. There’s a reason
judgment begins in the house of God, and it’s not because the house of God is
packed to the rafters with saints.
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea, Jr.
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