Job CCXXVII

 People approach life from different angles, via different avenues, but they all lead to the same core, the same center, regardless of where they start. For some, the path is straight; for others, it's meandering. Some get to it quickly, while others struggle against its pull, intuiting that giving in is an empty, meaningless life, but in the end, save for divine intervention and the revelation of a new path heretofore unseen, everyone finds themselves in the same spot. It’s the center of the maze, the reason for lies, deceit, heartlessness, greed, selfishness, malice, and all forms of evil.  

Well? What is it? I’m sure you’ve guessed it by now, but in case you haven’t, that center is the self. Whether it’s self-reliance, self-esteem, self-worth, self-motivation, self-promotion, or selfishness, it all funnels to the self, gravitates toward it, and makes the self the singular priority of one’s existence.

As long as I get mine, I am unconcerned with what others are going through. As long as I have my mansion on the hill, my private jet, my chauffeured limo, and my excesses, I will compromise, obfuscate, align myself with the worst kind of evil, and not lose a minute’s sleep over it. The ends justify the means every time, even if the means require that I sell my soul, hurt people who trusted me, and betray the gospel of Christ, because I am my own god and my entire existence is in service to me.

The current state of the contemporary church, and especially its leaders, has more to do with those who ought to know better living in service to their flesh, catering to it, and prioritizing it, than with the active meddling of the devil. It’s not that he wouldn’t have meddled if he needed to, but why bother when the televangelists, preachers, pastors, and heads of denominations were doing his work for him voluntarily and free of charge? We haven’t seen false prophets and false Christs showing great signs and wonders as yet because it’s been unnecessary.

The focus on the self, this present life, the here and now, is but the first salvo in a multi-pronged war, and it’s been more successful than the enemy could have ever dreamed. There was no need to threaten prison, persecution, or martyrdom when all it took for the church to capitulate was an offer of luxury, country clubs, gated communities, and Japanese Wagyu.

Those days are coming, be sure of it, because the Bible warns us that they will, but that will only be after the sifting, the purging, and the separation of those who serve Jesus with their hearts from those who say they serve Him with their lips. When a glut of souls pretends to serve Jesus only for the earthly benefits they’ve been told He offers, once that offer is no longer on the table, they will gravitate toward some other deity that promises them the comfort and ease of life they were promised by the faux-representatives of Christ.

It was never about fealty to Christ; it was about fealty to self and using Christ as the means by which they could achieve what their flesh wanted all along. That’s the hard part we must come to terms with: that many claiming to be His were never really His to begin with. They were never true soldiers of the cross but mercenaries offering their services to the highest bidder, no matter who that bidder happened to be. Their loyalty extended only as far as themselves, and whatever master they served was interchangeable as long as they got what they were after.

For the better part of a generation, if not longer, Christianity has been incrementally made less about Jesus and more about self, to the point that, for many, Jesus has become an afterthought. How can we be the temple of God without the presence of His Spirit indwelling in us? How can His Spirit indwell in us if we refuse to repent or resist being transformed into His likeness because we love the sin in our lives more than we love Him?

1 Corinthians 3:16-17, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.”  

While we are told from various pulpits that we are the pinnacle of everything, that it’s all about us, and the universe itself must bend to our will, God says crucify the flesh, crucify the self, crucify the image of you that you have in your mind’s eye, and become reliant on Me. Become dependent on me. Find your joy, your fulfilment, your purpose, and your worth in what My Son did for you on the cross, and understand that any nobility you may attain, any righteousness you may project is as filthy rags without My Son’s blood having washed and made you clean.

For some, it’s a big ask. So much so that they try to thread the needle in such a way that they’ll rely on their strength, intelligence, aptitudes, and abilities for as long as they can, and only after they see the ragged edges, the threads pulling apart, and the ground upon which they stand begin to shift do they run to God for aid. They make it all about themselves until it’s no longer tenable, and only then do they grudgingly acknowledge their own weakness, impotence, and frailty.

Even when Job was on top of the world, he was still reliant on God. Even when he had everything he’d ever want or need, he served God from a pure heart and a genuine desire to fellowship with Him and not because he wanted more stuff or felt as though he had to fake his faithfulness in order to retain the things he had. How can I be sure of this? Because God knows the heart of man, and He declared it to be so. You can fake it until you make it in the eyes of the world, but God is not so gullible. You can’t get one over on Him. He knows the intent behind all we do, and those who serve Him out of a genuine desire for relationship and fellowship with Him will know His presence and hear His voice.  

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.