Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Complicity Part 1

The balloons are gone, the confetti has been swept up by the cleaning crews all too glad to earn a little overtime, and the booming monosyllabic chants have dwindled to less than a whisper. It is over, yet it is just beginning. The people have spoken, the world has heard, history has been made, and now the nation must live with its choice. Whatever the future might hold, make no mistake, the American Church is complicit and culpable. Come what may, the Christian Church will have had a hand in it, and we will have to deal with it, accept it, and own up to it for better or worse.
So what caused the exodus? What was it that caused so many self proclaimed Christians feel so disaffected, so marginalized that they felt the need to make a statement, to substitute the reality of the situation for the illusion that was being presented to them? Just as it was in the time of kings, in fact immediately before the time of the first king of Israel, the people have gotten disillusioned with the spiritual leadership of their day.
You see, I believe the American Church, especially the leaders of the American Church must bear the burden more heavily than any other, for long before the first vote was cast, their actions and their choices caused the sheep to count them as nothing more than jesters, farceurs, men of no moral compass, who would align themselves with anyone they thought would profit them in the long term.
The son of King David, the man who was arguably the smartest man to ever live once wrote that there is nothing new under the sun. Although we might think as a nation we’ve done something unprecedented, new, never before seen, and historic, the reality is that upon closer inspection nothing is as original as it appears.
The prophet Samuel was getting old, his strength was fading. Samuel had served the God of Israel faithfully for many a year, he had fulfilled that which God had commanded, but now the time had come to pass the mantle, to make way for the next generation of judges over Israel. Samuel chose his sons, perhaps in hindsight not the most appropriate replacements as judges over Israel, hoping that the apple wouldn’t fall too far from the paternal tree, that they would maintain a standard of righteousness as their father had.
If Samuel’s love for his sons blinded him to what they had become, greedy, immoral men who turned aside after dishonest gain, took bribes, and perverted justice, the people were all too keen on what was happening. The people were not blinded by love, or a sense of loyalty, they saw the truth, uncomfortable as it might have been, and decided to approach Samuel on the matter.
To parallel the days of old to today is an easy task. We remember fondly the men of God who came before us, those who seem as giants to us even to this day, and wonder even if only in those private times of thought and introspection where such men are today. Gone are the days of a shepherd knowing every one of his sheep by name, gone are the days of pastors dropping in to visit with a parishioner and break bread with him or her, gone are the days of a shepherd being ready to sacrifice of himself for the sake of his sheep. Yes, at least in large part those days are gone. They have however been replaced with bodyguards, bullet proof cars, mansions, vacation homes, a demand for blind loyalty to the man and not to God, and ever larger monolithic temples of indifference where every song, every prayer, every humor filled and anecdotal sermon is geared toward separating the sheep from their wool.
At first it may have been a bit off-putting, all the attention, all the lights, but when they start offering you a mint for some self-esteem drivel you penned one rainy afternoon for lack of something better to do, you just go along with it. What of the people? What of the sheep? Well the sheep should have known better, they should have been a bit more self-sufficient.
The sheep have spoken, and it was a message directed specifically to the leadership of the American Church, but I wonder if the leadership understands it, or even cares anymore. Just as it was in the time of Samuel and his sons, the leaders are not doing their job anymore, they have strayed from the path of truth, they have strayed from righteousness and the word of God, corrupting and being corrupted in such an obvious manner that the people finally said, if you will not be what you pretend to be, what you’re supposed to be, then we want a king.
In our never ending quest to become more like the world, a large majority of the American Church finally realized a simple truth: Why strive to be more like the world, when we can simply be of the world? No matter how good, a forgery is still a forgery. Why not embrace the real thing? It’s what the preachers have been preaching from the pulpits the past couple decades anyway. Why not take that final step? When you strip the word of God of its virtue, when you bury the truth for fear of offense, when for a piece of the political influence pie, you are willing to part with your values and your morals, how much longer before you reject God altogether?
“Make for us a king to judge us like all the nations” the people cried to Samuel, for your sons are corrupt, they pervert justice, and they do not walk before God in the same manner you once did. It mattered not if the king was good, it mattered not if he was noble or godly, righteous or merciful, they just wanted a king. Make for us a king, create him, make the illusion real enough that for a season we will cheer and we will revel.
‘Yes, a king, like all the nations, because anything is better than the hypocrisy we see in your sons Samuel. Anything is better than seeking after the truth and not finding it, going to the house of God and discovering he has been banished. A king, yes, a king that will solve everything.”
I could only imagine the heartbreak Samuel felt, not only at the request of the people, but also at the failure of his sons. I wonder what the past generation, those that have already gone to their reward, would think of the men that have risen to the leadership positions in today’s church. I often wonder at their reaction if they were to hear just one sermon that these men preached on any given Sunday. There are few tragedies more pronounced within the church, than when the Bible becomes nothing more than just another prop piece, when it remains on a pulpit, shiny black leather with gold embossed lettering, unopened, unquoted, dismissed and marginalized. How can Christians be so misled? How can Christians make choices contrary, and in direct opposition to the Word? They have been so far removed from the Word for so long, and they have been so distant from the truth for such an extended period of time that they confuse the desires of their own hearts, and their own imaginings with the voice of God. God will not contradict His word, nor will He encourage you to do something outside the boundaries of the Bible.
Samuel went before the Lord, grieved in his heart that the people wanted a king, and the Lord said the Samuel, ‘heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you but they have rejected Me that I should not reign over them.’
Even though the sons of Samuel did not walk in his ways, even though they had turned aside to dishonest gain, God still saw the fact that the people wanted a king to rule over them, a personal insult, and His people rejecting Him.
Rather than forego the surrogates, rather than forego the straw men who have assigned themselves more power and authority than Biblically allowed, and seek the face of God directly, the people choose to do away with God altogether, to reject Him based on what a handful of wolves in sheep’s clothing have done. Just as the people of Israel rejected God due to the sins of the sons of Samuel, so is a large portion of the American Church rejecting God due to the sins of unscrupulous and unscriptural shepherds.
Israel found an excuse to come out from under God’s laws in the sons of Samuel, just as much of the church found an excuse in the spineless and duplicitous leaders they have chosen to lead them. No more of this unyielding God, no more of this God of standards and immovable steadfastness, now we have a king, a king who understands us, who can be persuaded. We are now become like all the nations we are now become what we always wanted to be, no longer blessed, protected or sheltered of God, no longer bound by the Word, no longer accountable. We wanted a king, and now we have a king, consequences notwithstanding. It matters not what comes tomorrow, if we have a king today.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea Jr.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

The saddest part is there was a time when Christians could have, in good conscience, stood up for their rights and against the flood of filth tainting our great nation. In America, the Constitution is Caesar. Presidents, congressmen, and Supreme Court justices must swear allegiance to the Constitution. That is part of what made America special. We could have marched by the millions in support of constitutional principles: the right to preach the gospel unimpeded, the right of law-abiding citizens to keep and bear arms for self-defense, the right to be secure in our homes and persons from government intrusion. But we didn't. Somehow, we were convinced it was more "spiritual" to act as though what happened in government was separate from what happened in the spiritual realm. Yet we read that even Paul took advantage of the political system of his day to appeal to Caesar.

Well, we haven't used our constitutional right to peaceful assembly by marching. We haven't demonstrated. We haven't demanded that Caesar (the Constitution) be obeyed by our elected officials. We have allowed the political realm to take care of itself, and so it has. And here we are, about to get a taste of not merely political, but spiritual persecution. And when things turn spiritual, the carnal weapons of our warfare are useless. We had a chance to keep things contained in the physical realm, to change things as citizens of *this* world (nation). But we didn't.

Very soon, the window of opportunity for Christian political organizing and activism will be over, and the time for spiritual warfare will be upon us. We could have forestalled that time, but we didn't, so now others will choose our future for us. I do understand the concepts of spiritual warfare and that we are citizens of another realm. And yet, we have neglected to take *this* realm seriously, and I seriously doubt that very many of us understand the price we will soon pay for that neglect. God will protect, empower, and provide, but O! how I wish we had recognized how very good we had it once upon a time.

Anonymous said...

EXCELLENT Michael.

It is so sad that we who have warned will now have to suffer with the sheep who mocked us. Lessons from Jeremiah.

If I had a way to flee the USA now, I would. The Evils have already begun, and King HusseinO is not even sworn in yet. There are MANY VALID reasons he never should be US President, but the worshipping media will not report them.

You are NOT the only one who has likened today with the kings of Israel. Now prepare for persecution.

I know Jan Markell personally. She wrote 'Give us a King!'
http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs019/1101818841456/archive/1102310504364.html

Preparing our children for persecution
http://www.thetreeofliberty.com/vb/showthread.php?t=35661

EXAMPLE - Its already begun and will increase

Elderly Woman Attacked by homos.
An elderly woman bearing a cross who attended a gay marriage protest to voice her support of the California ban was attacked by demonstrators and may now press charges.

69-year-old Phyllis Burgess showed up at a rally against Proposition 8, the ban on same-sex marriage that was passed on Election Day in California. She was there to show her belief in traditional marriage.

Within minutes, angry protesters swarmed around her and yanked the cross from her hands and trampled on it.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,450884,00.html

Marcel said...

As the many Idols eventually led to Israel's defeat and slavery so we see the same in America and the Church who love the world more than Jesus.
I don't think they believe Jesus' warning that He would vomit out the lukewarm saint's.


Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me: for I will not hear thee.
Jer 7:16
Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring evil upon this people, [even] the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not hearkened unto my words, nor to my law, but rejected it.
Jer 6:19
I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear: but they did evil before mine eyes, and chose [that] in which I delighted not.
Isaiah 66:4
Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up a cry or prayer for them: for I will not hear [them] in the time that they cry unto me for their trouble.
Jeremiah11:14
When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and an oblation, I will not accept them: but I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence.
Jeremiah 14;12
Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them.
Ezekiel 8:18

Anonymous said...

I would like to know how the crowds voted who flocked a couple of months ago to Lakeland, Florida, to partake of the phony Todd Bentley crusade. I would like to know if the rise of Obama and the rise of Todd Bentley had any connection in the spiritual realm. I believe there is a connection, and I believe that President Obama will soon be widely perceived to have been hiding some significent facets of his personal history and lifestyle.

Anonymous said...

May God have mercy on us.

Thank you so much for your insight.

Sharon
New Mexico, USA

Anonymous said...

You are as guilty for the loss of this nation as the ones you rail
against.....As well as I. For many years I was blinded by my
conservative faith and my vote reflected an ignorance that was ingrained
since childhood. I still hold onto my faith by the grace of God, but my
social views have been tempered by His love for me.

Yes. our country was founded by Christian folks that would probably have
never dreamed of the moral decisions that we, as country, are making
today. However, they knew the nature of the natural man and quite
deliberately chose to strictly forbid by Constitutional amendment the
establishment of a state religion. Mr *******, we are a pluralistic
society that embraces and encourages people from every country and thus
religion of the world. My question to you is; Who's religious values
would you force by law on your fellow citizens? The question is
redundant, of coarse, but it highlights the kind of society that our
forefathers built. Freedom for all means just that. As for me I am a
Christian and as such, choose to follow our Lord's example in the
stoning of Mary Magdalene. We over come sin with Love sir. Not with
force. We should reserve force for direct physical attacks against "me
and mine".

Just a side question here: Since you are so fond of history, show me a
theocracy that has not degenerated to an oppressive, dictatorial,
immoral mess.


You are right in stating that we are loosing our country. It is being
stolen with the help of people like you, who in their sincere judgment
forget what this country is all about. Mr. *******, It is about Jesus
walking thru the grain field on a Sabbath and picking grain for
consumption. It is not about the letter of God's law, sir it is about
offering every citizen the freedom to choose God's law.

Our country can not be repaired by the people who have broken it. It is
time to fight for our freedom. I believe it was Moses who said: "Let my
people go"! This is the fight we have before us now Mr ******, not the
removal of the speck from our neighbor's eye.




Don Parker
Odessa, Fla.

Anonymous said...

My soul ached as I read your message. Sometimes I think I feel the heart of God Himself; the pain is so intense as I watch and listen to His lost sheep follow false shepherds.

Anonymous said...

Serving God is not about who is in office. (Y)our choices in daily life are about God. Do you step around the homeless man in the street or help him? Do you give comfort and help or turn away?
Are you so cought up in the mote in the next mans eye that you ignore your own?
As far as blessing this nation I dont recall God saying anything in the last few weeks about this subject.
So unless you have Gods cell number you should should stick to the Golden rule and help other people and not worry about who is in office. You cant cant make everyone happy and now it's your turn to be.

In Reality
William Carter

A Seed Sower said...

Dear Brother Michael, I don't think it is just America that has cried for a king, the whole world has cried for a king and has embrased obama as if he were their king and savior also...we are surely living in perilous times by dear young brother...we in america are entering into a time of testing that has never been experienced in this country before. People for the most part have no idea what is ahead for us here, nor do they want to admit it. Heads of Americans,church members included, are planted firmly in the sand!!! Denial Denial Denial...God Bless you Bro Michael, keep preaching the truth, and stand firm in your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.