I don’t like joining things. I am not a joiner. My wife
convinced me to join a gym a while back, and as a form of silent protest, I’ve
never gone. Not once. It’s not a recent thing. I’ve always been this way. Even while
growing up in a less than genteel neighborhood in Southern California, when I
refused to get jumped into one of the two local gangs, even though it meant
getting harassed by both of them.
I was a teenager, so it wasn’t so much the moral objections
that kept me from joining, it’s just that I didn’t like the idea of joining
anything, be it a gang, or a book club.
When you start to think about it, however, pretty much
everyone is segmented into groups, cliques, gangs, or tribes. Whether it’s fans
of certain sports teams or vegans versus carnivores, folks who drive diesel and
those who drive gas, being part of one group or another has become inevitable.
When we bring it around to the spiritual, there are those of
the light, and then there are those of the dark; Two distinct groups, in stark
contrast, and at odds with each other. This is natural, normal, and not
something I have an issue with. Having mulled this over for some time this
morning, I think my bone of contention is the splintered groups within what
ought to be one solid, resolute, well-purposed, and energized army of light.
Yes, within any army you have regiments, battalions, brigades,
and divisions, but they all have one well-defined common enemy. They all
receive the same marching orders, show up on the same battlefield, and face the
same way. They do not make war among themselves, while the true enemy marches
ever onward. The 8th division doesn’t try to take out the 6th,
and the 6th doesn’t try to take out the 12th.
Wouldn’t it be a sight if when you showed up for battle, the opposing
army just started fighting among itself? All you’d have to do is watch as they
exhaust themselves, get battered, bruised, wounded, and wearied, then ride in
to finish off those who are still standing.
While we bicker amongst ourselves like over-indulged children,
souls are still perishing. While we attempt to assert dominance over our fellow
brothers in arms, the darkness is still advancing. While we attempt to throw
down the gauntlet and insist that everyone pick a side, join a team, or form a
clique, the devil’s minions are single-minded in their desire to annihilate
Christianity altogether.
Before anyone else asks, I’ve already picked a side, and I
picked it long ago when I surrendered my life and pledged my fealty to Him.
This isn’t Twilight, we are not pubescent teenage girls, and
I don’t have to declare if I’m team Edward or team Jacob. I’m team Jesus. If
you are anything other than team Jesus, I fear there’s a world of hurt on the
horizon for you.
I’ve been in ministry for over thirty years. I’ve seen it
all, and then some. I’ve seen people appropriate words of prophecy, I’ve seen
people plagiarize my writings, I’ve seen others monetize what we offer for
free, and through it all the word of Jesus echoes in my ears: “Whoever is not
against us is for us!”
One day there will be a reckoning, and we will all stand
before the God of all things, to answer for what we did, what we didn’t do, the
spirit in which we did it, and the intent with which it was done. All men are
accountable for their own actions, just as I am accountable for mine.
Clean hands, pure heart, clear purpose, and faithful
execution; these are the things I can strive for daily, and the things for
which God will call me to account if I fall short.
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.
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