Spine

 Just as there is no such thing as passive income, there’s no such thing as passive Christianity. But what about the guy on television that says if I work four hours per week for a month, I can then live on my own private island for the rest of my life with not a care in the world? If it’s so easy, why isn’t he doing it? Why’s he trying to squeeze thirty bucks out of you at two in the morning when he has the recipe for the secret sauce? Let me guess: he loves people, and this is his way of giving back.

Such magnanimity from someone that would put a used car salesman to shame. It’s a wonder we’re not all living on our own private islands by now, given how much wisdom their infomercial gave away for free. All it takes is an investment of thirty dollars and a bit of sweat equity, and the world can be your oyster too. Who knows, a few years from now, you’ll shoot your own infomercial.

When it comes to infomercials, there are no checks and balances. If you’ve got the money, you can shill whatever product or service you can come up with, and if it’s compelling enough, you’d be surprised how many people will pick up their phone and dial that number in an early morning stupor.

When it comes to the household of faith, however, there are checks and balances. When we hear someone telling an outlandish tale, we can go to the Word to see whether or not there is Biblical precedent for it or if it confirms it. If what someone declares - because they all love to use the word declare – is something that the Bible contradicts, then you know it’s a lie no matter how comforting, soothing, and ear-tickling it may sound. It may not matter what you say as long as you speak with inflection, but it should.

The only problem is that there needs to be someone with enough of a spine to call out the deception and do so consistently, loudly, and unashamedly. It’s people with a spine that we lack in the church today, not the means by which we can discern whether something is Biblical or unbiblical.

We’ve been fed this narrative that unless you’re quiet, subdued, non-confrontational, passive, acquiescent, and willing to defer to anyone about anything, you’re not a real believer. You have to allow for the possibility that after sister Edith ate Indian food for the first time, she was translated to heaven to meet with a talking unicorn. It’s her truth. After all, who are you to say otherwise?

If foolishness is not confronted, it spirals. Those who come into a congregation seeking to divide and destroy it will continue to double down until a Jude, Paul, Elijah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, or James stands up and says enough of this madness; it’s not scriptural.

Jude insists that such individuals are not inoffensive or harmless; they are dangerous, motivated by something other than love for the people of God or the glory of God. Anyone trying to steer you away from the foot of the cross, from the blood of Jesus, from repentance, regeneration, sanctification, and being born again, isn’t looking out for your best interest; they’re looking out for theirs.

In their quest to make themselves indispensable in your life, they’ll insinuate that the only way to the Father isn’t through Jesus; it’s through them and their brand of doctrine or teaching. It’s like having a pope but without the funny hat and seasonal confession. Run away from people who insist that they have exclusivity when it comes to the truth, the Gospel, or the power of God.

2 Timothy 3:2-5, “For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!”

Since the Bible already tells us we ought not to have fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, we know that Paul was not referring to those of the world when describing what men would become. The godless don’t have a form of godliness; they don’t pretend at being sanctified. They’re of the world and in it and revel in their destruction. Paul wasn’t warning Timothy about those outside the church; he was warning them about those within the church, describing what they would become because spines would be at a premium, and the shepherds will be disincentivized from preaching the truth.

It’s not just the world harassing the true shepherds, calling them everything from unloving and uncaring to bigoted, hateful, and demonic. It’s also the lukewarm sheep that don’t like to be caught in the middle. They want passivity; they like the fence-sitting. They like not having to take a stand, or make a choice, or sacrifice anything for the sake of Christ. As far as they’re concerned, the world is fine, and they’re fine in it. Why rock the boat when you don’t have to? Just go along, keep your mouth shut, and say nothing of the grievous things happening in the church.

It’s gotten to the point that so-called pastors of Christian churches no longer identify as Christian but as spiritual. Even the cornerstones of the faith, such as Jesus being the only begotten Son of God who lived, and died, and rose again, are being called into question, and dispensations are being handed out telling people they don’t have to believe that to be the case to go to heaven.

Everything the Bible said regarding the last days is coming to pass before our eyes, and we would do well to heed its warnings.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.