I'm a Christian, but not THAT kind of Christian
It has been a puzzle to me why so many of the younger generation of Christians (from about 45 years old and lower) are willing to tolerate or even defend behavior that God has clearly labeled sin. Confronting or even questioning these younger Christians is a risky business. For instance, "Billy, you say that you are a Christian. How is it then, that you are defending same-sex marriage?"
Typical answer, "Who are you to judge me? I love God and you don't need to be telling me I'm not a Christian, you hypocrite! It's you who needs help, because you are not showing love!" Sometimes the response is even more vicious.
The article below by Michael Boldea of Hand of Help Ministries illuminates the issue. It's possible we have produced a generation where many never understood - or possibly rejected outright - the bottom-line truth of the gospel.
SOW A FRIVOLOUS AND SHALLOW GOSPEL -
REAP FRIVOLOUS AND SHALLOW CHURCHES
Galatians 6:7 "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that will he also reap."
There are no actions without consequences. There are no choices without repercussions. One of the fundamental laws of the universe states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Although attributed to Newton as his third law, the reality of this law existed far, far before Newton put it into words.
I do not live in a vacuum, and neither do you. Consequently, teachers don't teach in a vacuum, preachers don't preach in a vacuum, and as such, there are repercussions to the teachings and the sermons men utter. Real lives are being shipwrecked, real faith is being shattered, and real hearts are being made weary by the onslaught of falsehood being passed as gospel nowadays.
The real heartbreak is that it takes some time for the repercussions of certain things to be made evident to the naked eye. One indulgent meal replete with cookies, cakes, and milk shakes will not make you obese, but keep eating it for a few months and you will see the pounds gradually tick upwards.
We are beginning to see the repercussions of our choices in many areas nowadays, from overly stimulated children whose youth was spent in front of the internet, to adults who no longer know what it is to have a meaningful loving relationship because of all the pornography they have ingested, to Christians who honestly believe the only expectation God ever had of them was to raise a hand in church on any given Sunday even if they didn’t really mean it, or because they felt pressured by their parents to do it.
When seeds are sewn, the harvest doesn’t come in overnight. It takes a season of germinating and growing before they take root, break through the soil, and grow into what they were intended to be.
The seeds of our Christ-less gospel, the seeds of our powerless gospel, the seeds of our fraudulent gospel and the seeds of our heretical gospel have broken through the ground, and now we are seeing the gnarled, misshapen dead shrubs it has produced.
Like most anything, false doctrine has a cumulative, compounded effect, to the extent that there are certain brash, arrogant individuals who will vociferously argue against the sovereignty of Christ, the infallibility of the Gospel, and God Himself, all the while calling themselves Christians, due to all the falsehood they’ve absorbed and accepted into themselves over the years.
We are just now beginning to see the repercussions of the Me Gospel, the Social Gospel, the Prosperity Gospel, and the Fire Insurance Gospel. Worse is on the way, and those who still dare to stand on the walls of the citadel and cry aloud are bone wary, and down to their last ebbing strength.
Pray for those who still preach the truth. Pray for those who still walk in the light. Pray for those who still insist upon righteousness, because they are growing fewer by the day, and the darkness is set against them and their loved ones.
2 Timothy 4:3-4, “For they time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.”
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.
