I gotta be honest with you. I cannot stand weak people. I mean, come on! Stand up for something and don’t back down. For the love!
That probably makes me sound really harsh but stay with me and I’ll get there. First, I want to tell you a story from my own life to illustrate what I’m talking about. Anyone who knows me knows I typically have no problem voicing an opinion or taking a stand on something. I may get crushed for taking that stand and my stands have not always been the right thing, but you get the point. This is genetic, I think. It’s in my blood. My family has never really been a back down kinda people. But, the story…So, if you’ve been reading anything I’ve written, you know I was a police officer (it feels like eons ago). I was up for promotion at one point and had to sit for an interview before the chief of police and the command staff. My chief asked me what the one character flaw was that was inexcusable for supervisors (in my opinion). I said, “Indecisiveness.” I meant that. The one thing police officers cannot be and most certainly supervisors cannot be is indecisive. Lives hang in the balance. Make a decision. But I also hate cowards. So not only should you make the decision, but you also need to be man enough to stand on that decision. If it was right or wrong, stand on it. Take your praise or take your lumps like a man (or woman). What’s the point? I am sick and tired of meely-mouthed, weak Christians (and my own weakness at times). I am sick of people who are Christian in name only. I am sick of watching those who claim the name of Christ fail to stand for Him and cower to the world. For far too long, Christians have (for the most part) bowed to the culture in this country and in the West and this has got to stop. I remember “back in the day” when I made fun of conservative Christians who called for a boycott of Disney. I’m ashamed to say that I made fun of my dad for that. Well, I’m officially on that train now. It’s time for us to stop cowering, Christians. It’s time for us to worry more about our souls and the souls of our children than our comfort. The truth is that we want our cake and eat it too. We want the comforts without the cost. We have failed to take Jesus seriously when He said things like, “He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.” (Matthew 12:30) Or, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:24-26) We have failed to take the testimony of the early Christians seriously or even the Lord’s own brother when he said, “Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way? For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” (James 2:17-26) Enough with the compromise with the world! Enough with us pussyfooting around with sin and our comfort. We have compromised with the world, brothers and sisters! Let us turn away from the filth of the world. Let us repent, lest we be like the Church of Laodicea and hear Christ say to us, “I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. 16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.” (Rev. 3:15-16) I commend to you the 3rd chapter of The Book of Revelation. We quibble and we compromise, and our very souls are at stake, dear brethren. The souls of our children are at stake. Do we love Christ so little that we aren’t even willing to give up our love of our appetites?! Do we not know that eternity is much longer than the 70-80 years we live now? Do we not know that the damnation of Hell will be utter misery and depravation and torture and the absence of all that is Good and Holy and Beautiful?! I want to leave you with a quote by St. Theophan the Recluse. He said, when commenting on the offer that we have of union with God and deification, “Know that there is no middle ground – it is all or nothing.” There is no middle ground. You are in or out. We are either with Him or against Him. We either scatter or sow. We either gain the world or we gain our soul. We cannot have faith without works. We must be hot or cold. There is no middle ground.
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I heard somewhere that the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he doesn’t exist. I don’t think that’s true at all. I think the greatest trick the devil has pulled is creating a false Christianity, a false truth.
Especially in the West. Think about it. Look around you at what passes for Christianity in the West today. It is a “faith” that has a shiny coat of paint on it, a thin veneer of “Jesus” but lacks the substance, belief and practice of the faith once for all delivered to the saints (Jude 1:3). I run in to this often these days. People in my circle sound good. They talk about going to church, call themselves Christians and maybe even do what they call praying. But once you start digging a bit and asking questions, that so-called faith starts to show some cracks. For example, when I argue that Christians should probably not watch TV, I get lambasted. I have had eyes rolled; I’ve been laughed at. I even got called a prude. But, let us consider the words of St. Paul, “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” (Phil. 4:8). Can anyone reading this really say that the vast majority of things you see on TV these days is anything but honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous or praiseworthy? Can anyone reading this say that anything they see on TV is any of these things? Even if you find a sporting event that seems innocuous, you have to deal with the commercials that push all sorts of sordid agendas. Or, read the end of Romans 14:23, where St. Paul says, “…for whatever is not of faith is sin.” Whoa. Now, I want to be fair. In this text, St. Paul is speaking specifically about meat offered to idols and other things like that, but this is relatable to every aspect of our lives. Or Romans 12:1-2, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” Again, can any of us believe that what we see on TV is the way we need to present our bodies as living sacrifices or the way we are to live holy lives? Can we honestly say that, by consuming the things of the world, we are transforming our minds to be renewed in Christa and prove what is good, acceptable, perfect or the will of God? I think not. But what our enemy has done is to make us complacent. He has created for us a false version of Christianity. It’s kind of like the Matrix. It’s a version of truth but not actually the truth. He has done this since the beginning. Look back at the Garden. We find it in Genesis 3. If you’re not familiar with the story, go read it right now. Look at what satan did. He deliberately used what God had made as good and slightly changed the phraseology. God told Adam in Genesis 2 that he was free to eat of any tree of the Garden, except the one, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But what does the enemy say? He takes what God says and twists it. Look at Genesis 3. The enemy asked (I’m paraphrasing), “Did God really say you can’t eat of any of the trees in the Garden?” The enemy knew exactly what God had said. See how he twisted it? That is not what God said. And then he brought to humanity the great temptation that we all experience. Instead of obedience and living as God has commanded and as His Church tells us to, the enemy creates a false narrative. Where God said, “Let us make man in Our image,” the enemy says, “Let us make God in our image.” And this is where we get this pseudo-Christianity that is so popular in the West. Rather than obey what God has said to His people and what Christ gave to the Apostles and told them to pass it on; rather than obey that, we have to make things in our own image. Fasting is too extreme and people will think you’re a fanatic. Don’t prostrate yourself physically before God (at times) when you pray because it’s hard on your knees. Don’t burn incense because it makes people sneeze. Don't have long services; people have things to do. It’s okay to listen to worldly, lustful music because it’s not actually hurting you. It’s got a good beat. Don’t worry about what the school system is teaching your children. They’ll be fine. Who cares if you cuss a little? And don’t worry about what kind of clothes you’re wearing; it’s fine. And whatever you do, don’t be too fanatical about attending all those services that the Church holds throughout the year and observe all those feasts and fasts. I mean, if you did, you’d be forming your whole life and schedule around the life of Christ and the Church. We can’t have that now, can we?! I mean, we can’t be living like Christians have always lived and believed what Christian have always believed, right?! Most modern people who call themselves Christians are much more concerned with their own comfort than they are obedience to Christ and His Church. Let’s be honest. Jesus had some hard things to say at times. He said that we were to take up our cross and follow Him. He said that some would lose their families and livelihoods and even their lives because of Him. He said that those who put their hand to the plow and looked back were not fit for the Kingdom. He had hard things to say. But, luckily for us, He gave us His Church, the pillar and ground of the truth (1 Tim. 3:15). The Church is where Christ is found! Dear brothers and sisters, let us turn away from the world. Let us turn away from this thinly veiled worldly culture that has a shiny coat of “Jesus paint” on it. This is not Christianity. The Church has been with us, virtually unchanged since our Lord and His Apostles started it. As Pentecost approaches, let us turn again to the Church. Let us turn again to Christ. |
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