The Last Days Of The Church XXI

 How we weather the attacks of the enemy depends on how strong our spiritual man is. As is the case in the natural, wherein the strength of your immune system determines whether you will brush off some malady or another while the same has others bedridden for a week, coughing and wheezing, and fighting off night sweats, the stronger you are in Christ, the more likely you are to deflect the fiery arrows aimed your way, whether it’s unthankfulness, unforgiveness, pride, or the myriad of things we are constantly bombarded with.

What many fail to realize is that they are at war. Every day, all day, without fail, we are being attacked by the enemy, and those who’ve been in the trenches for longer than a minute have learned to identify the attacks and react accordingly rather than give in to the natural inclinations of the flesh to lash out, become combative, and escalate a given situation.

There is a clear and present mind shift between a weekend warrior and a soldier fighting for his life in an active war zone. While the Word tells us we are in the latter, many today live out their lives as though they were in the former. We do not choose the time, place, or manner in which we engage in spiritual warfare. This isn’t boxing; there’s no bell after three minutes, no sixty-second respite in between, and no referee to call the fight. This is war! We have an active, wily, determined enemy whose intent is clear and well-defined. When this reality is at the forefront of our minds, when the enemy attempts to engage, we are ready to defend against his attack.

To say that we react appropriately every time, without fail, would be a lie. Even when I don’t want to, when someone cuts me off in traffic, then pumps their brake for whatever reason, three times out of ten, my hackles get raised, but it’s a momentary, fleeting feeling that I brush off as soon as it arises. I’ve gotten better at it over time. It used to be ten out of ten times that I’d arch my eyebrows and wonder if the driver who just cut me off had to think about breathing or how they managed to get a license, but the older I get, the rarer those feelings become, especially when I know the girls are in the backseat just waiting for me to flail my arms at the car in front of me so they can point and laugh and say daddy’s getting mad.

The ups and downs of everyday life give us a better understanding of what Paul meant when he said what he willed to do, that he did not practice, but what he hated that he did. He was not referring to habitual sin or ongoing practices that are antithetical to the Word and will of God but rather to those moments when we react before we have the chance to process and think about what we are doing.

Those who harbor unforgiveness in their hearts toward someone are also likely to resort to slander in order to deflect from their complicity, guilt, or shortcomings. We see prime examples of this in politicians, although slandering another just to get the spotlight off you is not reserved for politicians alone.

When one individual points out the mental decrepitude of another, the individual who gets singled out attempts to one-up the other by accusing them of not only lacking in mental acuity but also smelling bad. It then becomes a mud-slinging session, going back and forth, each attempting to defame and damage the other’s reputation.

By its definition, slander is not slander if what someone says about you is the truth. In order for something to qualify as slander, it must be a false statement regarding that individual. This is worth noting because many resort to playing the victim and insisting that they’re being slandered when what is being brought to light about them is true, factual, demonstrable, and verifiable.

Slander is one of the enemy’s greatest tools for sowing division among the people of God, and that is why we must guard our hearts against it in perpetuity. Whether we speak slander, allow another to slander a third party, or become nothing more than de facto gossip queens, slander drives a wedge between believers and diminishes the bond of fellowship.

I’ve been in ministry long enough to see the pattern for what it is and have concluded that the first salvo in a future attempt at a hostile takeover of a church or a ministry is a slander campaign that is disseminated, whispered of in the shadows, and told in confidence, which really isn’t to as many as are willing to listen.

When you trace it back to its origins, you soon discover that the person who started it usually has a vested interest, whether dreams of replacing the current pastor or dividing the church and taking a chunk of it for themselves, starting their own thing, which in their words will be pure, and righteous, and free of the shadow of the slanderous innuendos they themselves dripped into the body like so much poison.

I’ve been hard on the contemporary church, and rightly so. It’s not because I’m mean or disagreeable by nature, but because they have wandered from the truth and the light, and the gospel they are presenting is not the Gospel of Christ. That said, we can’t throw the baby out with the bathwater, and there are still faithful shepherds who rightly divide the Word and preach Christ and the cross with consistency and passion. There are still men who shepherd because they were called to it, not because they thought it was an easy way to have a career and a golden parachute after twenty years of potlucks and glad-handing. It’s those who remain faithful and true to the Word that are in the enemy’s crosshairs. It is they whom the enemy attempts to overthrow from within using slander as the cudgel with which to bludgeon them into silence or make the task of shepherding so grievous that they just give up.

If you hear slander about another whose character is contrary to what you heard, resist the urge to pass it on and go to the person in question, straight to the horse’s mouth, and ask whether it’s true or not. There will always be telltale signs of a reprobate mind or someone who is simply wearing a mask in public but is a different sort of person in private. Eventually, the mask slips, revealing them for who they truly are. If, however, what was said about them is proven to be a lie, it is your responsibility to rebuke the person spreading the lie because, as the saying goes, a lie will fly around the world before the truth can get its boots on.

Whenever you hear a slanderous remark about a third party, the questions that must be ever present in your mind are: Does this person have an ulterior motive for saying these things? Can they be demonstrably proven, or are they just opinions?

Just because you don’t like the way a message is delivered doesn’t make it heretical. What makes it heretical is the message's unbiblical nature. Know the difference, and make sure you are always on the side of the truth.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.  

Posted on 28 July 2024 | 11:49 am