Venomous Cocktails!

Toxic potions served by well trained voices

"Can a mortal ask questions which God find unanswerable?

Quite easily, I should think...

All nonsense questions are unanswerable!"

C.S. Lewis

(www.goodreads.com)

I was rather amused by this quote from C.S. Lewis....especially after I have had my fill of people  that are burdening the church with the most horrendous distortions of basic Biblical principals.... twisting simple truths and wasting time on endless 'nonsense' questions that are concocted for the sole purpose of sowing doubt, fear and disunity.

Paul was struggling with the same issue as we read in 1 Timothy 1: 3-4:

"When I was on my way to Macedonia, I urged you to stay in Ephesus so that you could instruct certain people to stop teaching false doctrine and occupying themselves with myths and endless genealogies. These things promote controversies rather than God's ongoing purpose, which involves faith."

Jesus walked among the people of this earth to characterize the simplicity of the gospel. How annoyed He must get with these brewing toxic theological potions that are served in golden chalices by well trained voices who are out to emotionally blackmail good people by targeting the innocence of their untainted faith. 

How our workers are burdened by this constant struggle against the commandments of men and the yeast of the Pharisee and the Sadducee (Mathew 16:11)!  There are times when it seems like we as gospel workers are hacking our way through a thick jungle having the entire Church tied to our waists so that they do not get lost! And the jungle is within the church! Constant poisonous alien plants that are threatening to overgrow and smother the tranquility of the message of Eden; the message of hope; the message that is supposed to build faith and not destroy it. And so, this week I found myself utterly exhausted by this never-ending combat zone. I have seen so many innocent people almost fatally wounded by the onslaughts of irresponsible tongues. I have seen how precious souls are almost choking on venomous theological cocktails.... commandments and rules of men. But God sees the fatigue of His workers and He knows that they have been sowing the seeds of the gospel with tears. And He reminded me that this is not a new challenge that the church is facing. It is an age old problem that will remain with us until Jesus comes again:

Mathew 15:8-14:

“These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is empty, because they teach human rules as doctrines. Then calling out to the crowd, he addressed them, Listen and understand! It is not what goes into the mouth that makes a person unclean. It is what comes out of the mouth that makes a person unclean. Then the disciples came and asked him, "Do you realize that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this statement?" He replied, "Every plant that my heavenly Father did not plant will be pulled up by the roots. Leave them alone. They are blind guides of the blind. If one blind person leads another blind person, both will fall into a ditch."

“Leave them alone...” Jesus said. It is not our task to uproot. It is not our call. We have been called to spread the pure gospel.  Preparing souls for the second coming of the Lord. And so the wheat and the tares will have to grow together. As workers all we can do is flood the field with prayers. Soaking both the wheat and the tares with the Living Water!

Mathew 13:29-30 “He said, 'No! If you pull out the weeds, you might pull out the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest...”

So we will just have to GROW TOGETHER... the wheat and the tares.... grow together until the harvest. At this time we cannot afford to be ignorant with regard to the power of prayer. For it is only the Holy Spirit that can protect the innocent heart against those brewing toxic theological potions that are served in such beautiful golden chalices by those exceptionally well trained voices!

So my colleague - We work and we pray!

The Holy Spirit will call and teach and protect.

And we grow together... until the harvest.