Bland Salt
The old saying, “He wants to have his cake and eat it too” could well be the theme song of today’s churches. They want it all: victory without struggle, reward without sacrifice, and salt without saltiness. They want us all to be bland, flavorless, neutral. But Jesus had this to say to a church once:
Rev. 3:15 I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other! 16 But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth! 17 You say, “I am rich. I have everything I want. I don’t need a thing!” And you don’t realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. 18 So I advise you to buy gold from me— gold that has been purified by fire. Then you will be rich. Also buy white garments from me so you will not be shamed by your nakedness, and ointment for your eyes so you will be able to see. 19 I correct and discipline everyone I love. So be diligent and turn from your indifference.“And this:
Salt is good for seasoning. But if it loses its flavor, how do you make it salty again? You must have the qualities of salt among yourselves and live in peace with each other. (Mark 9:50)I’ve seen it too many times to count: Someone actually gets indignant when God or His Word is trashed, and the others tell them to shut up! Nobody can stomach solid food anymore. Nobody can take a passionate defense of God’s honor. They (Christians!) call it hate speech if you dare to express horror and rage when someone badmouths God or the Bible or spreads heresy.
It’s supposed to be outrageous to just stand there passively when somebody insults your loved ones. It’s supposed to elicit an extreme response, and if you don’t respond with indignation, then you should be considered traitorous and cowardly. But not anymore, especially in the churches. They consider standing for the honor of God to be anger or pride.
Like the church mentioned above, they think themselves so holy and clean and proper, but in reality they are wearing ”the emperor’s new clothes“ and strutting around naked and sickly. And as I’ve written many times before, they never see the great hypocrisy in using the most vile defamation of character against those they perceive as being negative!
It’s a disease, a pandemic in the churches today. But Jesus did say:
Don’t imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth! I came not to bring peace, but a sword. 35 I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. Your enemies will be right in your own household! (Mt. 10:34-36)Yes, the enemies of true believers are found in their own ”household“, among their own people. Christians are too busy tearing each other apart to notice the throngs of lost people parading in and back out the church doors. The sheep spend so much time attacking the appointed shepherds that there is no one left to guard them against the wolves.
And by shepherds I don’t mean the Entitled, the Pastors. I mean those who guard and know wolves when they see them. For them not to shout and beat the wolves with their staffs would be dereliction of duty. Yet when they do this they are vilified by the ”peaceful“ and, well, bland. Bland people cannot tolerate negativity, yet dish it out liberally against guardians.
I used to pray for the Lord to return so the long history of evil in the world would finally end, but now I just can’t stand the stench anymore of people claiming to be Christians showing God no honor and treating Him like a stray cat. They are exactly like the Pharisees in Jesus’ parable who would keep beating God’s servants and finally killed his Son. The prophet Malachi’s words from God against the Jewish priests of old would be most fitting of the churches today:
Malachi 1 7 ”You have shown contempt by offering defiled sacrifices on my altar. Then you ask, ’How have we defiled the sacrifices?’ You defile them by saying the altar of the Lord deserves no respect. 8 When you give blind animals as sacrifices, isn’t that wrong? And isn’t it wrong to offer animals that are crippled and diseased? Try giving gifts like that to your governor, and see how pleased he is!“ says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.God was pretty ticked off at his people for their attitudes and their failure to honor him. How do you think he feels about such things going on today in the churches? I’m beginning to think that what sets God off in the coming Tribulation is not so much the world but the ”church“! They are like someone who sides with their spouse’s enemies. They join with the world in calling the Bible old, in calling God irrelevant, in calling Truth a quaint fantasy.9 ”Go ahead, beg God to be merciful to you! But when you bring that kind of offering, why should he show you any favor at all?“ asks the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
10 ”How I wish one of you would shut the Temple doors so that these worthless sacrifices could not be offered! I am not pleased with you“ says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, ”and I will not accept your offerings. 11 But my name is honored by people of other nations from morning till night. All around the world they offer sweet incense and pure offerings in honor of my name. For my name is great among the nations,“ says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
12 ”But you dishonor my name with your actions. By bringing contemptible food, you are saying it’s all right to defile the Lord’s table. 13 You say, ’It’s too hard to serve the Lord’, and you turn up your noses at my commands,“ says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. ”Think of it! Animals that are stolen and crippled and sick are being presented as offerings! Should I accept from you such offerings as these?“ asks the Lord.
14 ”Cursed is the cheat who promises to give a fine ram from his flock but then sacrifices a defective one to the Lord. For I am a great king,“ says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, ”and my name is feared among the nations!“
To all of my fellow Christian soldiers who have been betrayed and stabbed in the back by your own spiritual siblings, just hang on. Nothing hurts like ”friendly fire", but God will pay everyone for their deeds. Don’t let the traitors keep you from the goal.