Be very careful of what you consume.

 


Philippians 4:8 tells that we ought to be thinking on good things. 2 Corinthians 10:5 says we are to take our thoughts captive. All over in God's Word are we reminded of the importance of being careful what we allow into our minds, what we feed what's in our minds, and the danger of letting our minds wander freely to whatever emotional or logical conclusion they will.

Being cautious about what we low to live in our minds also involves what might seem like "good" information from fellow Christians. Over the years, I've found that the things that Christians are eager to consume are things from people who:

  • Say they have a prophecy about what's going to happen.
  • Claim to have incredible supernatural experiences and share their stories.
  • Talk about breaking news in light of how it fits in the end times.
  • Say they are a watchman or have a discernment ministry, and are sounding an alarm.
  • Trash the bride (the church) and can't stop talking about how awful, weak, and sinful it is today.

That list, in and of itself, isn't necessarily bad (though I'd be wary about the first one). 

These could be true things that a real believer is genuinely sharing for the edification of the church. But they can also be things that quickly build platforms, generate online followers, and are weaponized to insert themselves as a position of authority or stature when among other believers. And, in that light, they ought to be treated very cautiously, carefully checked against God's Word before allowing them free range in your mind.

Discernment ministry and the individual's responsibility.

After 20 years of being very active online, I'm extremely wary of anyone who says they are in the discernment ministry. 

I genuinely appreciate the testimony of someone who has been involved in something and become aware of the danger it holds to believers, using their knowledge of the institution or the people involved to sound a warning. There are some organizations who, using solid research and providing valuable context in God's word as well as proof to substantiate their claims, have done good work exposing something destructive to the church. But let's not forget there should be two witnesses to verify, whether it's two people, or multiple forms of valid, verifiable in-context proof.

And let's not forget that discernment is something each individual believer should pray for and exercise, not something someone else (a "ministry") can do for you. Ephesians 4:11-16 doesn't list discernment as one of the ministries of the church. The moment you turn your discernment over to someone else, and allow them to tell you what's good or bad, is the moment you started to walk away from God's Word as your foundation.

The problem here is that there are countless numbers of people who show up on social media or internet forums claiming to be a watchman or have a discernment ministry, and then expect that to somehow command an unquestioning audience. It often signals someone who will sow discord.

Despising the modern church to deny a pre-trib rapture.

In a pre-tribulation forum I sometimes visit, I see a few individuals who pop in and sow a bit of doubt over the pre-trib position. It's disguised well enough that people who are not individually discerning are giving it a like. We're so programmed, after decades of hearing how awful the western/American church is, to give anyone who gives that a nod a hearty nod of agreement. Most of these comments weave in some of the common misconceptions about the rapture, particularly the idea that the church has to be purified.

"Christians in other places and in other time periods were martyred, imprisoned in gulags, lost everything, and worse! American Christians just want to escape!" is how it usually goes, the logic apparently being that the human and satanic wrath poured out on believers in different times or places must be poured out equally everywhere, especially the American church because you can get a lot of mileage out of pointing out how fat, lazy, self-centered, and awful American Christians are these days. You'll get a lot of amens and head nods and thumbs-up, all from people who are...American Christians.

You know what? I'm an American Christian. I love the Lord. I'm sincere. I live in a the nation and culture I live in because God put me here, and I try to follow his Word in the place and time I'm in. If he wanted me in the Soviet Union during the Cold War, he would have put me there. I'm called to be faithful in the life he's given me, not feel shame and self-loathing because I haven't had it as bad as other Christians have in the past 2,000 years.

I've rarely seen such self-loathing and, frankly, hatred for Jesus' bride from the bride itself. No doubt we have an end-times church all around the world full of believers falling away and picking up false belief. It is ugly and painful to see. But using that to create a particular end-times theology, seemingly rooted in disgust for the weary and battle-worn church (which is exactly what we are supposed to see in the last days) is disgusting.

Why is it disgusting?

Because people are already fearful, anxious, and discouraged. They live in a culture that is isolating, one that is flooded with every mind and soul-numbing distraction to the point of being unable to focus on anything of God. All around is moral filth, and we can't avoid it even if we wanted to. Yes, we have money and homes and freedoms (of a sort) and so on, but each Christian faces, in their lives, tribulation and hard times of some sort. It's as if we're judging God for not smiting us with enough lightning, a kind of social-justicy angst where we look at people who have it worse than us and instead of being thankful, and then praying and helping others as we can, we desire some masochistic response so we don't have guilt for an outwardly easier life.

So with people already struggling, how does saying "Christians in the past were burned at the stake and we should be too! Thinking your get out of jail free card is the rapture is a sign that you deserve this! You American Christians just think persecution happens to other believers and you need to experience it as others have!"

Struggling to grasp grace negates what Jesus did on the cross.

DID JESUS FINISH IT ON THE CROSS OR DID HE NOT?

Yes, we are all sinners, and absolutely don't deserve grace. 

And no, I don't know why some Christians in some countries or periods of history were tortured while my grandparents went peacefully to their grave. All I can say is that no matter how wretched we feel about ourselves, and no matter what kind of loathing of the church is being built in you because of "discernment" ministries telling you the American church is horrible and deserves torture, either Jesus took God's wrath on the cross or he didn't. 

Anyone who tries to say that the church needs to be purified is essentially saying that the living last days church is different from what came before in that they need to do a little work to earn their way to heaven. And that what Jesus did for us on the cross is applied differently to the believers in the end times compared to those who died in the faith before them.

Frankly, I find people who are saying this to have not grasped God's grace to the point where they might have enough arrogance to think that if they march into the tribulation and get their head lopped off, they deserve salvation.

No one deserves salvation. Jesus did it all on the cross so we could have it. Whether you live a peaceful, faithful life, or get hunted down and killed because of your faith, it was all taken care of on the cross. We have the same eternity in store.

I don't pretend to understand why some believers go through so much and others do not. But be very wary of anyone who, instead of encouraging and exhorting believers to faith, or helping the fearful and brokenhearted put their faith in what Jesus did on the cross and look forward to the blessed hope of the rapture, instead choose to come in as if in some important position of special discerning authority and instill fear, shame, and loathing for the church.

There's a lot wrong with the American church, but there's a lot wrong with the church everywhere and all through history. These are the last days, and the church looks exactly as God said it would. Unless you truly are a watchman and were very clearly told to warn the church, you'd better be careful about the kinds of pronouncements you make online. If you end up creating fear, division, or discouragement in true believers, you're not working for God.

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