Wise and Holy Minds

If one should ever doubt the level of humanitarian, political and journalistic aid and support we Christians in the Western world can expect to receive when we are sorely persecuted for our faith in Christ, one need look no further than the persecuted Christians of the Middle East. You see little evidence of much? Me too! How about Church and denominational leaders? Same, same, apart from a couple of them. One doesn’t have to look too far to see who aids and supports man-made climate change, abortion, same-sex marriage and transgenderism, but not so, our persecuted fellow Christians. Almost everybody mandated to speak out is looking the other way.

Talk about an inconvenient truth! True, there’s some lip service given by them, but we must remind ourselves it was their fruits Jesus said we would know them by, not their lip service Matthew 7:16, 20. And yes, I am aware He was referring specifically to false prophets with a false gospel, but they are of like character. If you listen to them you think they’re on your side, but when you look for their fruits you can’t find much. And what you do find can often smell rotten! Possibly there are some among them who would like to do more but not at the risk of ruining personal reputation and position. If everyone spoke up as everyone does over those other things they too would speak up, but they’re not going to stick their necks out.

It seems to me that if ever there was a time for Christians in the Western world to come under sore persecution, now is that time. Lawlessness and godlessness were never on the scale in times past that they are are now. Somebody somewhere could always be relied upon in humanitarianism, politics and journalism to stand with those who stood for what is right, good, true, moral, just, ethical and honest. Mention such attributes today and you’ll lose your reputation and position in a flash. But how did it get to this point? My post: How Did It Get To This? gives a comprehensive answer, but for this post I would like to concentrate on the church’s failures to uphold these attributes, not the failures of the others. They’re simply following our lead.

When lawlessness and godlessness were enemies in the church, they were enemies outside for the most part. The police carried out the law, the courts upheld the law, and lawbreakers of all kinds got sorted out without question. When godly examples were the norm among church leaders and Christians those same godly examples were given expression in homes, workplaces, service clubs, sporting clubs and society in general. If it was right, good, true, moral, just, ethical and honest in the church it was exactly that also in those places. The temptation to play games with words in the pulpit were dismissed immediately from wise and holy minds and those same minds acted quickly to sort out unwise and unholy minds among them.

The most effective way of sorting out unwise and unholy minds was through the preaching of righteousness. Righteousness encompasses all of the above attributes. Righteousness is very dear to God’s heart; with justice, righteousness is the foundation of God’s throne Psalm 89:14. No wonder it’s mentioned in the Bible over 300 times. Righteousness is the foundation of the true church – bearing in mind that the church is people, not bricks and mortar. Each Christian life was built on righteousness; there was no other way for a person to give witness that he or she was a true disciple of Jesus Christ. That’s God’s expectation. Repent of sin, turn to Jesus, get your sins washed in His blood, get water-baptized and walk the path of righteousness.

Every church service, every mid-week Bible Study, every prayer meeting – without fail righteousness was the core message of them all, spoken or unspoken. Sin was spoken about lots in those days. Why? Was it to make the church feel guilty? Not at all. Mercy and forgiveness were spoken of just as much, but sin was highlighted because habitual sin is a stumbling block to righteousness. Wise and holy minds were not prepared to overlook Proverbs 28:13 He who covers his sins will not prosper. Such minds knew the difference between judging and discerning; they were not blinded by those in cloaks of religious respectability giving impression they were in robes of righteousness. Sin was addressed, but so was, whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.  

‘Culpability’ ‘responsibility’ ‘accountability’ ‘liability’ ‘answerability’ these words gave no room for one to embrace a victim’s mentality. Christians quickly learned there was only one victim – the Lord Jesus Christ, who, in our place was slapped, spat upon, whipped, flogged and crucified on the cross. Neither were those words used to bring guilt. They were used to heighten one’s awareness of God’s great and abounding mercy and to be ever appreciative of it. When those words came from the mouths of wise and holy minds no one dared boast of his sinful past when giving testimony to the church of his former life. Righteousness was his ever hunger and thirst, never self-righteousness Matthew 5:6.

When righteousness underpinned Bible preaching and teaching Christians were a Christ-influenced, Christ-reliant people. The influence of the ungodly, the unwise and the unholy was next to zero. Take Christ-influenced, Christ-reliant school teachers in secular schools for example. Righteousness underpinned who they were, what they taught and how they taught. No child-like behavior, no sloppy attire, no being on first names terms – and, no confusion; they knew who they were: men were men and women were women! They sought respect from their students and they got it. The same applied to sporting coaches, community volunteers, shop keepers etc. Being “stuck in the past” was an accusation unheard of.

When righteousness was the core message of the church, individual Christians were fully aware that to maintain such, they could only do so by surrendering their mind and will on a daily basis, to the mind and will of Christ, found only in the Bible. When wise and holy minds in the church preached, All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work 2 Timothy 3:16, nobody questioned that reality when confronted by unwise and unholy minds. The power and the anointing of the Holy Spirit was so evident upon and within them that the latter crowd did nothing other than scoff, mock, then walk away.

Today the unwise and unholy are scoffing and mocking, but they’re not walking away! Worse! They now have a strong foothold in church pulpits. That’s what happens when the shoes of the wise and holy gone before us don’t get filled. Righteousness becomes no longer the core message of a church; along with “love” and “tolerance” the message of “goodness” takes its place. Without righteousness, however, none of these “attributes’ are of God, so this explains why many people in the church today show no evidence of being Christ-influenced, Christ-reliant people. But it does explain why they are politically correct-influenced and reliant, condoning the ungodly lies, habits and practices that message from hell encourages.

Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people Proverbs 14:34. Christians are the custodians of righteousness so when it ceases to be exalted from a pulpit it is not long before it ceases to be exalted in a church. When it’s not exalted in a church its influence upon society soon diminishes and sin rises to take its place. That’s where things are at today in the world and in much of the church. But all glory to God – righteousness continues to be exalted in a few churches around the world. There are still wise and holy minds out there refusing to be worn down by the never-ceasing chiseling coming from unwise and unholy minds. No matter how sharp their chisels, they are no match for our two-edged sword Hebrews 4:12.

Wise and holy minds will always stand for righteousness. Such minds will not be bought, changed, manipulated or compromised. But for that, there is a price to be paid. It costs nothing to be religious; it costs everything to be righteous. There is no middle ground; you either stand with Jesus Christ or you stand against Him. That’s what separates us from the rest of the crowd and that is why we can expect no aid and support from humanitarians, politicians and journalists if or when we face sore persecution for our faith in the Lord. The same applies to unwise and unholy minds standing in pulpits and sitting in pews. In fact, they’ll be the first to look the other away! But even if you should suffer for righteousness; sake, you are blessed. “And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled.” 1 Peter 3:14.