This is my lament. I am in a deep turmoil. I fear to be judged by God, yet I am condemned by the judgment of men. How my inner being is wrenching, being pulled back and forth. Like Jeremiah, I feel fooled by God, yet I am in awe of Him. “O Lord, You have deceived me and I was deceived; You have overcome me and prevailed. I have become a laughingstock all day long.” [Jer 20:7].
God forgive me if I have not called out to my brother in love; if I have not warned him of the danger of apostasy and called him to repentance. Our culture is in open rebellion to God, yet the evangelical church is rushing to understand it; to be relevant by giving the culture a voice.
Was this not the sin of Adam? Did not the serpent tempt man with the knowledge of evil? Man knew the good, but no one had voiced justice for evil; and it was tempting to understand it.
A brother was falling into this trap of trying to understand the culture. Repeatedly, I warned him to stay with the Gospel. Some echoed my call. However, many professing Christians, who love the comforts of this world, told him not to listen to my voice. They commended his desire to understand the voices of those who are in rebellion to God.
Then a man, who has more authority than I, who has rebuked me several times for my stern way and lack of love, told my brother, although he had not read what my brother had written, which had caused all the commotion, he cannot believe how my brother’s motive would be anything but pure. He continued to praise him and encourage him to continue, not acknowledging he may be headed in the wrong direction.
Will my brother repent? Or will his sense of security be sure? Or maybe I fall under God’s judgment for failing to speak words of love? I remember the words of Jeremiah, lamenting the apostasy of his people and their turning from God and desire to please the culture, “like a horse charging into battle.” Animals with no sense follow their course, but the people could not understand the times and the imminent danger of rebellion to God.
“Do men fall and not get up again? Does one turn away and not repent?
“Why then has this people, Jerusalem, turned away in continual apostasy?
“They hold fast to deceit, they refuse to return.
“I have listened and heard, they have spoken what is not right;
“No man repented of his wickedness, saying, “What have I done?””
“Everyone turned to his course, like a horse charging into the battle.
“Even the stork in the sky knows her seasons;
“And the turtledove and the swift and the thrush observe the time of their migration;
“But My people do not know the ordinance of the Lord.
“How can you say, “We are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us”?
“But behold, the lying pen of the scribes has made it into a lie.
“The wise men are put to shame, they are dismayed and caught;
“Behold, they have rejected the word of the Lord, and what kind of wisdom do they have?” [Jer 8:4-9].
Then and now, the people were following the wisdom of the world. Jesus warned, if the light in you is darkness, how great is this darkness. And He continued the warning, we cannot serve two masters (Mat 6:23-24). Yet, today, so many professing Christians are chasing after the wisdom of this world, “like a horse charging into battle.” God judge me if I am silent; judge me if I do not stand firmly for Your truth. God turn the heart of my brother, who has been deceived to seek understanding for the culture and gives voice to those in rebellion to God.
As for me, I cannot keep silent. “But if I say, ‘I will not remember Him or speak anymore in His name,’ then in my heart it becomes like a burning fire shut up in my bones; and I am weary of holding it in, and I cannot endure it.” [Jer 20:9]. O God, save me from your judgment.
