In this brave new world of ours, pastors have redefined their roles and become life coaches, no longer preaching a crucified Christ, but rather playing the part of guidance counselor to scores of individuals that can be likened to overactive, petulant, and overgrown children who will not accept being accountable to anyone, be they God or man.

Preachers too have redefined their roles and rather than be concerned about the spiritual wellbeing of those to whom they are ministering they play the therapist, speaking soothing words, in a soothing tone, ensuring anyone within earshot that everything’s going to be alright, that God has mellowed over the centuries, and as long as they ‘bring the tithe into the storehouse’ God will overlook everything else.

It is an understatement when I say that there is enough blame to go around for the farce of a faith many are presenting, living and promulgating today, and the sheep are just as much to blame as the shepherds. In the end these so called shepherds are just giving the people what they wanted aren’t they?

If you preach the truth, if you preach the unadulterated Word of God, wherever you happen to be, you are bound to hear those famous words that seem to be on everyone’s lips nowadays: ‘That’s not the god I serve!’

I’ve heard it more times than I would like to recall, and no matter how often I hear it, it’s still shocking.

‘I don’t like your god, your god is mean, that’s not the god I serve.’

‘But all I did was read from His book’, I would retort, ‘all I did was read from the Bible!’

If you hear the truth being preached, if someone is reading out of the Bible and in your heart you say ‘that’s not the god I serve’, then may I humbly submit to you that you are not serving the true God, but a god of your own making and imagining. A god that you have fashioned in your heart who requires no submission, who requires no obedience, who requires no sacrifice on your part, but is more than happy to let you win the lotto time and again.

It is because we have refashioned and remade God in our own image that the neutered gospel is so widely accepted and received. It is because we didn’t like what God had to say that we chose rebellion rather than submission, and with hammer and chisel in hand we began to sculpt our new and improved deity.

Like the prophets of Baal however, we will know the true impotence of the gods we’ve fashioned when we need them most. When we see the gods of our own making for what they truly are, nothing more than mists and vanities, it will be too late, and though we might cut ourselves and bleed, though we might cry out to the heavens for a sign, these deities we so revel in today, these gods we so honor and worship will remain silent as the empty tomb from which the Christ, the Son of the one true God walked out of two millennia ago.

Source: Homeward Bound

With every retreat the enemy gains more ground, with every omission, with every act of cowardice on our part the enemy gets that much bolder, and continues his steady march.

For some reason we’ve come to believe that the enemy will simply stop short of our citadels, that he will stop short of besieging the towers if we just give up enough ground. Surely the enemy will be content with a partial victory, surely his desire is not to overrun the entire house of God. If this is what you believe, if you believe that the enemy will stop short, than you don’t really know the enemy we face. His desire is the utter destruction of God’s house, and he will not stop short of his goal. This is why we must stand, this is why we must boldly proclaim the truth and defend even those things we consider as insignificant or of little importance.

There is a passage in first Chronicles that details what I’m attempting to convey. At the beginning of David’s reign, the Chronicler of the time took a census of David’s mighty men, and among them was a man named Eleazar the son of Dodo the Ahohite.

1 Chronicles 11:13-14, “He was with David at Pasdammim. Now there the Philistines were gathered for battle and there was a piece of ground full of barley. And the people fled from the Philistines. But they stationed themselves in the midst of that field, defended it, and killed the Philistines. And the Lord saved them by a great deliverance.”

Here was David and Eleazar, defending what amounted to a piece of ground full of barley. It wasn’t like they were defending a city, it wasn’t like they were defending Jerusalem, it was just some barley in a field. All of the people had fled, the Philistines were on their way, and they came to the conclusion that it was easier to let the Philistines have the piece of ground full of barley, than to risk their lives in order to defend it. David and Eleazar however, decided to stay and fight, they decided to make their stand for a piece of ground full of barley, and even risk their lives in order to defend it.

What we must understand, is that it wasn’t the barley they were defending and risking their lives for, it was the principle of giving up ground to the enemy. David’s principle was simple. We leave nothing to the Philistines. Whether a patch of earth or a handful of barley, David and Eleazar decided and purposed in their hearts, that they would give nothing to the enemy.

The spiritual principle that we learn from this exchange is as simple as it is profound. We must not be willing to leave anything for the enemy. If it comes to it, we must be ready and willing to go to war with Satan himself, even over something small, something that the world would look at and mock us for defending. Leave nothing for the enemy to exploit!

The sad and lamentable truth, is that the church in our modern age has given up a lot of ground. Those who ought to have been mighty men, those who ought to have been warriors, decided it wasn’t worth fighting over a patch of earth, it wasn’t worth defending a handful of barley, so they simply retreated, and gave up ground. We refused to defend the small things because we thought them unworthy of our efforts, and the more ground we gave up, the bolder the enemy became. Soon enough, here the enemy stood at the castle walls, and now the church has gotten so used to running it has gotten so used to giving up ground, that it is having a difficult time mustering up the courage to defend the city itself.

The last part of the verse we read is also worth repeating, because it reveals a second essential spiritual truth. When we stand our ground, when we defend the truth of God’s word, when we are willing to put our reputations on the line for the sake of Christ, and suffer the mocking and scorn that will surely come from the godless, it is the Lord that will fight alongside us; it is the Lord who will ensure our victory.

All they had to do was stand and fight, all they had to do was be determined that they would not retreat, that they would not back down, that they would not give up ground to the Philistines.

The Word is very clear as to who gave David and Eleazar the victory.

“And the Lord saved them by a great deliverance.”

It’s not that the church is continually suffering defeat; it’s that it hasn’t even made its stand yet. Between those who prefer to be mere spectators, and consider that taking a stand for the truth isn’t really for them, because well, they just want to preach a positive message, and be positive and create an atmosphere of positivity, and those who surrender to the enemy before the first sword is drawn or the first bow is strung, the number of true warriors, the number of those who are willing to defend the truth and make their stand is small indeed.

I’ve said it before and I will say it again, I do not trust men who call themselves warriors yet have no scars. I do not trust men who call themselves warriors yet their armor is in pristine condition, as though they had it pressed for a military funeral rather than scarred and worn as though they were standing on the front lines.

Make no mistake, we are at war, and this spiritual war is one in which there can be no spectators. There are only three options. We either flee from before the enemy, surrender to the enemy, or make our stand against the enemy.

I realize full well that some continue to be under the misconception that they can strike a truce with the enemy and somehow coexist. The only problem is that the enemy never honors your terms of surrender, and you will be a slave, and subject to his whims. Knowing that the enemy is merciless, ruthless, vile and heartless, his whims will always gravitate toward creating an environment of pain, sorrow and heartache for those who surrender and give up the fight.

When we are faithful, when we honor God in the little things, when we look upon a patch of land and a handful of barley as David and Eleazar did and say in our hearts it is not dispensable, it is not expendable, it is worth defending and worth standing our ground over, we know that God stands with us, and though the enemy might outnumber us, it is the Lord who will save us by a great deliverance.

One of the most subtle and destructive works of the enemy, is that of taking sincere souls and convincing them to practice a false Christianity, a hyper spirituality that has nothing to do with the work of God in their lives, but that is simultaneously close enough to doctrinal truth that they feel justified in their practice.

Before going any further, I need to make two points that I realize will not sit well with some.

First, true Christianity does not require a publicity agent, and it does not require a public relations campaign; true Christianity requires true Christians, devoted Christians, humble Christians, and obedient Christians.

Second, there are clear signs, unmistakable signs that define and characterize a true Christian, living a true Christian life.

In defending his apostleship and his authority to the church of Corinth, the Apostle Paul presents four clear signs, four unmistakable characteristics of a true Christian living a true Christian life.

“Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.”(2 Corinthians 2:14)

The first sign that an individual is living a true Christian life is undying optimism.

Now before anyone starts rolling their eyes thinking I’ve switched camps and will soon start giving you the ten secrets to living prosperous lives, I did not say undying positivity, I said undying optimism.

Although the two words might seem similar, in their definition they are quite different.

Positivity is defined as a quality or state characterized by certainty or acceptance or affirmation and dogmatic assertiveness.

Optimism however is defined as the belief that in the end all is going to turn out well or that good will eventually triumph over evil.

In spite of all the hardships, in spite of all the persecution, in spite of all the trials and tribulations that Paul endured, the most dominant note in this particular verse is one of thanks.

“Now thanks be to God” because we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, and those who are called according to His purpose.

“Now thanks be to God” because although today I might be hurting, today I might feel helpless, today I might be tried, I know that I have already obtained the victory, I have already overcome in Jesus and through Jesus.

“Now thanks be to God” because although the world might see me as an outcast, as a nuisance, as a strange thing worthy of scorn and pity, God sees me as His beloved child, and He cares for me and loves me more than I can say.

This is not the kind of thanks that comes from a pious heart, which doesn’t really believe what it is saying. These are words penned by a man who endured more than we can imagine, a man who was rejected by his contemporaries for his faith in Jesus, a man whom God had to bring low in order to remake, and through it all, he is able to stand and say, “now thanks be to God.”

A true and authentic Christianity feels pain, it feels hurt, it feels rejection, it feels isolation, but it also knows that if God allowed these things, He has a plan, and in the end it will work together for good. Our optimism isn’t rooted in earthly things, it isn’t rooted in men or in ourselves, it is rooted in the promise of God, and the omnipotence of God.

When Paul and Silas found themselves in prison, their feet fastened in stocks, with an uncertain future before them, they were able to sing, they were able to rejoice, they were able to praise God because of their undying optimism and belief that it would all turn out well. They had received no special revelation as to what was to occur, but because they trusted God they were able to praise Him.

The second defining characteristic of a true believer, and one who is living a true Christian life, is the certainty of success.

“Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ.” It’s not occasionally, it’s not some of the time, it isn’t even most of the time that God leads us in triumph in Christ, but always. When Paul speaks of this triumph, he speaks of a constant, unchanging, consistent and invariable triumph.

These words were not penned by a pastor of a mega church, they were not penned by someone living in a mansion with an indoor pool and chauffeured limo service, they were penned by a man who was beaten, persecuted, shipwrecked and whipped, but one who knew that every obstacle becomes an opportunity. This does not mean that Paul’s plans always came to fruition; it does not mean that Paul’s goals were always realized, but it does mean that the will of God was always done. Paul was in prison, yet the gospel of the kingdom of God was still being preached.

“But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel, so that it has become evident to the whole palace guard, and to all the rest, that my chains are in Christ; and most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.”(Philippians 1:12-14)

Even in his shackles, Paul discovered freedom, and even led those of the house of Caesar to Christ. Hearing of his imprisonment other brethren also became more confident, preaching the gospel fearlessly, with boldness and conviction.

What amazes me, is that it’s not the churches Paul planted while he was free that remained, it is not what he did in his freedom that stood the test of time, but the epistles he wrote while in prison. These are what remained to this day, and will remain in perpetuity.

The impact that a true Christian makes in the lives of those they encounter is unforgettable. As Paul so aptly puts it, we to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. A true Christian leaves a mark, a Christian life makes an impact. When a true Christian is encountered by one in the world, that one cannot remain neutral concerning the things of God.

There is an incontestable reality in one who not only talks the talk, but walks the walk of a believer. Their lives are visibly transformed, and they are no longer as they once were, slaves to sin and corruption. It is not calling ourselves Christians that produces these qualities, these visible fruit, but living the life of a believer.

You can read more from Michael Boldea at Hand of Help Ministries.