Drowning in Froth
Drowning in Froth
Some days ago (13th January), I dreamt I was on the coast, about one block back from the beach. I could see very big waves breaking in the distance. As I watched, I observed that huge amounts of froth and foam were being blown in from the water's edge and flooding through the basements of the row of houses which stood between me and the sea. I was concerned that this mess might even reach my car which I had been careful to park up on high ground.
"I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints. For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you ... Woe to them! ... They have rushed for profit into Balaam's error ... These men are ... shepherds who feed only themselves ... They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame ... They boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage." (Jude 1.3-16)
"But the wicked are like the tossing sea, which cannot rest, whose waves cast up mire and mud." (Isaiah 57.20)
"Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Him who is the Head, that is Christ." (Ephesians 4.14-15)
In much of Western Christendom today, gloss has triumphed over substance, celebrity has eclipsed authenticity, and God's saints are everywhere in hot pursuit of excitement and convenience ... rather than crucified obedience and servanthood.
But the truly guilty are those who are leading the charge; those "shepherds who feed only themselves". They require cultish devotion and slavish obedience from their own followers; they ("wild waves of the sea")submit to none and render account to no one ... failing to heed even the final, faint warning cries of their own dying consciences. The froth and bubble of their ministries and meetings, to which the crowds flock and in which they "boast about themselves", is really "their shame"!
The gathering of huge crowds can signify many things ... a building on fire? ... an international test of athletic power? Who can tell? But one thing is certain ... a crowd is not necessarily testimony to the presence and benediction of Almighty God. To be sure, the multitudes did flock to the Lord Jesus as He performed God-honouring signs and wonders and miracles. And yet through that day when He toiled at His great work on Calvary's brutal Tree, His supporters were exceedingly few and far between ... their former applause dead on their lips.
Last year a Christian movement lauded (adulated?) for its ability to attract huge crowds into what gave every appearance of being "church", audited itself. Its leaders "confessed" that their programmes' excitement and convenience (froth and bubble) produced numbers, but not disciples (men and women consistently maturing under the discipline of Jesus Christ's Word, Spirit and Fellowship)!
Will these people now demolish their glittering, ecclesiastical ziggurat? Will they spend the rest of their lives repenting (clothed in sack cloth, mouths full of dust and ashes) for their grievous error, which has led thousands of local churches into a blind (but seeker-friendly!) alleyway? I doubt it!
In that place where waves break upon the land, the sea can be whipped into a foaming state where there is insufficient buoyancy to float, and inadequate oxygen to breathe. This is the place where people die.
It is not a good place to be; it is a place to get out of as quickly as you can!
"There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory." (Luke 21.25-27)
