Frog in Boiling Water

As I was reviewing today’s scripture readings, I realized that Christians ‘back then’ were much more bold in their faith than we are today. Every day we read accounts of martyrs for Christ, the vast majority of them martyred in the first three centuries of the Church. It isn’t that they didn’t sin. They did as today’s Epistle reveals. What I feel was different was the expectation of the Church.

Beloved, if any one says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.  And this commandment we have from him, that he who loves God should love his brother also. Every one who believes that Jesus is the Christ is a child of God, and every one who loves the parent loves the child.  By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments.  For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments.  And his commandments are not burdensome.  For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that overcomes the world, our faith.  Who is it that overcomes the world but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? This is he who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ, not with the water only but with the water and the blood.  And the Spirit is the witness, because the Spirit is the truth.  There are three witnesses, the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree.  If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater; for this is the testimony of God that he has borne witness to his Son.  He who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself.  He who does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne to his Son.  And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.  He who has the Son has life; he who has not the Son of God has not life. I write this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.  And this is the confidence which we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.  And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have obtained the requests made of him.  If any one sees his brother committing what is not a mortal sin, he will ask, and God will give him life for those whose sin is not mortal.  There is sin which is mortal; I do not say that one is to pray for that.  All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin which is not mortal. We know that any one born of God does not sin, but He who was born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him. We know that we are of God, and the whole world is in the power of the evil one. And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, to know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ.  This is the true God and eternal life.  Little children, keep yourselves from idols.  Amen.

1^st John 4:20-21;5:1-21

I can’t help but ask, “When was the last time I heard a modern priest or bishop preach with such bold expectations of the Church?” I’m sure they exist, but I am hard-pressed to think of one. Imagine what would happen if a modern-day priest said, “If you hate someone, you can’t be a child of God.” We preach against hate, but not with the boldness that comes with ‘life or death’ conviction.

The big difference between ‘then and now’ is that we are no longer threatened with life or death simply for proclaiming our belief in Christ. The Christians that Saint John was writing to, had already accepted they would be killed for their faith. What risk was their in preaching and living bold faithful lives? There was no risk.

Today is different. Since we are not threatened with physical violence, we default to comfort rather than death. Unlike the Christians in the first centuries, we have something to lose ‘out there’ in society, something they had already lost. So, we keep low profile when it comes to faith. We preach simple lessons of faith rather than bold statements of life and death. The result, I fear, will be our own death.

We are being lulled to sleep like a frog in boiling water. If you have never heard that expression, it goes like this. If you put a frog in a pot of boiling water, it will jump out immediately and you lose your dinner. If you put the same frog in a pot of cold water and slowly bring up the temperature, the frog will never jump and eventually boil.

The early centuries of Church history, we jumped out of the boiling water. Once the world ‘accepted’ our faith as tolerable or even preferable, we remained in the water. Slowly the devil has been turning up the temperature, but we remain comfortable in the water. What happens next is up to us.

We can either accept the world is turning up the heat and get out or remain and die. There are only two options. Life or death. We either die slow spiritual deaths in sin and hate, or we die quick social deaths in faith and love. If you ever watched a frog leap in slow motion, it is a bold move. Our spiritual future depends upon bold moves of faith.

We need more preachers not just reading Saint John’s letters, but actually preaching them with the expectation that we will live with boldness. We need more Christians hearing the challenges of the Saints and the Church, and living the Orthodox Christian life with boldness. I know where I prefer to stand. What about you?