“2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. 9 Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, 10 and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. 11 For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits. 12 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. 13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. 16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. 18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.” (Jas 1:2–18 ESV)

Operating one eye blind, the Foe will have a few unmentionable obstacles, and the Saint in the land cannot quite fill the void as far as obstacles and blindness as received at the hand of the Foe. It behooves us, therefore, to acknowledge that it is the duty of every Christian to discern whether what we are hearing is the Gospel, or some simulacra, easily purchased, minus Christ’s Blood. More, things go topsy-turvy if ever we forget this ourselves: the Church as a Body, by and large is in position number two on the victory stand, eager to be part of the race, but not putting in the Heft and Oomph to reach number one. 

This is no license for Sin, rather God humbles the proud, and our Walk vis-a-vis our Calling as Christians, requires we emerge on the other side of His Cross, emerge self-sacrificial and Available, even us, even as we’ve already given so much, God uses those tried and true Vessels again and again, such that never do we get too comfy.

Therefore, the Gospel as discerned by the Good Judge in each and every community, is bar none Not a gospel of whose lifestyle is more free of sin. It is not plausible or reasonable dismissals of the “other half”. We believe in a priesthood of all believers, and we believe that real temptations to sin begin at the threshold of the local Church. We believe errors might be made, dastardly curses might be uttered, the end of the Mirage of a happy-go-lucky sheepfold may transpire.

Meantime, while the sophists and pundits think all day long about sophisticated theologies and explanatory devices, the Christian just looks for some way to be head down, pedal to the metal, eeking out a subsistence notwithstanding the grandstanding and Owned pleasant places. Some places… it is weird, that they covet the stoic Believer’s stead, when it could easily be theirs as well.

High noon will be upon us, and the Religion that comforts and enables the soldier to go forth into the long night, will be something Able to be shared even on this earth, prior to Kingdom-Come, but also secretly, furtively whispered about and Trusted to some intervening Grace from the Holy Spirit, who enables Historical Relevance to Own and Transmit and Spread like Contagion, something life-affirming and Hero-enabling. And to such Faith have some of us leaned in, because the daydreams come and go all day, the fright-zones we can grow evasive around, or meld Christ’s Cross with our panicky flight away from Difficult Arenas. Yes, we are counting certain victories in ways Measurable to citizens of this Planet Earth, but also we are forgoing the need for Proof of God’s sustenance, His sustaining Grace. If all we have in this life is the certainty He Rose Again, let it be.