In my previous post I introduced the concept of Spiritual Colour-Blindness, a condition of those who find an inability to see “red flags” which should warn them that something is wrong. In fact, they are more likely to see it as a confirmation they are on the right path. But you might well ask what is the connection with the above title? We live in an age when people are very busy and look for short-cuts. However in the Christian life spiritual maturity can only be achieved by reading the Bible and studying it. But the temptation is to look to other sources that appear easier. This will take different forms depending on the type of church they are in. It might just mean looking for someone they can listen to, initially they will listen critically, but the danger is that they treat this person as a guru and absorb every word without checking the context of any verses quoted. Linked to this is the ease that Christians can use the Christian media, whether radio, television or internet, it is all too easy to use it without discernment. But if you use them as a substitute for your own studies it is very easy accept what is being told with apparent authority. Sometimes we like our namesake in the Pilgrim’s Progress when we meet somebody offering an apparently easy alternative as did Worldly Wise Man the only difference is that they do not realise that they are on the wrong path for a long time because they are fooled by “Christianese.” How the Gospel of grace is being subtly changed into a gospel of works without them detecting the change. To notice that something is wrong will require a degree of effort to correct it and therefore there is a tendency to ignore it. For those on the Charismatic or Pentecostal end of the spectrum there are a whole lot more pitfalls, including the prophetic. What could be easier than finding a ‘prophet’ who can tell you everything you want to know without opening a Bible ever again? I am being cynical here, but it comes with old age. It reminds me of a time when I was a child back in the Sixties and watching an old black and white television programme and at the end one of the characters said to another character the line- “the easy dollar is often very hard to get.” The same can also be said in the spiritual realm.

David Gordon Rose, 2024.