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Frogs on the Boil
We have all probably heard the illustration of how to boil a frog at one time or another. The illustration says to put the frog in a pot of cold water and turn the heat on low. Eventually, the water will reach a boil, but so slowly that the frog will not notice until it is too late. This simile is usually used to warn us against being too comfortable in the world around us. The warning is given for good reason.
The Bible warns God's people against syncretism. Syncretism is "the amalgamation or attempted amalgamation of different religions, cultures, or schools of thought: interfaith dialogue can easily slip into syncretism." Numerous examples of syncretism are found and condemned in the prophets. Notice this declaration of the Lord through Ezekiel:
“The LORD said to me: “Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Declare to them their abominations. For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands. With their idols they have committed adultery, and they have even offered up to them for food the children whom they had borne to me. Moreover, this they have done to me: they have defiled my sanctuary on the same day and profaned my Sabbaths. For when they had slaughtered their children in sacrifice to their idols, on the same day they came into my sanctuary to profane it. And behold, this is what they did in my house.” (Ezek. 23:36-39 ESV)
The Israelites combined the worship of idols with the worship of God. Essentially, they equated the worship of the one true God with the worship of one of many gods in the pantheon of pagan deities. The Phoenicians worshiped idols by sacrificing their children.
"And Klietarchos says the Phoenicians, and above all the Carthaginians, venerating Kronos, whenever they were eager for a great thing to succeed, made a vow by one of their children. If they would receive the desired things, they would sacrifice it to the god. A bronze Kronos, having been erected by them, stretched out upturned hands over a bronze oven to burn the child. The flame of the burning child reached its body until, the limbs having shriveled up and the smiling mouth appearing to be almost laughing, it would slip into the oven. Therefore the grin is called 'sardonic laughter,' since they die laughing." (Cletarchus, FGrHist, 137 F9)
When asking Samuel for a king, the Israelites stated their objective clearly: They wanted to be "like all the nations." (1 Sam. 8:4-5) King Ahab married a Phoenician princess named Jezebel. She brought these Phoenician practices with her. Her influence was felt in both Israel and Judah. King Manasseh led the nation in child sacrifice in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom (2 Chron. 33:8). By the time of Jeremiah and Ezekiel, this practice had become part of Israelite culture. They were so steeped in the practice of idolatry that the people no longer listened to God's warnings. They had become "like all the nations." Ezekiel wrote that God would punish Judah for their adultery.
“For thus says the Lord GOD: “Bring up a vast host against them, and make them an object of terror and a plunder. And the host shall stone them and cut them down with their swords. They shall kill their sons and their daughters, and burn up their houses. Thus will I put an end to lewdness in the land, that all women may take warning and not commit lewdness as you have done. And they shall return your lewdness upon you, and you shall bear the penalty for your sinful idolatry, and you shall know that I am the Lord GOD.” (Ezek. 23:46-49 ESV)
The ancient church struggled with syncretism. In the book of Revelation, Jesus through John warned the church at Thyatira against syncretism. “But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols.” (Rev. 2:20 ESV) Does this not sound like what happened in Israel? God does not want a syncretistic church!
Are we syncretistic? Paul warned the Colossians, “See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.” (Col. 2:8 ESV) We live in a world increasingly dominated by the idea that there is no single truth and everyone's truth is equally valid. We are captured by current philosophy when we say, "my truth" or "what this passage means to me." One evangelical scholar observed:
"One great danger of postmodernity is false conversions and the consequently hollow praise offered to God for saved souls that, in fact, are not saved. Those holding a postmodernist view of truth may appear very 'spiritual', and to go along with Christian belief to a point, just so long as religion meets their felt needs. Nevertheless, unless one knows Jesus Christ and his gospel to be true, one cannot be a Christian at all. One remains entrapped in the kingdom of darkness." (Gary E. Gilley)
Paul pleaded with the church at Corinth to give up its syncretic ways saying,
“Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.” Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.” (2 Cor. 6:17-7:1 ESV)
We should remain vigilant and committed to Christ's true teachings, avoiding the gradual, unnoticed drift away from faith symbolized by the boiling frog. Get out of the pot, brothers and sisters, before it is too late!
