The Coming Divide: When Faith Becomes Inconvenient

"If the antichrist says he is a Christian, the church would welcome and defend him." -Truthunedited

These words, spoken by someone observing the current state of Christianity, cut deeper than any theological critique I've heard in years. They expose a troubling reality that many of us sense but struggle to articulate: we are witnessing the early stages of the great falling away, and it's happening not outside the church, but within it.

When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of all who had been martyred for the word of God and for being faithful in their testimony.
Revelation 6:9 

Don't imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth! I came not to bring peace, but a sword.
Matthew 10:34

Don't be fooled by what they say. For that day will not come until there is a great rebellion against God and the man of lawlessness is revealed—the one who brings destruction.
2 Thessalonians 2:3

Dear friends, I had been eagerly planning to write to you about the salvation we all share. But now I find that I must write about something else, urging you to defend the faith that God has entrusted once for all time to his holy people.
Jude 1:3

They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that!
2 Timothy 3:5 

The Fifth Seal and the Cost of Truth

Suddenly, I understand why the fifth seal in Revelation reveals the martyrs of Christ—those who remained faithful to Jesus in an era when people settled for forms of Christ that justified their sinful desires. Revelation 6 shows us "the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they maintained." These aren't just ancient martyrs; they represent a pattern that extends through history and into our present moment. The tension between authentic faith and cultural accommodation, the challenge of discernment in times of spiritual confusion, and the cost of remaining faithful when convenience and belonging pull in different directions.

The martyrs weren't killed by atheists or pagans. They were silenced by spiritual people who genuinely believed they were serving God. Stephen wasn't stoned by Romans—he was killed by religious leaders who saw his conviction as a threat to their comfortable version of faith. Persecution often comes not from obvious enemies of faith, but from those who claim to share it while fundamentally misunderstanding or distorting it.

When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and said, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”

Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord; and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
Acts 7:54-60

The Comfort of Belonging—Until It Costs Something

Many who profess Christ today aren't actually saved. They like to belong to something that appears noble and meaningful, but only until that belonging becomes inconvenient. Only until it demands the sharp divide that God's Word inevitably brings between truth and compromise, between the narrow way and the broad road.

When conviction comes knocking—when Scripture challenges their lifestyle, their politics, their relationships, their comfort—suddenly everything becomes a "matter of interpretation." Discernment gets reduced to the degree of someone's subjectivity. The absolute truth of God's Word becomes negotiable, filtered through personal preference rather than submitted to in reverence and obedience. The conviction of the Holy Spirit, working through faithful witnesses, exposes the hollowness of false religion, and that exposure often provokes violent reaction.

This is the subtle apostasy Paul warned about in 2 Thessalonians 2:3. It doesn't look like outright rejection of Christianity. Instead, it's the gradual redefinition of faith to accommodate worldly values and desires. Scripture becomes clay in human hands, molded to say whatever makes people comfortable rather than what challenges them toward holiness. A deep concern for the purity of the gospel and the authenticity of Christian witness shows a heart aligned with Christ's own heart.

The Wolf in Christian Clothing

Jesus warned us about wolves in sheep's clothing, but what happens when the wolf claims not just to be a sheep, but to be the shepherd? What happens when the antichrist doesn't come as an obvious enemy of the faith, but as its supposed champion?

The uncomfortable truth is that many churches today would welcome such a figure with open arms, as long as he spoke their language, affirmed their biases, and made faith feel safe and culturally acceptable, as long as he offered them a version of Christ that costs nothing and demands nothing. Oh, how easily religious identity can become divorced from actual transformation and truth. Scripture becomes subject to endless reinterpretation until it says whatever makes people comfortable, rather than what challenges them toward holiness.

This is why Jesus said, "Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword" (Matthew 10:34). Christ's presence in the world creates division—not because He desires conflict, but because truth always separates those who embrace it from those who reject it. His light exposes the difference between authentic faith and comfortable religion.

When Conviction Becomes the Enemy

I must admit that witnessing this isn't scary. We're watching the early stages of the falling away Jesus prophesied—when even those who claim His name will deliver up His true children. When faithful believers are brought before authorities, as Stephen was, they face opposition not from the world but from within the church itself.

Why? Because conviction has become the enemy. True Christianity, with its demands for repentance, transformation, and submission to God's will, threatens the peace of those who have created a comfortable counterfeit faith. The Holy Spirit's work of conviction, operating through faithful witnesses, exposes the hollowness of false religion—and that exposure often provokes violent reaction. Saints more than ever are required to have both courage and wisdom - knowing when to speak and when to remain silent, when to engage and when to separate, always motivated by love for both truth and souls.

People will honestly believe they do God a service by silencing those who challenge their comfortable Christianity. Just as the Pharisees thought they were protecting God's honor by crucifying Christ, many today believe they're serving God by opposing those who preach the uncompromising truth of the Gospel.

The Reality of Division

Jesus didn't come to unite everyone under a vague banner of religious niceness. He came to divide—to separate wheat from chaff, sheep from goats, those who are His from those who have merely benefited from a concept of Him.

This division is becoming increasingly visible. On one side stand those who hold fast to "the faith that was once for all entrusted to God's holy people" (Jude 1:3)—those willing to be inconvenienced, opposed, and even persecuted for the sake of truth. On the other side are those who prefer a Christianity that asks nothing of them, challenges nothing in them, and costs them nothing.

A Call to Authentic Faith

The times may indeed be growing darker, but that only makes the light of authentic Christian witness more necessary and more precious. For those who recognize these spiritual realities, the call is clear:

Deeper consecration. Don't settle for the comfortable Christianity that surrounds you. Press into the costly discipleship that Jesus actually offers.

Faithful witness. Speak truth in love, regardless of the cost. The souls of those caught in deception depend on it.

Unwavering discernment. Don't compromise truth for peace. Hold firm to Scripture's authority, even when it makes you unpopular.

Compassionate prayer. Intercede for those who have been deceived, that their eyes might be opened before it's too late.

Walk in total obedience to God’s will, because He is positioning you to be salt and light in an age that desperately needs both.

The great divide, the shift has happened—in many ways, it's already being witnessed though early stages in preparation for the falling away. The question isn't whether you'll choose a side; it's whether you'll choose the side that costs everything but leads to life, or the side that costs nothing but leads to destruction.

Jesus brought division to reveal who truly belongs to Him and who has simply benefited from the concept of Him.

Which side of that division will you be on when the dust settles?

The fifth seal reminds us that there will be those who choose truth over comfort, Christ over cultural acceptance, authentic faith over convenient religion.

In the end, their testimony will endure long after the comfortable compromises have crumbled to dust.

The choice is before us. The time for decision is now.