Kingdom Talk; Unboiling Frogs with Mike Eckerd

The fable or parable of the boiling frog has been around for many years. The premise is that if you place a live frog in very cold or very hot water, it will immediately jump out and save itself. But if you place it in lukewarm water, it will relax. The idea is that while the frog is in lukewarm, comfortable water, the water can be slowly brought to a full boil without the frog noticing, eventually killing the frog. In philosophy, the boiling frog story is another way of explaining the “Sorites (the heap) Paradox.” It explains the dangers of not perceiving or having discernment of gradual change. This paradox explains that a single grain of sand is not a heap. The addition of another grain is not a heap either. At some point, there will be a collection of grains that someone will suddenly call a heap, but when is that, and what grain of sand changed it from a non-heap to a heap? Jesus spoke about the comfortable, lukewarm church. He spoke about little grains of yeast changing and spoiling the bread. Jesus spoke about keeping our eyes and ears open. Paul spoke about watching out for false teachers who tickle ears, make promises, and make very slight changes to the Gospel of Jesus that, at the time feel right, comfortable, and lukewarm, but are actually short, slow turns on the gas knob. A great friend of mine once said, “If you are seated in a theology that celebrates the removal of family and friends from your life, you are in a very wrong theology.” I would call a person at this juncture in their belief system a thoroughly boiled frog! With this podcast, I’d like to address any thinking that points a believer to this end.