There’s a worship song that stopped me in my tracks recently. A simple line that carries the weight of everything wrong with modern Christianity and everything right about the gospel:
“It’s not love without a choice. That’s why You gave me my own voice.”
Read that again.
God, who spoke galaxies into existence, who commands angel armies, who could compel every knee to bow with a word, instead gave you a voice. He gave you the ability to choose. To say yes. To say no. To love Him or walk away.
Why?
Because love cannot be forced. Worship cannot be manufactured. Allegiance that’s coerced isn’t allegiance at all. It’s compliance. And compliance is not what God is after.
This is the scandal of divine love. The all-powerful God makes Himself vulnerable to rejection because genuine love requires genuine choosing.
The Stolen Gift
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” — John 10:10
We quote this verse often, but we miss something critical. Notice the order. The thief steals first. Before the killing, before the destruction, there’s theft. Something is taken.
What does he steal? Your voice. Your choice. Your ability to freely respond to the God who freely offers Himself.
But here’s what we don’t like to admit: we cooperate with the theft.
We don’t want the gospel to kill our earthly desires. We don’t want it to destroy the works of darkness within us. We want the abundant life Jesus promises, but we want it added to the life we’re already living. We want resurrection without crucifixion.
So when a thief offers us a version of Christianity that lets us keep what should be killed, we don’t resist. We welcome him. We call him pastor. We share his content. We buy his books.
The thief doesn’t just climb over the wall of the sheepfold from outside. Sometimes he’s invited in through a door we built ourselves, a door that bypasses the real Door, who is Jesus Christ.
The Curated Gospel
Paul warned the Galatians about this. He didn’t mince words:
“There are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.” — Galatians 1:7-9
He said it twice in two verses. This wasn’t drama. This was emphasis. And notice who he includes: “even if we or an angel from heaven.” Credentials don’t protect you from deception. If the gospel is distorted, the source is accursed, regardless of the pedigree, platform, popularity, or the “anointing” they claim.
Think about the Christianity you’ve been offered.
Were you invited to meet Jesus Christ, or recruited to a movement? Were you called to die to yourself, or promised a better life? Were you challenged to take up your cross, or sold a product that would make your existing life more comfortable?
The curated gospel is everywhere. It comes in conservative packaging and progressive packaging. It wraps itself in revival language and social justice pleas. It fills megachurches and house churches alike.
And it has one thing in common across all its versions: it doesn’t threaten any earthly system.
The messiah of the curated gospel never overturns tables. He doesn’t confront the powers. He doesn’t call you out of Babylon because he’s been domesticated to serve Babylon. He’s been made safe, predictable, and useful for maintaining the status quo.
This is not the gospel. This is control wearing a messiah mask.
The Real Question
Moses stood before Israel and laid out the choice with absolute clarity:
“I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days.” — Deuteronomy 30:19-20
There it is. Choose. God Himself commands it. Not compliance. Not default. Not cultural inheritance. Choice.
And John makes clear what that choice is really about:
“And this is that testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.” — 1 John 5:11-12
The life Moses spoke of is found in one place: in the Son. Not in a system. Not in a movement. Not in a political party or a denomination or a brand of Christianity. In Jesus Christ alone.
So here’s what we need to ask: Have you ever actually chosen Jesus Christ?
Not inherited Him. Not assumed Him. Not checked a box or walked an aisle or repeated a prayer because everyone else was doing it.
Have you, with your own voice, the voice God gave you, looked at Jesus Christ and said, “I choose You”?
Because that choice is what the enemy is trying to eliminate. That’s what every system, religious and political, is working to prevent. Not your belief. Belief can be managed. But your free, uncoerced, genuine choosing? That’s dangerous.
A person who has truly chosen Jesus Christ can’t be controlled. They’ve already given their allegiance to another King. They’ve already pledged loyalty to another Kingdom. And no amount of religious manipulation or political pressure can reclaim what’s been freely given to Him.
What’s Coming
Paul told the Thessalonians something we need to hear:
“You yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, ‘There is peace and security,’ then sudden destruction will come upon them… But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day.” — 1 Thessalonians 5:2-5
Children of light. If you have chosen Jesus Christ, that’s your identity. If you haven’t, that’s your invitation. Not children of a political party. Not children of a denomination. Not children of a platform or a movement or a tribe. Children of light.
And children of light don’t sleep through the theft. They stay awake. They remain sober. They see what others refuse to see.
“So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober… Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.” — 1 Thessalonians 5:6, 11
Over the next two weeks, we’re going to expose what’s been stealing your voice. We’re going to name the puppet masters who stand in pulpits. We’re going to examine the curated gospel they serve. And we’re going to trace the strings upward to see who’s really pulling them. But exposure without self-examination is just Pharisaism. So we’ll also ask the harder question: where have we chosen the counterfeit because the real cost too much?
But more than exposure, we’re going to reclaim what’s been stolen. The freedom to choose. The voice God gave you. The authentic gospel that calls you out of every system and into living relationship with Jesus Christ.
This isn’t about left versus right. Both sides are pulling strings. This isn’t about institutional versus organic church. Both can be compromised. This is about something more fundamental.
This is about whether you will be a consumer of manufactured faith or a child of light who has genuinely chosen the living God.
Damascus Road Moment
Each day in this series ends with a call to action. We call it the Damascus Road moment. Saul was on a road, certain he was serving God, when Jesus Christ interrupted everything. He had to stop, look at who was really speaking, listen to the call, and live a completely new life. That pattern isn’t just Paul’s story. It’s the pattern for everyone who moves from religion to relationship. Transformation doesn’t happen through information alone. It happens when we STOP, LOOK, LISTEN, and LIVE.
STOP
“In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.”
But you were unwilling. — Isaiah 30:15
Pause from the noise of competing voices telling you what to believe. The algorithms, the influencers, the talking heads, the tribal demands. Let it all fall silent for a moment. Be willing to stop.
LOOK
“Be sober-minded and alert. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in your faith.” — 1 Peter 5:8-9
Examine the faith you’re following. Did it come from God or from the systems of men? Is it real, or merely inherited, assumed, assigned? The lion is prowling, but he doesn’t break down doors. He waits to be invited. Did you let him in?
LISTEN
“Return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love.” — Joel 2:12-13
Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal Jesus Christ to you afresh. Not the curated version. Not the politically useful version. The real Jesus. Have you chosen Him, or only complied with a system? He is gracious. He is merciful. He is calling you back.
LIVE
“Now this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only TRUE God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.” — John 17:3
Today, make your faith an active choice for Jesus Christ, not passive acceptance of religion. Eternal life isn’t a destination. It’s knowing Him, the TRUE God, not a counterfeit. Use the voice God gave you. Say it out loud if you need to: “I choose You.”
Tomorrow: The God Who Waits — Why the all-powerful God woos rather than compels