Deception

I witnessed a "rant" Sunday evening that almost left me speechless.  The springboard for this particular tirade was from the Book of Revelation. It was an episode like I had not heard since my very early days as a Christian coming up through the ranks of the Southern Baptists. This particular incident covered everything from Oprah to aberrant sexual behavior.

As I sat listening, somewhat in shock that this would be going on, my attempts at giving it credibility based on the sermon topic, which apparently had become "deception", proved to be  formidable.

In the context, not of the text necessarily but of the speech, there was this call to the listeners to know the truth in order not to  be deceived. The truth was the Bible and the deception was behavior or beliefs that were apparently contrary to the Bible. That's where folks like talk show hosts, Saturday morning cartoons, and other anti-social or should I say, anti-Christian behaviors, came in to play.

Now I am not saying that what was said was wrong. My point is this. Deception very seldom comes clothed in those things we know to be obviously wrong based on scripture.

Allow me to put that comment into context. A few postings ago, I mentioned a book called The Shack. It was recommended by a friend of mine so I thought I would give it a read. It is a warm and fuzzy kind of book that has theological teachings that in many regards are  contrary to Scripture. A few are rather blatant, some are cleverly camouflaged.

It is this kind of teaching that enters the mainstream of the Christian culture, that often goes unnoticed. It goes unnoticed because many in the mainstream of the Christian culture do not have an understanding of biblical teaching that allows them to ferret the deception and bring it into the light. I am often one of them.

Social ills are just that social ills. Do Christians have an obligation to speak out against them? Yes, if for no other reason than they impact all of society. However, when it comes to deception, our enemy the Devil, seldom uses social ills to undermine our belief system, he uses subtle untruth - within the community of the believers - to undermine our belief system (Acts 13:7-12).  I suppose those untruths may find a reflection or even a home in societies practices, but is the church to be a reflection of society, or of Christ (Ephesians 4:14-32, 1John 2:15-17)?

Father, I know a lion when I see it. What I am susceptible to are wolves in sheep's clothing. The craftiness of words spoken with boldness and confidence. I am vulnerable to packages wrapped in pretty paper but whose content is untruth.    Help me to be discerning and rely on your Holy Spirit to decipher a well conceived lie from the eternal truth of Your Word.