Don’t Be Gullible
"Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves." - Matthew 10:16
When Satan tempted Eve in the Garden, he didn’t make up something outlandish to convince her to believe. He simply repeated God’s words back to her with a small twist in order to get her to waver. He just needed to cause some doubt to get her to forget her identity and purpose so he could accomplish his plan.
That strategy is still wildly successful in our world today. Most of the time, the enemy’s attacks aren’t obvious poison, but covered in biblical sweetness. The world, even though it doesn’t really believe the Bible, will use the Bible to try to motivate Christians to act in line with their non-Christian worldview.
Recently, Hillary Clinton wrote an Op-Ed in an international newspaper lambasting conservative, Christian leaders for their lack of biblical compassion. But what does Hillary Clinton know about the Bible? What does she know about true mercy and justice? Everything she stands for is unbiblical. She doesn’t really respect Scriptures or submit herself to Christ’s authority.
But that is not the point. It isn’t about her aligning with Scripture, but getting Christians to align with her. If she can use Scripture to get you to doubt, to get you to fear looking like the bad guy, then she puts herself back in control. It’s the original temptation.
People who don’t believe in biblical compassion will wield our Christian compassion against ourselves to accomplish their own ends. They will shame us for not being nice, while using our niceness to do things to us that aren’t nice. They will throw out out-of-context bible verses like, “Love your neighbor,” or “Care for the foreigner,” or “Don’t judge,” not because they actually want to do those things the way the Bible describes, but because they want you to do them the way they desire.
Our society is in need of some hard truth and difficult change. But we are so often afraid of looking unkind to the world that we can’t stomach what is necessary to make the changes. We see labels and accusations tossed around and we fear one of them landing on us.
Slander sells and sowing division becomes popular because it helps us cast ourselves in the narrative of a world full of heroes and villains. We fear being the villain in anyone’s narrative. We want to be “on the right side of history.” So, we lose courage and become tools of self-destruction.
But we already know how history ends. We know who is in control of the whole thing. We know who the hero is and where we fit in his story. We know that even though Jesus was completely good and most compassionate, they still hated him. And they will try the same tactics against us too, because that has always been Satan’s crafty plan.
Brothers and sisters, don’t be swayed by such narratives and guilt-trips. You live “as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” Don’t be gullible and tricked into letting your Christian virtue be used against you and your neighbors for unrighteous ends.
Remember Satan’s schemes. Gain wisdom to overcome them with the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:16). Keep your eyes on the victory to come. And stay the course, no matter what labels people try to throw on you.
Confident in your steadfastness,
Adam and the elders