At our house, we have a lot of fun discussing things that we can never prove. Dinner conversations could easily include topics such as Bigfoot or the Loch Ness monster. It’s all in fun, and conspiracy theories make for the liveliest of banter.
One of the things I like most about these entertaining topics is that they require you to know what you DO believe in order to dispute the theories of someone else. If I have no truth in my repertoire, I cannot debate your concepts.
Never is this more apparent than when one of us turns on late night television and pauses on an alien show. I’m often surprised at how the theories are so similar to my Christian understandings. The history and teachings align so tightly that being drawn in is easily achieved. Many evenings I begin to nod in agreement with the direction the presenter is taking when a hard turn away from reality catches me off guard. Yikes – they almost had me there. If I didn’t have better information already in my arsenal, I might have been disarmed and sucked into a whole new set of ideas. At the very least, I might have questioned my own beliefs. Good thing I know, without doubt, that God is the creator of the universe. Otherwise, I might just wonder about all kinds of interactions through weird and confusing possibilities.
While TV shows and alien plots are, again, just for fun, the process of neutralizing my belief system is a real and constant threat. No, that’s not a conspiracy theory in itself; it’s just the way evil works. Evil rarely approaches head-on and full speed ahead. Instead, a little seed of doubt is planted here and a bit of misinformation is given there until the resulting chaos derails my faith. The deconstruction of truth rarely happens with an explosion. More often, a slow chipping away of values is more effective and does more harm.
According to Jesus, damage is done by the one who sneaks in by deceitful means. "Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice." (John 10:1-4, CEB)
The sheep (that’s us) follow him (that’s Jesus) because they know his voice (that’s truth). We follow Jesus because we recognize Truth. Bad information is ineffective if I know scripture. Seeds of doubt will be alien to me and cannot grow where my soul has been nourished by the stories of prophets and kings, disciples and witnesses. I cannot be led astray when I know the familiar voice of Love.
On this holiest day of the week, I pray I spend enough time with the Shepherd that I hear my name called, and I follow his voice.
Listening for Truth,
Pastor Beth
One of the things I like most about these entertaining topics is that they require you to know what you DO believe in order to dispute the theories of someone else. If I have no truth in my repertoire, I cannot debate your concepts.
Never is this more apparent than when one of us turns on late night television and pauses on an alien show. I’m often surprised at how the theories are so similar to my Christian understandings. The history and teachings align so tightly that being drawn in is easily achieved. Many evenings I begin to nod in agreement with the direction the presenter is taking when a hard turn away from reality catches me off guard. Yikes – they almost had me there. If I didn’t have better information already in my arsenal, I might have been disarmed and sucked into a whole new set of ideas. At the very least, I might have questioned my own beliefs. Good thing I know, without doubt, that God is the creator of the universe. Otherwise, I might just wonder about all kinds of interactions through weird and confusing possibilities.
While TV shows and alien plots are, again, just for fun, the process of neutralizing my belief system is a real and constant threat. No, that’s not a conspiracy theory in itself; it’s just the way evil works. Evil rarely approaches head-on and full speed ahead. Instead, a little seed of doubt is planted here and a bit of misinformation is given there until the resulting chaos derails my faith. The deconstruction of truth rarely happens with an explosion. More often, a slow chipping away of values is more effective and does more harm.
According to Jesus, damage is done by the one who sneaks in by deceitful means. "Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice." (John 10:1-4, CEB)
The sheep (that’s us) follow him (that’s Jesus) because they know his voice (that’s truth). We follow Jesus because we recognize Truth. Bad information is ineffective if I know scripture. Seeds of doubt will be alien to me and cannot grow where my soul has been nourished by the stories of prophets and kings, disciples and witnesses. I cannot be led astray when I know the familiar voice of Love.
On this holiest day of the week, I pray I spend enough time with the Shepherd that I hear my name called, and I follow his voice.
Listening for Truth,
Pastor Beth