The Art of Deception

THE ART OF DECEPTION

 

 

This 25 year old woman mourns at the grave of her 28 year old brother who lost his life while fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.

There was a recent documentary on television called “Hubris” which outlines the manipulation and sometimes out right lying which led America to war in Iraq. After ten years we still have a presence in Iraq and soldiers still die in Afghanistan. And before going in the lying tongues of politicians told the public that this would not be another Vietnam.

War breeds lying and manipulation and many people become wealthy. And war brings death and mutilation and misery. But the patriotic spirit many times covers up the reality and horror of war and provides a forum for well fed and hedonistic people to revel in a misguided nationalistic spirit. It happens oh so often among believers as well. Thousands of men and women have died and many thousands will live wounded and maimed for the rest of their lives. But let us be very clear, except for the initial attempt to bring justice to Osama Bin Laden, the rest was manipulated lies by the ruling political class in America.

Although President Obama presented a platform that was less aggressive than was President Bush’s, his policies are very close to that of his predecessor. I am not a part of any of it, but I continue to feel a strong sense of responsibility to inform and correct my brothers and sisters in Christ because so many of them are walking in a state of delusion. Nationalism, moralism, violence, and war in general are all at odds with the teachings of Jesus, if that even matters anymore.

This is not a contest between liberals and conservatives or between Democrats and Republicans. This, for us as believers, must be a reinforcing of what we know to be true as it pertains to Jesus, His gospel and His teachings to His followers. The world is a colossal mess, and America if measured by the teachings of Christ is no better than Russia or China. Just because a country has religious freedom does not in any way mean they are more or less moral than a country which does not.

In many ways this earthly freedom has built an unseen bridge which systematically transfers fallen ideas into the church as well as removing any deep spiritual commitment from within the church. It is in this clandestine way that the church has become a product of the culture and not a product of the Spirit. On the Day of Pentecost it wasn’t the Roman government which proclaimed Christianity as legitimate and produced a constitution which contained a “free exercise clause”. Those men and women in the upper room did not spill out into the streets to begin a Tea Party movement designed to protect their religious freedom.

No, the church was born of the Holy Spirit distinctly separated from and at odds with the fallen course of the world. In fact, for many, it would cost them their lives to follow Jesus. It still does cost many their lives today. But the church has become so blind and deaf that it does not see the vicious dangers connected with any earthly freedom. In fact the church revels in that which is killing her. Believers have bought into what the secular schools have taught them. And instead of a remarkable and separate thought process which makes it distinctly Biblical and diametrically opposed to this world, the church walks in lockstep with its national origin.

And now the church endorses killing and violence whenever America takes to the battlefield. And believers continue to drink the Kool Aid offered by the secular media. And in an astonishing and breathtaking spectacle, carnal and hate filled men like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity and women like Ann Coulter are loved by millions of professing believers. That in and of itself is profound evidence concerning the depth of deception and how the Christian faith has been changed in order to fit in with conventional patriotic thought.

But violence covers the earth and permeates the culture. Headstones continue to be added to military graveyards. Tens of thousands return home wounded physically and emotionally. And the fallen world continues to manipulate the people into supporting what they say they believe to be true. The entire system is one of deceit and decay and all kinds of diabolical trickery. And money flows like a river. And in the midst of all this is the church…participating, supporting, and joining hands with the enemies of Christ. The young woman in the picture was mourning the death of her brother. But that picture could also be a metaphor for a believer mourning the spiritual death of the church. We as followers of Jesus should not even believe the words of unbelievers when they speak the truth since that is an unstable bridge which eventually leads to lies.