I recently overheard the following conversation.
Person 1: Aren’t you curious what they have in area 51, I mean there could be alien stuff, some think the gold from Fort Knox is now there…..
Person 2: I am more interested in knowing where areas 1-50 are….
Conspiracy theories have become a part of the American fabric it seems. The more popular the internet’s use, the broader the swath of theories to chase down, and unfortunately believe. You have probably heard a few. Flat Earth has become popular again. There is Covid theories, election conspiracies, thoughts on JFK, etc. One theory floating around is that liberals in this country advocate for abortion so they can drink the blood of babies and maintain their Satanic rituals.
There are many. Those believing in them are fervent in their belief. So, what’s the big deal? Why not look into and talk about these things? After all a Christian is supposed to about truth, right? Nathan exposed the sins of David. Shouldn’t we seek to expose the sins of those in power? Aren’t we supposed to be in pursuit of the truth?
Bringing truth to light is a good thing, obsessing over hearsay, rumor, and half proven theories is not. What we spend our time on matters. What we engage our heart and mind in matter. We have a main purpose, and that is the gospel of Jesus Christ. Everything we are about should point to that.
Remember when we started this series, we talked about making a 1% difference in the Hampton Roads area would mean 9,000 unchurched people becoming a believer in Jesus. The task at hand is large. We must do everything we can to be as effective as we can.
I want to say this from the start. It does not matter if the theory we are peddling is true, meaning that eventually the facts come to light and we are vindicated. That is not the point. When we engage in these theories, we alienate a large group of people that we should be trying to share the gospel with, not indoctrinate in the beliefs we have concerning the affairs of this world.
1 Timothy 1:1-7
“Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Saviour, and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope; Unto Timothy, my own son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. As I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine, Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do. Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned: From which some having swerved have turned aside unto vain jangling; Desiring to be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm.”
There were some in the early church who were giving their time to theories on who came from where and how their genealogy linked them to different spiritual abilities. The point Paul was making was there are silly, unprovable things that we can spend our time on, but that is not our goal. Spending time in speculation doesn’t edify. It doesn’t bring harmony and unity. It causes division and strife, the very opposite of what our focus is.
Love of a pure heart is what should be the product of what we spend our time on. We should focus on faith, hope and charity. To do otherwise is to part take in vain jangling, meaning idle talk, ideas that ultimately have no benefit. No matter what happens in this life, our citizenship ultimately is in the kingdom of God. More than that we assured that if God is for us, no one can be against us in Romans 8:31.
As Christians we seemed to be obsessed with the Biblical prophecy that there is going to be some sort of one world government led by the anti-Christ. I had people tell me they believed Obama was that, then it was Trump. There are two things about this that I want to mention. First, we cannot stop this from occurring. Someday, at some point, the personification of the antichrist will come will lead what scripture decides.
No amount of obsessing a speculating will prevent it, nor will it prepare us more for the event. If we want to make sure we aren’t deceived, focus on being close to Jesus. His Holy Spirit will guard our hearts and will reveal truth to us when its time. Secondly, the antichrist will be popular with everyone. He will not be divisive the way that the political figures I mention were and are.
When we engage is some of these theories, no matter how pure the motive behind it is, we end up looking crazy and hurting our testimony. You come across like this guy (slide here). God has a plan and nothing anyone does can change the outcome. The psalmist said it this way.
Psalm 2:2-4
“The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.”
Jealousy caused the rulers in Babylon to conspire against Daniel. They wanted him killed and set him up. Their plan failed because God had a purpose. The psalmist says that God is laughing at the plans of those who try to fight against the Lord and his anointed. In a very real sense spending time in conspiracy theories and trying to figure out the next move of the enemy is to not trust that the God of the Bible is not looking out for HIs Church.
The people of God have an expected end. Whatever is going on in the world is not our concern, building the kingdom of God is. Focus on the gospel and everything else finds its place. Trust in His plan and His timing. Everything will come to light in its time and if we walk in truth, then everything else that is false will be exposed.
The other issue at stake is that while some conspiracy theories have ended up being true, there are some, most have failed to be proven. The issue with that is we are then guilty of spreading lies and slandering people.
Scripture calls Satan the father of lies (John 8:44). Anything that is false has its root in him. When we spread lies, we are in effect doing his work. The bible also tells us that we are either gathering in to God’s kingdom or we are scattering abroad. We are either leading people to Christ, or taking them farther away. There is no in between. (Matthew 12:30)
Proverbs 19:5
“A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall not escape.”
No matter how logical the theory seems to be or how well you think you can connect the dots, unless you absolutely know without a shadow of a doubt it is true, we have no business spreading it. First, lies are from Satan as we talked about, but secondly it ruins your testimony. The cross is already a difficult thing for people to accept. Our goal is to preach Christ and Him crucified.
1 Corinthians 1:23-25
“But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men”
I was talking to a guy about the gospel once and he said “I can believe that Jesus existed. I can even believe that he was crucified, but I don’t believe he came back to life. I cannot believe in the resurrection of someone from the dead.” The gospel story is a hard story to accept, unless the Holy Spirit does a work in someone’s heart. The problem is that if we are posting about, talking about, or otherwise engaging in conspiracy theories, the cross become just some other crazy thing we believe.
If we post anti-vaccine conspiracy theories, election theories, and other things that we may ardently believe to be true, you are eroding the trust and opportunity you may have had to share the message of the cross with those who need it most. Let me be clear about something. I am not trying to get you to change your mind on anything you believe in the world of conspiracy theories. My goal is simply to get us to care more about the gospel than any of those other things.
The time you spend researching your pet theory could be used praying for people you want to be saved. It could be used study the word of God which will bring all truth to life. We could be spending time fellowshipping with fellow believers and encouraging one another to do the good work of Christ.
If you want to know the point of the message, that is it. Care so much about the gospel that you don’t have time to worry about the conspiracies that may or may not be happening. Care so much about the gospel that you see the brokenness of the world around you and look for opportunities to bring the healing of the gospel to the wounds of those around us.
The whole gospel was shrouded in a conspiracy. First in the plot to kill Jesus and then in an attempt to discredit the resurrection of Jesus. Did you know that? After Jesus rose from the dead, the religious leaders of the day spread a rumor that the followers of Jesus took and hid His body and then “claimed” that He rose from the dead. That was the story. It failed miserably.
The gospel has spread throughout the earth. And no matter how dark the situation seems; the gospel always finds a way to break through. Trust in that. Lastly, conspiracy theories usually trade in fear. If we don’t pay attention then this is going to happen to us. Our rights are going to be stolen. We will be deceived. We will…. you get the point. God does not operate in fear. The God we love gives us a sound mind, a heart that has Jesus to push against the fears that come at us.
2 Timothy 2:7
“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”
I worry about some things. I worry that something will happen and I won’t get to see my kids grow up. I want to see them graduate High School, get married, have successful careers and love Jesus. If that is all I accomplish in my life, I would be a happy man. However, I have no control over it. I can’t determine the length of my days. I hope I live to be 95 with the ability to work and move and have a working mind.
You know what I want more? Whatever needs to happen for the kingdom of God to be built. I trust God’s plan. I trust that the way things should be, they will be. Now that doesn’t mean I don’t think I should eat well and exercise, I just don’t put my trust in those things.
I believe in the gospel. I believe in Jesus. I believe that His plan is going as it is supposed to. It doesn’t mean I don’t think I should vote. It doesn’t mean I don’t think that hidden truths shouldn’t come to life, it just means that I believe the Christians focus should be on spreading the gospel. When we do, everything else happens as it is supposed to.
There is nothing hidden that won’t come to light. I can’t make it happen before the time. I can make the world a better place. I can do so by loving my neighbor better. I can offer a solution to the hurt people are experiencing. I can listen more than I talk. I can stop demonizing the people who have a different view point that me.
Do you want to be more effective in the gospel? Eliminate anything that distracts from your purpose. Anything! The fields are white to harvest, but the laborers are few. Let us do the hard work of disciplining ourselves to speak only the things that become sound doctrine. The stakes are too high to be distracted by anything, even important things. This world will pass away, but our souls will live in eternity somewhere. May we seek to fill heaven.