Cling to What is True

Photo by Yunming Wang

“You are from your father the devil, and you choose to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44 NRSV).

Harsh words here from Jesus to those who were standing against him. However, these words demonstrate how important the truth really is and how one of the primary tactics used by those who oppose God is deception.

Indeed, Jesus warned his disciples that in his absence, prior to his return, “false messiahs and false prophets will rise up . . . so as to deceive, if possible, even God’s chosen ones” (Matthew 24:24 NLT). Likewise, the author of 2 Peter warns the Christ community that false teachers will infiltrate the church and introduce “destructive heresies.” “Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute” (2 Peter 2:1–2 NIV).

2 Timothy 4:3 follows suit: “For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear” (NLT). 

Luke’s portrayal of the apostle Paul in the book of Acts has him saying much the same to the Ephesian church elders: “I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard!” (20:29–31 NIV).

The testimony of Scripture is clear. While truth will win in the end, deception is, in the interim, an utterly effective weapon for God’s enemies to attack God’s good purposes in the world. No one is inherently immune.

But why does it work so well?

By its very nature, deception grabs a hold of just enough truth to make itself convincing. Though there are many forms of deceit, I contend that on the most fundamental level all of it exploits the same basic truth. Namely, that God wants what is good for his creation and has made us, then, to desire what is good. It is this desire that is inevitably seized upon by deceivers in order to deceive (see the serpent’s tactics along these lines in Genesis 3:1–7).

It is for this reason that lies can often seem like truth even to the most knowledgeable and honorable people. The power of a deception is in many cases equivalent to the degree it can be shown to produce some apparent good. But one of the central features that differentiates lies from truth is that such seeming good they promise are ultimately only apparent rather than real. For whatever worth is found in a lie, evil is never far behind.

So how do we defend ourselves from the power of deception? As a starting point, I will propose three precautions that I believe Christians should observe.

First, it is imperative that we never compromise ourselves by consciously embracing or overlooking deception. Under no circumstances can anything smacking of deceit be considered a proper means to a perceived better end. Compromising in this way works to soften our disposition towards lies. And in the end, whether as a result of being deceived or in the act of deception itself, believing that which God deems evil to be in some way good is a dangerous proposition that leads to judgment (see, for example, Genesis 3:8–19; Isaiah 5:20ff.).

Second, as Paul suggests in Ephesians 4:14 and 6:14, to protect ourselves from deceit we need to always be growing in our knowledge of Christ and Scripture; “knowledge” meaning here much more than intellectual comprehension but also the willingness to obey.

However, knowledge of Scripture alone may not be enough. It is crucial that, third, we continue to grow in our knowledge of the world beyond what is explained in the Bible. Note that obtaining this kind of knowledge is arguably an integral part of the human calling prescribed in Scripture and thus grounded in the second precaution above (see Genesis 1:26–28).

Why is this important? Well, for example, it is one thing to know from Scripture that we must seek  justice and righteousness where we are able and that we are to love our neighbors as ourselves. It is quite another to understand how those precepts are carried out in the best possible way in the contemporary world. The goal is not the same thing as the method used to obtain it, and discerning methods commonly moves us beyond the realm of Scripture.   

Possessing an informed understanding of methods is necessary because it is all too easy to have our Scripturally-shaped motivations for how we think and act in the world co-opted by would-be deceivers. Although it is a rather crass expression, the term “useful idiot” describes persons who generally lack this knowledge and are thus easily manipulated by propaganda and other such measures that speak to their well-meaning, heartfelt convictions and who are thereby used to support nefarious aims unaware.

Accordingly, the Christian who loves Jesus and knows a lot about the Bible but much less about all else is still ripe for deception.

Again, avoiding this potential for deceitful exploitation requires that we learn as much as we can about the various dimensions of human life and activity. And this must include the investigation of multiple perspectives from informed sources. Especially in the absence of an existing expertise, leaning too heavily on a single perspective or source will almost assuredly produce a skewed understanding of the matter in question and thus a vulnerability to be deceived.

However paradoxically, the failure to take this third precaution with sufficient seriousness seems to be especially prevalent among those who have spent time in higher education, and the ramifications tend to be more severe. As economist and social theorist Thomas Sowell puts it,

“Of all ignorance, the ignorance of the educated is the most dangerous. Not only are educated people likely to have more influence, they are the last people to suspect that they don’t know what they are talking about when they go outside their narrow fields” (Thomas Sowell, “Ever Wonder Why? And Other Controversial Essays,” 455).

Suffice to say, truly understanding the world around us in all its complexity is a discipline that doesn’t end upon receiving a college or graduate degree, or even becoming a professional academic.

In all, it is my contention that our best defense against deception is multifaceted, taking minimally into account the three precautions I have laid out here. Our enemy, the “father of lies,” is heavily invested in drawing us away from the truth in any way he can. So be on your guard. Cling to what is True.