Deceptions

I relearned something yesterday. I received a letter from a friend and brother disciple in the church, which was, essentially, a great story about life's effect (or affect, I never know which word to use) on our walk with God. When we get tied up with the worries of the world, we forget what we are here for. Anyway, this story, titled "Are You Battling Piranha Minnows?" was sent to my wife and I, and appeared as if it was written by this friend, based on personal experience. But somehow, even though it was a very spiritual letter, intended to encourage Socorro and I, it just didn't sound like my brother in Christ. Something didn't sound quite right. So, in my inevitable fashion, I did a quick word search on the internet, and found the source of that letter. What I received was almost word-for-word what was written, and published, by someone else, and their (purportedly) true story about one of their experiences. When I found this, I re-read the letter I had received in the mail, and confirmed that it did indeed initially lead me to believe it was originated by my friend, even though I now knew better.

Let me tell you something else related to this story. Although probably not intentionally done, I found that the First Principles studies, copy-written by DPI (Discipleship Publication International), were not the brainchild of Kip McKean. (I apologize to all for bringing up old wounds here, as I firmly believe we need to have learned from past, most certainly, but to put that behind us, and move on to goals for God. But bear with me.) When I professed to follow Christ in 1996 I was under the mistaken concept that the 'Boston Movement' was a completely different kind of church from, what was called by our ministry, 'the mainline Church of Christ'. I was presented this series of studies to help melt my heart and toughen my soul, called the First Principles. But I was lead to believe that this was a product of a 'new and great' church which was doing things that the mainline COC was not. I believe I was naive and mislead. What I also found this week on the internet, was another publication, called 'First Steps', which is almost identical to the lessons I was taught in 1996. Like the letter I received yesterday, the original source of these studies was concealed from me. I further confirmed other deceptions when I visited, online, the Long Island Church of Christ. The ONLY difference I could tell from that brief (about 90 minutes) encounter with that church, as far as being different from 'ours', was the concept of 'if it is not in the NT, we don't do it'. All other practices, including evangelism (Mt 28:18-20), appear to be pretty much the same....unlike what I was told over the past 9 years or so.

Now that I have said all that, you are probably wondering what I learned yesterday. Well, I learned that deceptions can sometimes do more harm than good. Although I told you above, and it is the truth, that I do not hold any grudge against my friend, I initially reacted upon discovering the truth differently. I thought, how could he, a Christian, be so deceptive? My heart began to become harder. My pride rose immediately to the top, and I said to myself--"all my lessons are original....why aren't his"? I was upset at first. I had some anger. Deception started that anger. Now, I can't blame him, nor Kip McKean, nor anyone else for my ugly actions. They are MY doing. However, someone else's deceptive practices ignited them.

We are all deceptive in some ways. When we don't follow the instructions of James to confess our sins to one another, we attempt to deceive our friends into thinking that we are righteous, and without sin. Paul tells us differently, and we all really know that. So, why do we try to deceive each other so? These deceptions can cause great harm, not only to ourselves, but to each other. We have been deceived by church leaders in the past (and in the very recent past as well). This has caused many peoples' sins to go unchecked and resulted in loss of faith. Our deceptions, once laid bare to all, cause our brothers and sisters to disrespect us. Divisions occur. Harbored bitterness becomes abundant. Friends are no longer friends.

We need to deal with deception in the way we deal with any sin. Confront it. The church confronted leaders two and a half years ago for their deceptiveness. I wrote back to my friend and confronted him as well. I did it with love, however, as I believe his intentions were honorable. I also believe the intentions of the church leaders were also honorable, however some sin had mingled in there, and lead them away from their original true intentions.

How about you? How honest are you with others? Start with your spouse. Are you deceiving that person in any way? Are you putting on a front, pretending to be a Christian by coming to services, yet during the rest of the week, doing absolutely nothing for God? Are you deceiving your brothers and sisters into believing that your life is relatively free from sin? If you are doing any of this, your deceptions, already known by God (Heb 4:13), will be found out by your friends in due time. What anger and disappointment that is going to cause! It is incumbent upon you to be open and honest about your life to your brothers and sisters. It is also incumbent upon you, to confront your brothers and sisters who you believe are being deceptive. If it is a church leader, a Christian you know, or one you don't know, or even a non-Christian, it is your duty to talk to that person (or persons) and help them see their sin. Once done, you will have averted several other sins---some in your own life (like I did last night and this morning by confronting my friend), and some in theirs (which I probably did as well for my friend).