Beware the Bloggers and Other Real Dangers

I’m pretty smart.

Not Albert Einstein smart or anything, but still, I’ve got game.

I laugh when watching the machinations of Harold Hill in the old musical, The Music Man, especially his song “Ya Got Trouble.”

I roll my eyes at the quaint gullibility of the people of River City, imagining I’d never fall as hard as they for a grifter’s schemes.

But the truth is, I can be deceived.

Smart people are not immune to con-artists.

I don’t like to believe that, but God warns me that I can. I trust Him over my own understanding.

You can be deceived, too. Even those of you smarter than I or who have more experience and knowledge of the world.

You see, most of us Christians are just going about our lives with a lot on our minds, much of it good.

False teachers, however, are devoted to one endeavor—spreading deception and profiting from it.

Do you know what happens when someone invests all their energy in one endeavor?

They get really good at it.

There are wolves playing theological shell games with our faith and their sleight of doctrine is inviting, breathtaking, even beautiful, but it’s also deadly.

It’s hard to be a sheep.

Especially when wolves roam the hills, hungry for sheep, hunting lambs, hovering around the flock, haunting any one of us that tarries or wanders from the Shepherd’s voice.

Even harder when the wolves don sheepskin and slip inside the gate looking like every other ram or ewe.

Public awareness campaigns abound about dangers on the Internet. Pornography. Stalking. Identity thieves. Grifters just waiting to con unsuspecting seniors out of gift cards or credit information.

We get a picture in our mind of these dark dangers lurking in cyber space and think we know what we’re watching out for—what to avoid.

Yet, there’s a greater danger and it doesn’t look like darkness, it resembles light.

There is a biblical proverb that warns when words are many, sin is not absent—so, the wise hold their tongues. (Proverbs 10:19)

As a writer, I find that Proverb alarming and yet, informative and kind.

It reminds me of the risk inherent in being a word person. It is a good check on my ambition and on my love of words.

It’s easy for us word people to get carried away and love the sound of our own voices more than a clear delivery of God’s truth.

We dare not be so poetic or so profuse the message gets muddled in the delivery. The gospel needs no adornment.

God’s truth stands on its own without our help and Jesus never did need a good PR person.

We can be tempted, in our eagerness to spread the Word, to be over-eager for readers and use some of the tactics employed by wolves.

The apostle Paul was aware of that snare, so he avoided it.

He was also a word person but acknowledged the danger of relying on words.

He wrote this to the Corinthians: “And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.” 1 Corinthians 2:1-5

It is a wonderful time to be a Christian hungry for knowledge of God’s Word because, with a click, we can access sound teaching, inspired preaching, and no end of wise counsel.

Wisdom shouts in the marketplace for all who will heed her and that includes the Internet. Wisdom is there.

But there are wolves in the mix.

They don’t bare their teeth or let you hear their bellies rumble. They’re actually mesmerizing and the best, lure you in with words that sound like truth-or even better!

They insert their distortions, deceptions, and lies deftly, all the while getting you to look “over here” at their twisted mis-portrayal of ancient, reliable, biblical truth as harmful, damaging, and ill-informed.

Not like their updated, relevant, skinny-jean truth with a newer translation and happier ending.

Be watchful, my friends. We sheep are at risk and even more so, our lambs.

False teachers prey on anyone they can draw into their lies.

The apostles wrote their letters at a notoriously dangerous time for the church. New believers were at risk from Jews who believed they were heretics. From Gentile neighbors willing to turn them into authorities. From the Roman machine willing to imprison them and even send them to the lions.

Not to mention the dangers involved in traveling to spread the gospel including robbers on the roads, shipwrecks, arrests, hunger, thirst, and beatings.

But the danger the apostles wrote to the churches about at length was false teachers—a threat they prioritized above all others.

We can survive if our boat runs aground but we will lose our souls if we shipwreck our faith.

Beware. It may seem counter-intuitive to warn you to proceed with caution around blogs, not really the best way to grow my blog readership, but this is more important than the number of hits on my website.

There are well-intentioned but immature believers careless with God’s Word in their zeal to reach people with their message.

There are lazy writers and misguided speakers and preachers who are deceived.

And there are wolves, intent on our destruction.

My best counsel?

• Read your own Bible. Every day. Read it cover to cover. Pray. Pray more.
• Talk about what the Bible says with the young people in your life. Pray over them. Pray more.
• Put into practice what you read in God’s Word. Read. Apply. Repeat.
• Embed in a fellowship of mature, Bible-believing Christians and be involved in their daily lives. Invite them into yours. Know the person who preaches and the one who teaches—personally.
• Pray for your pastors and teachers. Encourage them. Go to them for counsel before going to the latest famous preacher’s release or before doing the Google search.
• (Although, the blogs, books, and videos of sound teachers can be helpful when a false teacher appears in your pulpit.)
• Abandon your fear of terms like “theology” and “doctrine.” There are much scarier things to fear. Of course, they’re not “the point” of our faith. Jesus is the point. Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Light.
• But, theology (the study of God) and doctrine (a system of belief) are worthy tools, helpful for guarding against false teachers and for keeping us on the Way and not wandering down an alley where we fall prey to—well, wolves.
• When you encounter a new blog post, video, article, or book that promises to shed new light on what previous generations of Christians got wrong, proceed with caution. Arrogance is never a good sign. Maybe, it’s just an overzealous marketing department, but maybe it’s a wolf. Mistakes have been made but sometimes the proposed remedy is also a lie.
• Cultivate a humble but certain confidence in God’s Word and sound doctrine backed by a life lived for Christ marked by sacrificial love of others.

Don’t be afraid. We aren’t helpless.

We have a good shepherd. But listen to Him and be wise.

Beware and teach the next generation to beware as well. We must follow Jesus by fearlessly loving others in His name, but we are sheep among wolves.

The danger is real.

(I wouldn’t risk sounding like an old school marm from the prairie for no good reason. Keep your heart and your head focused on Jesus, my friend!)

In the comments, I’d love it if you would list any online resources to which you turn for biblical truth. What authors or books do you turn to when controversies arise?

Or, list some lines of “new thought” you’re finding confusing people these days. Where do you go for support?

And, in case this post left a heavy feeling on your spirit, here’s 4 minutes of comedy (just for fun) from Michael Jr. called “Are You Oversaved?”

I would love your prayers for my coaching/writing services business. If you have writing/editing/coaching needs, check out my new-ish website or share with a friend! It’s called Take Heart! Coaching and Freelance. I help writers “of a certain age” keep on the writing road and I help pastors get their words on the page.

I'm pretty smart, but smart people can be deceived. Find out how I know that. https://t.co/l1RT2cxj4r #Jesus #truth

— Lori Roeleveld (@lorisroeleveld) January 25, 2023