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Thursday, September 13, 2018

Ephesians 5: Do not be deceived

Social media is a funny thing.  It can be a great way to stay connected to people you haven't seen since high school or to share photos of the kids and grandkids with family and friends.  We can look at real time news articles or stories.  But in the last two years, we have seen a phenomenon affect social media that has been interesting to watch: Fake News.  

We have had many publications pop up as satirical.  We have had many articles on Facebook released in an effort to intentionally deceive and cause discourse.  Unfortunately it is working and has been extremely successful in causing division in our country.  The success of the deception does not just fall on the shoulders of the newsmakers or those that are releasing false information as a publicity stunt.  The success of the deception falls on the shoulders of the ones that have allowed themselves to be deceived.  What should we do with something we read on social media or that we hear on the news?  We go and verify the story.  We compare other publications to determine whether they are printing the same thing the same way with the same interpretation.  Or if we know it, we can go directly to the source to determine the truth or fallacy in the story we read.  

Ephesians 5:6  Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.

Paul said to not LET anyone deceive you.  Gossip is a way to spread fake news and we all know what the word says about those who participate in gossip.  Did you ever play the old telephone game when you were young?  A group of kids would line up in a line and the first one would whisper something to the second one and the second would repeat what he or she was told to the next one, and so on.  By the time the "secret" reached the end of the line it would rarely resemble what the first child had actually said.  That is what happens when we gossip and that is what happens when we read fake news.  

Christians are really good at participating in gossip and fake news.  Except we put it in the wrapper labeled "Prayer Request."  It could look something like this:  Mary approaches you before the Sunday morning service and says, "Poor Susie...we need to pray for her and for Tom and their marriage.  I saw Tom at lunch with a woman that wasn't Susie.  I just don't know what Susie is going to do."  When the woman Mary saw at lunch with Tom was his sister visiting from out of state.  

Without knowing the situation at hand, Mary should not have said anything to anyone.  This might be an extreme example, but it has happened before.  We always should go to our source to determine the truth when the enemy is trying to deceive us or plant something in our minds that we know to be in direct conflict with the Word of God.  Our source is the word of God, it is Jesus Christ.  Jesus is THE way THE truth, and THE life.  He can bring light to any situation and reveal deception while driving darkness away.  Paul went on to say this:


Ephesians 5:7-8  Therefore do not be partakers with them.  (8)  For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.

Partakers means in the Greek to be a "co-participant" or in other words, someone who is actively being a part of the deception.  We are not to even entertain those that willfully participate in deception.  We have a responsibility to go to our source to determine the truth. We have talked about this concept a little bit in conquering the thoughts of the enemy in our minds. The concept is the same here.  When we hear something the enemy tells us or thinks something we know does not line up with what God says about us, then we go to the Word of God to determine what the truth is about that thing.  The only way to dispel darkness is to shine a light into it.  The only way to dispel a lie is to bring the truth.  Victory over the enemy cannot come if we are not willing to learn what the Word of God says about us or the situations we find ourselves in from time to time.  We cannot allow deception to take root within our hearts or minds because we are children of light.  We should walk in the light...and in the light darkness does not and cannot exist.  


1 Thessalonians 5:5-6  You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness.  (6)  Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober.



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