Wednesday, March 14, 2012
The Biggest Con in History
He was the best pastor of all time. People who came to hear him preach left either mad or changed. No matter where he went people were healed, delivered from oppressing spirits or even raised from the dead. He has become the icon of love, wisdom and perfection. His name was Jesus.
Still, someone on his staff got offended at the way he was running things. Maybe decisions appeared too political or not political enough. Perhaps it was about the way the money was being handled. It could have been just pure pride and selfishness, but one tragic day the devil talked Judas into betraying Jesus. It was the biggest con in history. The devil conned him by making him feel like he knew how things should be run even though Jesus ministry was the most miraculous and world-changing ministry of all times. Judas believed the biggest lie in history. Note to reader: When the devil saw how beautifully that con worked he decided to make it a favorite.
The church is made up of heavenly things and earthly things. The heavenly things include God’s Word, anointed preaching and singing, healings, and godly fellowship. The weakest link in church is the earthly element – humans. There’s no way to have church without imperfect people, so that is often where the devil gets his foot in the door; that slimy life-destroyer gets people to focus on people and their shortcomings. If you are mad at the church because of its humanity, you may have been conned into thinking along the same faulty lines that Judas was thinking.
Although church leaders must be true to biblical doctrines and morals, one can’t expect them to be flawless. Ironically it seems like the devil can talk people into being less tolerant with the church (one of their best allies) than with any other institution in the world. People don’t quit going to hospitals just because doctors make mistakes or because of all the red tape. They don’t change governments because congress is grid-locked, or swear to give up the news because they find out that reporters are biased or politically influenced.
The eventual goal of the devil, the king of cons, is to con people into believing that they are better than all the rest of the people who are trying to live in the church community. They see a few flaws and assume that they are too good for the group – just like Judas. Jesus built in a safety measure to protect us from the con game; He commanded us to love one another. If you see room for improvement and you are on God’s side, then you are the prime candidate to love your fellow church member until God is able to use that love to make them into a better Christian. Cynicism, criticism, betrayal and abandonment are not noble, they are the characteristics of someone who is the victim of the biggest con in history.
As most people know, Judas committed suicide. Evidently he eventually realized that he had been conned. It was too late for him, but it is not too late for the living. If you stopped going to church because you saw flaws in its earthly members, you owe it to yourself to go back and look for the powerful and wonderful blessings that come from the heavenly part. The other eleven disciples saw that Jesus was actually doing things right. Maybe more is right with the church than you were able to see. Or maybe you can get involved and help heaven improve the church. One thing is certain, you don’t want to be conned by the same old trick he has been using ever since he got the first guy in Christian ministry to betray its founder, Jesus Christ.
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