When Seeing Isn’t Believing

We tend to believe what we see, right? When I was growing up, and maybe this is also accurate for you, I was told, “Believe half of what you hear; believe what you can see.” After all, it’s one thing to question what someone else claims to have experienced, but it’s really hard to argue with what is right in front of you. Our whole lives, we’re trained to respond to what we see before us. “Keep your eye on the ball, son.” “Keep watching for deer!” “Aim carefully.” We’re conditioned from birth to believe what we can see.

It’s one of the most common reasons skeptics question matters of faith. After all, people can claim to sense God all the time, but they can’t see Him. If God cannot be experienced by the 5 senses, how can we know there is a God at all? After all, seeing is believing, right?

Now, a lot of work has been done in the fields of theology and philosophy to demonstrate and, in my opinion, prove the existence of God without primarily relying on the 5 senses. That’s not my purpose here. My concern today isn’t about believing what you cannot see, but rather the danger of believing that which you do see.

We’ve been conditioned to focus on images much more than text. Advertisers know that an image on a website gets a lot more clicks and likes than text alone. We’re driven by the image more than by the text that our brains have to process. Pictures, photos, and graphics grab our fleeting attention spans much faster than fonts and characters. That’s why the most effective way to get a message out on social media isn’t in a video or a story. It’s in a picture.

The problem is that in today’s world, we can doctor images. Remember the whole Kate Middleton Picture fiasco? Before it was revealed that she had cancer, there were so many rumors flying around, everything from “she’s been killed” to “William has had an affair”. This largely occurred because a photo was visibly altered, possibly even entirely fabricated. With the rise of Artificial Intelligence, or AI, we will see much more doctored media as we scroll through our devices. Some of this will be artistic in nature, but much of it will be used to convince people of things that are not true.

We’ve seen so much of this in the past few years in the explosion of conspiracy theories. Images have circulated that supposedly showed Tom Hanks consuming adrenochrome ( a chemical compound that is supposedly used in satanic child sacrifice rituals). We even have a former president selling digital trading cards of himself, doctored by AI to make him look much younger and fitter than he is. “But Adam, it’s artistic license.” By and large, I agree, except when people use those images to claim one candidate is healthier than another.

We really need to question what we see on social media when it comes to Memes. These are often real images that have text superimposed over them. Often the text is used to completely change the context or meaning of the photo; to twist reality.

One instance I won’t forget was during the 2016 election cycle. There was a meme circulating that was a picture of a young Bernie Sanders attending a civil rights protest in the 1960s. The image claimed that Sanders was protesting against African Americans, rather than protesting with them. The claim was quickly debunked here. What frustrated me more than the image was that after the claim was debunked, people clung to what they saw as truth. One lady I followed on social media at the time, when confronted with reality said, “Well, I don’t care what you say. I choose to believe this is the truth because it fits with what I think.” She was so committed to her distaste of Sen. Sanders, that she would willingly embrace a falsehood rather than the truth.

There’s a lot of psychology at play here. A March 2019 article at Scientific American shares how people who believe in conspiracy theories often share certain traits. But why don’t people realize the truth when confronted with it? One answer is quite simple: pride. No one likes admitting they are wrong. Especially after they have staked their reputation and integrity on something they believed to be true. Just like no one likes to admit they miscounted their total at a bake sale, no one likes the idea of coming back around and saying, “Ya know what, even though I was fully convinced, I was wrong.” We don’t want to admit that we were fooled by our senses or that someone took advantage of us. A similar phenomenon is when senior citizens fall victim to scams and don’t report them because they are ashamed that they were victimized.

All this brings me to my most recent run-in with the fakery that is modern social media. Shortly after the horrific collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, I saw this graphic floating around on Facebook and X (FKA Twitter):

The author of the post and image wants you to believe that some cabal or deep-state conspiracy, or maybe even a foreign actor, is trying to destroy our infrastructure. And man, three bridges in one day? That seems like a lot at first glance. Then if you consider the economic impact of closing the Port of Baltimore is something like $150 Million per day, this sounds absolutely catastrophic!

But then I did a little digging. Did you know that in the United States, there are an estimated 600K bridges? Yes, that’s right: six hundred thousand bridges. I’m kind of surprised there weren’t more of them not working that day!

The graphic says “major” bridges. So, let’s consider “major”. What does that mean? The Baltimore Bridge had an estimated 11.5 million vehicles cross each year, carrying a major interstate near our nation’s capital. Definitely a major bridge! But what about the other two? The Valley View bridge carries Interstate 480 in Cleveland over the Cuyahoga River and several roads and train tracks. It carries an estimated 18K vehicles per day, so certainly major. But guess what? It didn’t collapse. A truck caught fire on a road beneath the bridge, so it was temporarily closed out of caution. So, major yes. The same? Definitely not. You can cross the Valley View Bridge today with no problems, besides Cleveland traffic, that is.

That brings us to our final bridge of the day: the Indian River Inlet Bridge in Delaware. What disaster befell this bridge? The ocean breached a sand dune in front of two lanes, closing them while they removed the sand from the lanes of traffic. Clearly a scheme by the deep state (sarcasm, I promise.) And this isn’t what I’d consider a major bridge, although I couldn’t find traffic numbers to back that up (I base my assumption on the size of the bridge and that it isn’t on an interstate or major freight route).

So what I am saying is this: Don’t believe the memes and graphics shared on social media. Check sources. Do your own research. And please, for the love of all things sacred, quit considering watching YouTube or scrolling social media to be doing research! To quote the prophet Hosea, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children” (Hosea 4:6).

Before we dismiss for the day, this may beg the question from skeptics, “Adam, what makes ‘faith’ or religion any different from people making up stories or memes or people believing something that isn’t true?”

Good question! According to Hebrews 11:1, faith is “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” How is that different? Faith, at least the Christian understanding of it, is a firm conviction based on evidence already presented, not a fairytale make-believe. It’s not, as that lady put it, “something I choose to believe” or something I want to be true. We believe that God has already demonstrated His existence and His character through nature, history, and His word. Because we have historical, eyewitness accounts that Jesus rose from the dead, and reliable historical records, we have evidence to base our convictions on. While God cannot be proved using our 5 senses, I do find His existence to be rational and logical based on what I can perceive with my senses and my brain. But this is a different topic for another time.

The truth is worth searching for and fighting for. As a Christian, I believe that all truth is God’s truth. And Jesus said that the truth will set us free. While He was talking about the truth of the Gospel when the concept of truth itself is under attack, so is the Gospel. As a follower of Christ, I believe in truth, and that Christ is the way to know all truth. Today, trust in Him, more than what you see on the internet.

Advent: Passing It On

I promise I’m not a hoarder. Okay, maybe slightly, but I promise you won’t see me in a documentary about hoarding. I’ll be the first to admit that I get too emotionally attached to things, often things of little monetary worth, but of great emotional value.

A few months back, my mother was cleaning out some things at her home and filled a box with old toys and such that were mine. She thought I might want to see if my kids wanted them before she threw them out. It brought me so much joy to see my kids, especially my youngest, Philip, playing and laughing with the same toys that I loved playing with as a little boy. One toy in particular, a little wooden puppy you pull on a string, has been by his side for weeks.

I’m not suggesting you try to save money by re-wrapping your former toys as gifts for your kids this year. However, I am suggesting that there is something special in passing things on, whether it be toys, traditions, or especially our faith.
Deuteronomy 6:4-8 (ESV) says this:
⁴ “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. ⁵ You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. ⁶ And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. ⁷ You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.” 

“Teach diligently” in the original Hebrew conveys a sense of repetition, of going over again and again. It means we don’t just read the Luke 2 account of Jesus’ birth once and expect young people or new Christians to get it. It means that we continue to share the meaning of Christmas with people again and again. It’s a story that bears repeating, that is worthy of contemplating afresh every year, and not just in December.

As I got ready for work the other day, David, my 7-year-old, was the only one awake. He was playing a video game as I was putting on my shoes. I decided it was a perfect time to impart some deep spiritual insight.

“Dave, you know the real meaning of Christmas, right?
“Yeah, Dad. Lights and presents and stuff.”
“Well, that’s part of it, but it’s mostly about Jesus.”
“Oh Yeah! It’s his birthday, right?”
“Well, sort of. It’s when we celebrate him coming to earth and being our savior. He came so that we could go to Heaven when we die and be better people who follow God.”

I’m not gonna lie, I was sort of proud of myself. But any illusion that I had once and for all explained this to Dave was shattered by his next phrase: “Cool. Hey dad! I’m killing zombies!”

“Good talk, Dave. Good talk.” as I rolled my eyes and headed out the door.

David circa 2020 wearing a shirt I had when I was little.

Passing on our faith, like passing on traditions of Christmas, takes more than a single conversation. It means investing in others and telling the story of Jesus again and again. How are you passing on your faith this year? It may mean inviting loved ones to Church or a Christmas Eve service. Maybe taking time to explain to others what Christmas is truly about. The important thing is to do it. Pass it on today!

Prayer:
Father, Thank you for sending your Son to earth, to be our Savior and King. Help me to pass my faith on to others today and throughout this season. May many people come to Jesus. Amen

Advent: In the Beginning

Today is the beginning of Advent, the four Sundays leading up to Christmas. Maybe for you, Advent isn’t something you observe, you’re just doing regular ol’ Christmas things. For others, Advent is serious stuff: the beginning of a new Church year, etc. I tend to fall in between. For me, Advent offers a chance to slow down, pray, contemplate, and celebrate.

Beginnings are a good place to start, so let’s look at John 1:1-2:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God.”

The “Word” here is the Greek Logos, and while it does mean “word”, it conveys something much deeper. If you’ve ever studied ancient philosophy, you may be familiar with the concept. For those not, let me give you a real quick primer.

The Greek philosophers were some of the first to notice that living things, particularly animals, had something that animated them, that gave them their personality and mind. This became to them a concept similar to the idea of a “soul”. One Greek then said there was a universal force (Star Wars fans take note) that controlled everything but was separate from the Greek pantheon of gods.

John took that idea of Logos and applied it to Jesus. He in effect said, yes this Logos does exist but not just as a force, as a person. And so when Jesus is referred to here as “the Word”, it’s not, as some mistakenly believe, calling Jesus the Bible or even referring to God’s Word. John is saying something even deeper than that.

Jesus is not merely the fulfillment of God’s Word, He is the Being (not force) that made the entire universe. Check out verse 3: All things were made through Him, and without Him was not any thing made that was made.

You see, from the start of John’s Gospel, we have this marvelous proclaimation that Jesus is different. He’s not a biological son who was created (as the Mormons believe), a created angel (like the Jehovah’s Witnesses believe), or merely a prophet (as taught by Islam). No, He has always existed and is of the very same essence of God the Father. He is God and He was with God.

This is why Christmas is different than other celebrations. This is what makes Advent different than Ramadan or other feasts or fasts. What we are celebrating is the fulfillment of God’s promise to tabernacle, or dwell, among His people.

Today, take some time to contemplate how Jesus is different than other aspects of the holiday season. Remember that He isn’t just some ornamental trapping, but very God, who loved us enough to come and dwell among us and to offer us salvation.

Prayer:
Jesus, you are God. You are greater than anything else we think of during this time of year. Help me to remain focused on You this Advent and Christmas season. Shine Your light in our darkness. Amen

Avoiding the Appearance of Evil?

1 Thessalonians 5:22 says “Abstain from all appearance of evil.” (KJV). 

I think this verse is perhaps one of the most misunderstood and misused verses in all of the Bible. It’s right up there with “Do not judge” and “Money is the root of all evil”, both of which are incomplete and inaccurate statements. If we’re going to be faithful to the Lord, and obedient to His word, it would behoove us to take a closer look at this verse. 

This verse comes to us at the end of Paul’s first Epistle to the Church at Thessalonica. He is ending his letter with quite a few single-sentence imperatives. Sort of like we do when getting off the phone when we’re on a trip: “Make sure the oven is off. Feed the dog. Take out the trash. Please pick up after yourself.” And because they don’t seem interconnected, we don’t have much context to go with and must assume Paul means exactly what he is saying.  

I’ve heard this verse used for all sorts of reasons.  

• Dating: “You shouldn’t go on a date by yourself, and certainly no trips away, even if it’s separate rooms, because it could appear that you’re sleeping together outside of marriage.” 
•  Going to school dances: “You know, people get too close together during those things, and you don’t want anyone to think that you’re subjecting yourself to temptation.” 
• Restaurants that serve alcohol: “Well, you had best not go there; people will think you’re an alcoholic. Avoid the appearance of evil!” 
• Going to Las Vegas: “All they have there is gambling and strip shows! You better avoid even the suggestion that you’re going to those!” 
• Social Settings: “Hey! Don’t be hanging out with her, she has loose morals. You don’t want people thinking you’re next! Avoid the appearance of evil!” 

Interestingly, I’ve never heard this verse used to admonish people from going to buffets where they could appear to be gluttons, shopping because they could be going into debt, or buying a new car because maybe they were stealing from work. But I digress. 

There are two issues here: 1, What does the Bible actually say, and 2, The Implications of our interpretation. 

So, let’s look at the text first. Paul says to “abstain from all appearance of evil” in the King James Bible, but my ESV says “Abstain from every form of evil.” The NIV says “Reject every kind of evil” and the NLT says “Stay away from every kind of evil”. They are all saying evil is bad. On that, we can agree. But our abstention of it seems to change, right? I mean, the KJV says to abstain not only from evil but from the appearance of it. In other words, “Don’t just avoid evil, don’t even do something that people might think is wrong!” Is this just an example of “modern Bible versions” watering down God’s Word (as I have heard many people say over the years)? 

In order to answer that, we need to get a little nerdy. I’m game if you are. So, we have to remember that the New Testament was written in Greek, not English. When translators were looking at the Greek texts, they had to consider what English words to use. Just like English, some words have multiple meanings. “I gave a five (money) to my five-year-old after he gave me a five (high five).” I pity the poor person who tries to translate that into Spanish, then to Russian.  

The English translators for the KJV were incredibly brilliant men. When they encountered the word ειδος (eidos), they had to decide which translation to use. They used the same words they used for eidos in Luke 3:22 and Luke 9:29, “appearance”. The context of those verses tells us it could only mean “appearance” and not the other senses of the word: Kind (category) or Sight. And you can’t blame them because Paul doesn’t give much context to go on. 

So, let’s play this out a little bit, assuming that this verse means to avoid the appearance of evil. The question immediately becomes “appearing evil to whom?” Surely, it can’t refer to God, because He knows our thoughts and intents even better than we do. And according to 1 Samuel 16:7, God doesn’t focus on the external, He looks to the heart.  

Is it what appears to be evil to the Church? This is a possibility, considering that Paul has just told the Church to “test everything; hold fast to what is good.” So perhaps Paul is saying, “Don’t do what looks bad to you.” That sort of reminds me of James 4:17, where our conscience plays a role in our actions. 

Is it what appears to be evil just to anyone? Is evil in the eye of the beholder? God’s commands are certainly not subjective to personal whims. Unlike much of our “morality” today, God’s Word speaks of right and wrong, good and evil. It would be foolish to subject ourselves to everyone’s subjective opinions, correct? 

And so that is the problem with avoiding the “appearance” of evil. It becomes subjective. It puts us under the yoke of man’s traditions and opinions. It leads to human-made rules that miss the point. It causes us to constantly worry that Bill might misunderstand what we’re doing when we all know that Bill always misunderstands. 

If we take this verse to mean what looks bad, it means that Jesus shouldn’t have been hanging out, alone, with a woman of questionable morals at a Samaritan well one noonday. It also means that Jesus shouldn’t have been eating and drinking with tax collectors and sinners. It also means Jesus probably shouldn’t have turned water into wine. Nor should Jesus have plucked grain on the Sabbath.  

You see, Jesus encountered this same line of thinking from the Pharisees. These were well-meaning people, who because they didn’t want to disobey God, thought they should have rules stricter than God (let’s leave aside for now the idea that we could know better than the Lord… HERESY ALERT). So, to make sure they wouldn’t violate the Sabbath, they said, nope… picking grain is to eat is bad. Because bad company corrupts good morals, nope, you can’t spend time with ungodly people. Because alcohol can be dangerous if misused, anyone who ever consumes it is certainly sinning. 

For these reasons, the overwhelming majority of Bible scholars and translators agree that this verse should be translated as “Abstain from every form [kind] of evil.” And sure, majorities mean nothing when it comes to morality. And this is certainly not a license to do foolish things. If certain things that aren’t sinful cause you to stumble or be tempted, avoid them. Flee from them. Don’t play around and get burned. Avoid what is evil, whatever form it may take. 

But also, don’t allow your faith, and even your ministry, to be controlled by the subjective perspectives of others. Listen to wise counsel. Don’t put yourself in stupid situations. And ask yourself: Is God, who looks at the heart, more concerned with what I look like or what I am doing? 

Lenten Devotional Day 13: Seeking God First?

Oh Lord, you call us to seek your face (Psalm 27:8).

You say that we will find you when we seek you with our whole heart (Jeremiah 29:13).

You tell us to seek you while you may be found (Isaiah 55:6).

And we know that we need you. Our hearts long for you. As the Psalmist says in Psalm 42:1-2, “As the deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.”

And yet, how easily we neglect you.

The last few couple of days, recovering after the nastiness of allergies and such, I have slept as late as I possibly could before needing to leave for work. I have neglected my time with the Lord and instead have rushed out the door. Oh sure, I listened to some worship music on my commute. Even had a moment or two where I felt God’s presence with me as I sang along to worshipful lyrics.

But was I really seeking the living God?

I have to go to work, you see, because I am expected. I have people who depend on me. I also get paid by the hour, so in order to provide well for my family, I need to be in the office. I have things that must be done. And so reason within myself such thoughts, and I am sure that you do as well. We resolve to wake up earlier, despite how we feel. We will improve. We will get better.

And like a gracious Father, I am sure the Lord understands. He at least knows our thoughts. Like a good Father, who just wants to hear from his child, I’m sure the Lord just shrugs his shoulders, feigns a smile, and says I love you, son. We’ll talk later. Que “Cat’s in the Cradle” theme music here.

My question is this: Why, when it comes down to it, do we prioritize everyone and everything over the Lord? Okay, maybe not everything. But it seems like God keeps getting shorted. “He is kind and gracious,” we reason, “so he won’t be offended. But if I miss one more [fill in the blank], they will be upset.” And so we go to the meeting, the card game, the trip, the visit, the thing.

For years, I have known that one of the most hard hitting sermons I could preach would be on the issue of priorities. It’s also one that I would always get the most creative negative feedback on. We’re pretty good at coming up with excuses for why we spend our time the way we do, even when it’s found to be wanting. But here I am, a “professional Christian” realizing the same in my life. Even though 9 days out of 10 I spent a good amount of time in God’s word and in prayer, I STILL find myself excusing God when the schedule gets tight.

I’m short on solutions today, my friend. But this is something I think we need to wrestle with. I’m not telling you to skip work or shirk your responsibilities at home and everywhere else. What I am saying is this: Should not the God of the Universe, the Maker of all things, the One true Triune God, should He not be our greatest responsibility? Should He not be the one who never gets shorted by us? Is it too great a thing to place Him above all?

My heart still needs some shaping, some turning and crafting by the Master, friends. What about you?