Conspiracy Theories

"Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves." - Matthew 10:16 (ESV)

Oh boy, here's a juicy topic. Let's dive head first into this one. Full disclosure: I am not a conspiracy theorist. I generally roll my eyes at them and wonder about their logic, but at the same time I don't want to be arrogant to think that I'm completely enlightened and know all things. The reality is, conspiracy theories are very attractive, sometimes addictive, and ring true to so many people, including those in the Church. So, this is as relevant of a topic to talk about.

A Case for Them:
The main reason conspiracy theories gain tractions is because there's massive distrust in our institutions of power. I totally get that part. Our government, media, Hollywood, corporations and other areas of influence have not earned my trust in any way. For example, the CDC during the pandemic proved to be wrong on a lot of things but yet still tried to be authoritative over people's lives. I’m not saying they're wrong on everything, but when they claim to be true and demand blind trust, but then proven wrong on many things, it causes people to question anything they say. It's no wonder some think up conspiracies like the virus was released for population control, or Fauci released the virus to make money off the vaccines, or Bill Gates wants to micro-chip people. I wouldn't necessarily go that far, but I do think it's healthy to have some degree of distrust in our institutions. Plus, where there's power there's usually money and greed. The Bible says, "The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil." It's certainly possible there are hidden, greedy agendas behind things in this world that we are not aware of.

Concerns About Them:
The biggest concern for me about conspiracy theories is that they provide an alternative point of view that tends to not be credible, yet many still espouse them as fact. In other words, when examined carefully, the theories tend to be disproved or unproven, but many believe them anyway. The "flat earth" conspiracy, for example, can be easily disproven. QAnon has been a dangerous source of recent conspiracies, many can be disproven. One of their theories claims that the Clinton's run a child sex ring at a pizza parlor. Another theory from them claims that Democrats eat babies. Another one predicted Trump would be reinstated as president by now. Some other theories out there (not necessarily from QAnon) include 9/11 inside job, JFK's assassination, Russia didn't actually invade Ukraine, and Joe Biden is actually dead and someone else is posing as him right now. Laura and I met a nice Catholic man who prayed with us for the 40 Days for Life last year, and he believes in the "Chemtrail" conspiracy which claims that the planes and jets we see in the sky release chemicals into the atmosphere to control our minds. We thought that was strange, but we enjoyed putting that aside and praying with him.

I'm not saying all conspiracy theories are wrong. Some over time may prove to be right. For example, it was initially considered a conspiracy to think that the COVID virus came from a lab, but that turned out to be generally accepted as correct. And others are maybe not proven yet but are still suspicious, like the Jeffrey Epstein "suicide", or the 2020 election fraud allegations. I wouldn't be surprised if it turns out there was wide-spread voter fraud from the Democrats during the 2020 election that was enough to overturn the election, but I haven't seen enough to be convinced of it. Seems to me to be just a theory at this point; not proven.

My Challenge For You:

• Guard your heart.

  • Proverbs 4:23 says, "Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life." It's very easy to get sucked into worldly spirits and not realize it — like a political spirit, or spirit of pride, or a spirit of deception. Pray that God would examine your heart and show you anything that's off that needs repentance.

• Love God with your mind.

  • Jesus said in Matthew 22:37, "You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind." What I mean by loving God with your mind is, God gave us a brain and it's our responsibility to steward it as best we can. That means we don't believe everything we hear, but we are logical and sensible about the issues of life. We open ourselves up to other points of view. We pray. We do some research and digging like the Bereans did in Acts 17. We can't know everything, but God can help us navigate areas of confusion in our lives. As Paul said in Colossians 2:3-4a, "In him (Christ) lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I am telling you this so no one will deceive you..."

• Steward the Gospel.

  • Another reason why it's important to guard our minds and hearts is because God calls us to steward the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul said in 2 Cor 5:11, "Because we understand our fearful responsibility to the Lord, we work hard to persuade others." We are entrusted with the role of sharing the most important news ever to the world. But the thing is, people need to trust us in order to receive that message! My question is simply this: How can the world trust us with the Gospel if we propagate unproven theories?

• Keep your attention on God and his word.

  • Far too often believers get sidetracked from God's word and doing what he says to do. Conspiracy theories don't help. They can be a big distraction and strain our attention from fully following Christ. As Paul wrote in 2 Tim 2:15, "Work hard so you can present yourself to God and receive his approval. Be a good worker, one who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly explains the word of truth."

• Honor all people.

  • Paul wrote in Romans 12:10, "Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other." You will encounter brothers and sisters in Christ that think differently than you in this area. We should be open to dialogue and correction about conspiracy theories. But in the end, we may still disagree, so we need to honor people no matter what. Remember, honor does not mean agreement.

• If you sense something suspicious out there in the world, pray.

  • Instead of blindly trusting theories, pray that God's truth would prevail. Pray that any deception and evil motive would be exposed in the light for what it is. Pray that the enemy’s scheme’s would not prevail.

• Remember God is still on the throne.

  • Conspiracy theories often instill fear in the hearts of people, but we must always remember that God is still on the throne and is never caught off guard by what’s going on in the world. As believers/followers of Jesus, we will be more than ok. He is our refuge and strength.