Elephant in the Room

“That’s what they want you to think,” said Jerry Fletcher (Mel Gibson) explaining his wild eyed, conspiracy theory to an uncomfortable Alice Sutton (Julia Roberts) in the box office success “Conspiracy Theory” (1997). If a conspiracy is only an evil plan formulated by two or more persons in secret, then only our desire of credibility keeps us from labeling anything a conspiracy. A Gallup Poll (May 2023) found 74% of Americans believed in God and 58% believed in a devil. With increasingly fewer believing in supernatural entities, Christians desiring to explain their worldview of a cosmic but predictable chess match between Yahweh and His formidable-but-already-defeated-enemy the devil is increasingly more challenging. “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6:12 KJV).

Scoffers and Shirkers

Outside the Kingdom of God , scoffers attack the credibility and authenticity of Christianity. Inside the Professed Church, shirkers do whatever possible to keep their hope of Heaven, while doing as little as possible to differentiate themselves from the world. “But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken” (Luke 12:45 KJV). Bible prophecy should warn the world to put their house in order, Jesus is coming. The Church must keep their eyes on Jesus and not look back to the flesh pots of Egypt. “Would to God we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full” (Exodus 16:3 KJV). Delaying Christ’s coming means different things to different people.