03/28/2024
Big Foot/Sasquatch, QAnon, Aliens, Predictive Programming, Cabal/The Deep State, Chemtrails, All disease is caused by trauma, etc. đ„”
If youâve been on social media for any amount of time, you are sure to have been inundated with conspiracy theories at some point. Many times, these might seem like thoughtless pieces of entertainment. Other times, they might become things that deeply matter to someone. Regardless of the conspiracy theory, Christians must be extremely careful in the information they engage with. Why? Because our testimony matters.
Mary Jo Sharp says it this way: âAnything a follower of Christ chooses to pass along in person or on social media should first be processed through the question, âHow will this affect my ability to share the good news of Jesus Christ?ââ
If you engage with and share conspiracy theories with others, whether in person or online, do you think about the impact of what you are sharing will have on the person listening? That it could stir up fear and anxiety for them? That it could potentially hurt your witness and credibility?
You may be wondering why I care so deeply about this. Well, Iâve been sucked into my fair share of conspiracy theories over the years.
2020 was a year that made people extremely suspicious and willing to question anything. And in some instances, that was completely warranted! I understand that this is a nuanced conversation. There is a difference between believing and sharing something not based on any evidence whatsoever or out of fear versus learning new information about something and making a different decision based on that information. But in the fall of 2020, I got swept into the world of QAnon because of people who claimed to be Christians on Instagram sharing about it. My flesh loved the idea of a world in which Joe Biden wouldnât be President. My sinful nature wanted to put my hope in the idea that there were things happening behind the scenes to take out the âbad guysâ and that the âgood guysâ would be reinstated. When Inauguration Day came and went and Joe Biden actually became President of the United States, I was legitimately SHOCKED because I was so saturated in this garbage. I had believed the people spewing these lies simply because they bared the name of âChristianâ and because what they shared sounded good to my itching ears. They were âprophesyingâ things to encourage Christians to put their hope in their lies and in a man instead of in Christ. THIS IS WHY WHAT WE SHARE AS CHRISTIANS MATTERS! I praise God that there were real, Biblical Christians on the internet exposing these horrible lies and that God used them to open my eyes to the truth.
As time passed, I was still exposed to conspiracy theories frequently, through social media and people in real life, to the point where anytime there was a tragedy like a school shooting, the immediate thought wasnât about the victims and their families, but was rather about the government being behind it to push gun restriction agendas. People speculated if there were actually any victims or if it was all just staged. People said because the shooter was this particular age and there was this particular amount of victims, it was a âsignâ of something nefarious. I soon developed a similar spirit and said such things in the immediate aftermath of such tragedies. It still disgusts me to think about. If I ever shared something like this in your presence or through something I shared online, I am so very sorry and have since repented of this--please forgive me!
All of this to say, none of us is immune to being swept into this mess. I previously viewed myself as someone who was very discerning, but I too easily trusted friends swept up in this themselves that shared things like this with me and âChristiansâ online over the Truth (I am not blaming these people for my actions, just sharing how prevalent this has become amongst Christians and why believers need to be so careful)! The only way to continue to stand firm in Godâs Truth is to be reading His Word. Discernment comes from knowing His Word and testing everything against it--NOT the other way around! We never try to fit the Bible into things, but rather see if the thing holds up to our source of Truth as a whole. NO cherry-picking allowed! If we are not regularly reading our Bibles and calling out lies when we see them, we can be deceived by such worldly things that are not of God.
In conclusion, human beings were not made to know every single thing that happens in this world. Could some of the popular conspiracy theories that exist have some validity to them? Sure, but I would argue that most have little to no validity and that by going down all of the rabbit trails and constantly discussing these theories, we are taking our attention off of Christ and hurting our witness to unbelievers (and potentially even leading believers astray)! We can trust that if God wants us to know things, He will expose them. He holds all things together in His hands and nothing happens in this world that is outside of His plans, that is without His knowledge, or that is beyond His sovereignty. Dear Christian, I urge you to put your hope in Christ alone, and not in any man or any theory. We can trust in God ALWAYS and for EVERYTHING!
âThe kingâs heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; He turns it wherever He will.â -Proverbs 21:1
