"Remember . . . ."

Remember . . .

A Short Story by Gary L. Clendenon (c) 2013

Introduction: The following short story is the result of a dream I had. I made my best effort to be faithful to the dream and so, in a way, don't feel total ownership of the story or the ideas presented in the story. It is what it is. Make of it what you will!

I was outside. Walking somewhere. Green grass, sunshine, birds singing. That's all I remember. That's the most I can recall as I attempt to piece together what happened.

Some noises caught my attention as I walked: other people briskly walking—important people on a mission. Noises in the background of important machinery—high tech machinery, also suggesting important people were afoot.

Curious, I began to turn my head back to the right to see what was happening. At that split second, my life went into slow motion as I simultaneously heard and felt a giant shock wave impact my head and body. It felt like I had been shot by a cannon, I thought—in no specific place, but everywhere at once.

As I slowly feel to the ground—completely incapacitated, my line of sight slowly spiraling down, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a military man in a full dress green uniform pass by me headed toward a nondescript office building. It seems others were following him, perhaps many, but I only saw the General before I hit the ground.

Lying there on the ground, immobilized—head pounding like a bass drum, I heard one sound grow louder than the rest. It was a hi-tech whirring sound coming towards me from above and behind me. Not understanding what was happening and unable to move, a feeling of terror came over me as the sound came closer and closer. Out of the corner of my eye, just before I forced my eyes shut, I saw a hovering robot descending toward me. It looked like the head of WALL-E with its giant, friendly eyes, but I was completely enveloped in utter terror believing that this thing was responsible for my sudden shock, pain, and confusion.

Descending into unconsciousness, the last thing I remembered was this airborne robot flying just above and in front of my face. Hovering. Somehow checking me out like a rescue dog sniffing a discovered body. It took every ounce of energy I had to not open my eyes. I waited in terror—expecting the final blow. And then, I was gone.

[An undetermined amount of time passes]

As I slowly came to, I awoke first to loud noises and very bright lights. They weren't, actually, but due to my condition, that is how I perceived the world I was coming around to. My head was throbbing in pain and every muscle in my body joined the chorus of pounding pain. I felt like I used to feel after a game of tackle football, only many times worse: every square inch of my body beat up and abused.

I lay in a large room somewhere—a sterile place with quiet muzak playing somewhere in the distance. I could hear someone near me occupied with something that kept them busy while I lay there. He hummed an unrecognized tune as I slowly continued to awake to my surroundings. With some effort, I peeked out of one eye and then the other. Finally, I was able to flutter both eyes open at the same time.

“Ah, there you are!” said the friendly voice of the man who had been humming as he turned and rolled over to me on his mobile stool. He explained that he was a doctor and I nodded yes or no as he went through the medical protocol for checking me out.

He was a balding, late-middle-aged man with short-cut hair on the sides. He was tall and chunky. Strong nose. Friendly face. He explained that he was a specialist in helping people like me go through the recovery process and not to worry, in a day or so, I would be back to normal.

Having finished his medical protocols, the doctor—taking a more casual, humorous tone—said to me, “So, you must be one of them—to receive such special treatment, or was it just a case of 'wrong place—wrong time'?”

Sitting up, I found my voice and shakily said, “If by 'one of them' you mean 'anti-government rebels', then no,” I weakly smiled. “If by 'one of them' you mean 'crazy, conspiracy behind every bush', then I'd probably confess to that,” I quietly chuckled. “If by 'one of them' you mean 'a Sabbath-keeper', then yes, I am. Guilty as charged.”

His voice and tone grew serious and sad as he sighed, “Ah, Shabbat.” After a moment of hesitant silence, he looked around as if to see if anyone was listening and slid his stool closer to me, then said in an intimate, vulnerable voice, “I miss Shabbat.” Another heavy sigh. “I miss my family. Such good times we had on Shabbat. Watching my wife light the Shabbat candles and then hearing her say the Shabbat Blessing. Going to the synagogue. Listening to the Torah. 'Remember the Sabbath day....' Why'd they have to go and make such a big deal about that? I do. I do remember.”

A door abruptly opened and the doctor was called out. As he left the room, he turned to me with a kind smile and quietly said, “Don't ever forget!”

As I sat in silence waiting, I pondered his words through the painful, dizzy haze that was my mental state until some time later, the same door the doctor had gone out, opened again. A soldier, dressed in fatigues, was carrying something odd in his hands. As he walked by me and then exited out another door to my left, I gasped, then fainted at the horrible realization of what I had seen. It was the doctor's head—wrapped in clear, sterile plastic.

“Remembering” was against the Law.

"THE VOICE: How Amy Grant Saved my Theology!" (Grace Note #86)

 

By Gary L. Clendenon, April 6, 2020

(Disclaimer: Unless otherwise stated, the following words are my own personal thoughts, opinions, and beliefs.)

I went as a Student Missionary to Indonesia in 1981. Before I left, I was trained, along with others, to do what missionaries do: Spread the Gospel of the Love of GOD shown through the Gift of GOD’s son, Jesus Christ! We were taking part in fulfilling the Gospel Commission given by Jesus to “go and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19) “and then the end will come” (Matt. 24:14).

It was taught from these texts that Jesus’ return was dependent on us and all Christians to get out the name and story of Jesus to everyone in the whole world or they would be lost! These ideas were reinforced with Jesus’ own words “I am the way . . . No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6) and Acts 4:12: “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” (emphasis mine)

Naturally, this teaching (1), as it still does, created quite a motivation in most Christians to get the word out by whatever means necessary—including the ultimate sacrifice of one’s life! It inspired every missionary to “Go”, and they/we went! We felt good that we went because we were accepting Jesus’ Holy Calling and that was exciting!

I and four other young men were stationed in a large city where we taught Conversation classes from which we would invite our students to Bible classes and religious programs once a week. Halfway through the year, we had a vacation which we took to a village hundreds of miles away from our city. In order to get to this village, we flew, then we drove on paved roads, then unpaved roads, and finally, we hiked for a whole day on a trail before arriving at our destination.

Being at this village was an interesting cognitive experience for us. As we had grown up in the Church on “missionary stories” and we had prepared and studied to live in Indonesia, for the first time we felt that the pictures in our minds of what it looked like to be a missionary matched up with where we were! Being in the city didn’t do that for us, but this village was a perfect match for what we thought we had prepared for somehow! It felt “just right”. And yet, the reality of our missionary experience in the city was way different than our expectation.

This trip to a secluded village in the mountains of Indonesia triggered some other cognitive challenges for us. We had a painful, challenging thought that begin to gnaw at our minds. We had been to one of the most secluded places on the planet and begin to think of all the other secluded places on the planet and the feasibility of reaching all those places with “The Gospel”. The thought began to become more clear, and the further we pondered it, we came to the startling conclusion that it was not humanly possible to get the Gospel to every person of “every tribe, nation, people, and language”!

This was an earth-shaking bit of knowledge to process. It created a lot of cognitive dissonance in our minds. It was not humanly possible to do the job we were trained and set out to do! How could this be? Was the Bible wrong? Were we wrong? What were we missing? What would happen to those who fell through the cracks and didn’t hear the name of Jesus? How would they be judged? It wasn’t their fault they didn’t know Jesus!

With all these questions colliding in my head after we returned back home to the city, I headed to my bedroom. One of the other teachers had loaned me a cassette tape of Amy Grant’s 1977 debut album. I was listening to this cassette when Amy’s words arrested my attention. It was the song “Old Man’s Rubble” and I rewound the cassette and listened again as I heard these words:

“Deep within you there’s a spiritual battle. There’s a voice of the darkness and a voice of the light. And just by listening you’ve made a decision, ‘cause the voice you hear is gonna win the fight!” (2)

You know that “Aha moment” when the Heavens open up and a light shines down and charges up the light bulb above your head until it flashes and then you know—you just absolutely know—that you’ve been given a Word of Knowledge from above. Ya, it was like that for me!

Amy Grant’s words contained the answers to all those questions I had been chewing on unsuccessfully. Every person that ever lived in every corner of the globe—no matter how remote—was given the same opportunity: to listen to or reject the Voice of Light within them. That was GOD speaking to them through the Spirit of GOD. Everyone would hear that Voice and they would ultimately be judged on how well they listened and followed Its leading.

Next, I compared my “Aha” to those earlier Bible texts I cited. Did they match up? Was Jesus still the only Way? Yes, only Jesus and His sacrificial blood could make it possible for the unreached soul to be saved—even if that soul never heard of or called upon the name of Jesus! When that soul meets Jesus, they will recognize His voice as The Voice they chose to listen to and follow. (3)

If this was true, then some other things must not be true. The idea that if someone didn’t hear the name of Jesus, and call upon His name, they couldn’t be saved: not true. Therefore, my reaching that unreached soul was not an “eternal life” matter. They could be saved even if I didn’t get to them! What a relief! What a burden was lifted from my soul as the weight of the world’s lost souls were removed from my shoulders!

It’s literally a crying shame all of the damage that has been done by Christians in Jesus’ name to our fellow humans in the name of this misunderstood teaching: “Crusades”, banishment, judgment, shaming, torture, executions, forced confessions, ostracizing, condemnation, manipulation, peer pressure, sweet talking, finger pointing, arm-twisting, behavior control, and most of all, outright hellish fear of eternal damnation!

For thousands of years we Christians have been trying to scare people into the Kingdom of GOD—by whatever means necessary! These methods we’ve been using are NOT “The Gospel”! The word “Gospel”, literally translated means “Good News”! I challenge you to find any good news in these completely negative, abusive—one could even go so far as to say “evil”—methods!

What, then, is the “Good News”? Let’s look at the most famous text in the Bible: John 3:16. In it Jesus says:

“For God so loved the world...” Does a God who loves sound like good news to you? A further study of the Bible reveals that there are numerous verses clarify, reinforcing, and expounding upon these words. It can be said without dispute that the central theme of the whole Bible is summed up in these words. (4) It would be hard to argue that being loved by one’s Creator is not good news!

“...that he gave his one and only son...” People who love, give gifts to those whom they love. GOD’s gift to humanity was a personal representation of the Godhead wrapped into a person humans could see, touch, and listen to. God wanted to be “with us”, one of us, so that we could understand the Godhead better and answer those most important philosophical questions: “Who am I?” “Why am I here?”

“...that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” There were two parts to the gift of GOD’s son. The 2nd part was Jesus’ gift of His death—taking our place for the required Death Penalty that hung over our heads. Jesus stated His purpose for coming in John 10:10: “I have come in order that you might have life—life in all its fullness.” Not only a fully actualized life now, but life forever with the GODhead. Is there any doubt as to why the Gospel is called “Good News”?? Perfect Love, Gifts, and a Full Life now and forever with our Creator? C’mon!

Most people stop at verse 16 of John 3, but I love the fact that Jesus keeps going (there were no verses back in Jesus’ day). Notice what He says next: “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” Think about this, please! Why would Jesus say such a thing? I am arguing that He wouldn’t have said these words if there was not an idea floating around somewhere that GOD’s purpose was “to condemn the world” and Jesus wanted to make sure that all humanity understood this was not the Truth! As I already alluded to, this practice of condemnation is sadly very common now among Christians; it seems to be one of GOD’s enemy’s favorite deceptions! (5)

So, the “Good News” of the Gospel is: GOD’s Perfect Un-condemning Love, The Gift of Jesus and His Teachings, The Gift of Jesus Death—saving us into a Full Life now and then forever with our Creator? If so, then we Christians need to get back to “The Gospel” meaning what it’s supposed to mean—“Good News”—and get rid of all the baggage we have added to what used to be “Good News”. No more condemnation or anything even remotely related to that! If there is ever meant to be a time of condemnation, rest assured that that will still not be our job as Christians. It will be GOD’s job and it will be done in such a loving manner that whomever is being “condemned” will pronounce the judgment right and fair!

Understanding the lesson learned from Amy Grant’s song completely changed my perspective on what in Christian circles is called “Evangelism”. This is the fancy word for “doing whatever it takes to get someone into the Kingdom of GOD”. Only now the false urgency is gone for me—it’s not life or death. Is it still important? Absolutely! Jesus asked us to share the “Good News” all around the world. And here’s the thing about good news, it almost spreads itself! If you are excited about something or someone, you can’t wait to tell everyone you meet. I believe that’s what “Evangelism” ought to look like—people sharing their good news with others.

One Christmas a few years back, I noticed something about the Angel appearing to the Shepherds with the news of Jesus’ birth. Check this out: “...the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.” (Luke 2:10-11, emphasis mine) Now, check out the word “Evangelism”. If you look closely, the word “angel” is in the middle of that word! It was then that I came to a new understanding of the word “Evangelism”. Now I understand “Ev-angel-ism” to be “The Message of the Angel”: “Don’t be afraid. I bring you good news (The Gospel). This news will cause you great joy. You have a Savior!”

Given these ideas, here are some questions you might think about for your own personal evangelism and the evangelistic program of your church. 1. “Is what I/we am/are bringing to people being brought and received in a Spirit of Fear or a Spirit of Love?” 2. “Is what I/we am/are bringing to people being shared with the excitement of “Good News” that causes “Great Joy” or with the droll seriousness of a funeral parlor?

Personally, I believe the Power of our witness as individuals and as churches has been lost because we’ve lost sight of the Angel’s message. Instead we tend to bring the Message of GOD with fear, seriousness, and a complete lack of any sign of Joy! And we wonder why our churches are shrinking and our children are leaving! I would even go so far as to say that unless we change our perspective and attitudes about evangelism, we, and the people around us, might be better off if we take a break from what we call “Evangelism” and spend some time praying the prayer of David “Restore to me the Joy of your salvation.” (Psalms 51:12)

If the beliefs I derived from Amy Grant’s words are true, then there is one more popular Christian teaching that must also not be true: the belief I was raised with and taught that “there is a only a small, limited number of people that end up being saved” (at one time that number was 144,000 only). If this is not true, then my understanding and beliefs about who would be saved needed to grow beyond 144,000, beyond the “elect remnant” of my denomination, and most shockingly of all, beyond the confines of my own Christian religion!

If the salvation of people who never hear the name of Jesus or get a chance to know Him and His Teachings fully is to be determined by whether they consistently chose to listen to GOD’s Voice through the Holy Spirit, then that must mean that there will be people outside of my denomination that will be saved. Further out, it means that there will be people of other religions that will be saved. And lastly, it must mean that people of no religion or belief system will be saved!

Have you ever had this thought: “There could even be Atheists in Heaven!” Think about that for a while! I love how SDA Pastor John McLarty puts this idea: “Many who call themselves nonbelievers will discover, when all the misunderstandings have been swept away, that God is precisely the ideal to whom they devoted their lives. ....many who are not Christian will be saved at last.” (6)

I was surprised to find out that this is similar to what the Ultimate “You need Jesus” Evangelist of my lifetime—Billy Graham—believed, and also, like me, grew to believe over time:

"I used to play God, but I can’t do that anymore. I used to believe that pagans in far-off countries were lost–were going to hell–if they did not have the gospel of Jesus Christ preached to them. I no longer believe that. I believe that there are other ways of recognizing the existence of God–through nature, for instance–and plenty of other opportunities, therefore, of saying ‘yes’ to God.” - Billy Graham, 1978

A while back I came across the perfect parable that really spoke to me regarding all these ideas:

A person dies and shows up at the pearly gates. St. Peter meets them and then gives them a tour of Heaven, showing them everything in great detail. After the tour is over, St. Peter asks if they have any questions, and the person says “Yes, just one: You gave me a very complete tour of everything here in Heaven, but I couldn’t help noticing that you didn’t show me what is behind that wall over there!” St. Peter leans over and in a hushed voice says, “Oh, behind that wall? Those are the Adventists. They think they’re the only ones here!”

It’s been 38 years since I first encountered these thoughts, and the thoughts that followed have taken numerous years to process and sort through to get where I am today. For you, this might be your first encounter with thoughts like these, so I just ask to think about them, ponder them, mull them over, compare them with your understanding of Scripture, Prophecy, and Reality. I’m not trying to change your Theology—well maybe a little bit—but mostly I just wanted to share the “Good News” and Joy of what I have come to believe with you: “Outside of a real relationship with Jesus Christ, it is whether or not you chose to listen to the Voice of GOD that determines whether or not you will be saved!”

Naturally, I encourage you to get to know that Voice, as I slowly am, and Listen well!

Footnotes:

1. I just learned this teaching has a name. It’s called “Restrictivism” or “Particularism”.

(http://home.snu.edu/~hculbert/heathen.htm)

2. “Old Man’s Rubble” on Amy Grant, 1977, Written by Brown Bannister.

3. I did not realize it at the time, but my beliefs had just moved from “Restrictivism” to “Inclusivism”.

(http://home.snu.edu/~hculbert/heathen.htm)

4. Ellen White wrote a comprehensive history of the Earth’s 6,000+ year history in relationship to GOD. It took up 5 books with a total of over 3,500 pages. The first three words in the first book and the last three words of the last book are exactly the same: “God is Love”. Throughout all her writings, White confirmed that Love was the primary message of the Bible and thus, also, her own writings.

5. Paul affirms that this message is legitimate and important to the Christian by re-emphasizing it again: “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1, emphasis mine.)

6. John Thomas McLarty, Adventist Spirituality for Thinkers and Seekers, p. 87.

The Prodigal Brother

Written by Gary L. Clendenon

Inspired by a sermon by Pastor Kevin Hughes at Evergreen Christian Center, November 27, 2011.

GOD's grace isn't fair! In Jesus' story of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32), when the Younger Brother returns and is received with open arms, the Older Brother is upset—Jesus even says "angry"! The Older Brother was struggling with the issue of "Fairness". What his Father had done for the Younger Brother wasn't fair! It's true! Judged by the standards of fairness, it wasn't fair. The Younger Brother did not deserve that special treatment! He had had his chance and he blew it in reckless living.

Maybe you too, like me, relate more to the Older Brother than the Younger Brother. We have worked hard all our lives: Doing the right things. Following all the rules. Denying ourselves over and over again. Going the extra mile to make sure everything has been done the right way. We have worked very hard to be good, to be righteous, because we understood that is was important, maybe even our Eternal Life counted on it!

I have struggled with this story most of my life. And with the "Thief on the Cross". And "Deathbed Conversions". How is it fair that they get to go out and live a wild life and party and have all that fun and then, at the last second, coming sliding in to Home Plate—clearly “Out”—and GOD pronounces, with a twinkle in His eye and a pause for dramatic effect, "SAFE"! That is just so "Way NOT Fair"!! They were clearly out and everyone watching knows it!!

What's going on here? I see two answers to that question. The first answer is that whether by getting stuck in a childhood understanding of what GOD wants from us and not maturing spiritually or by getting stuck by a personality that favors and feels more comfortable in this line of thinking, either way, we, along with the "Older Brother", have missed something important about this God: GOD values and cherishes above anything that we can do or say—or not do or say—the love of our hearts.

Yes, GOD wants us to do the right things and highly values our self-sacrificing service to Him, BUT, and it's a big but, more than anything He wants us to serve Him and Others because we want to—because we love to, not because we have to! As Paul so eloquently points out in I Corinthians Chapter 13, "If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love." (The Message Bible)

Those of us in this "Older Brother" mentality might be wise to learn to turn our focus to GOD's love and what that looks like. For too long we have memorized and categorized all the rules and regulations of GOD's Kingdom. We have found comfort and shelter in their structure, peace and safety in their boundaries, but we have put the cart before the horse!

We must understand this: Although rules and regulations have their place and their purpose, the Number One Rule is LOVE. GOD values loving relationships more than rules. Don't get me wrong, the rules still matter, but matter in the context of a loving relationship.

Evidence for this can be found in the somewhat confusing story of King David. He coveted another man's wife, committed adultery with her, attempted to create a lie to cover up their affair, then had her husband killed when he wouldn't go along with the lie. Four of the big 10 Commandments broken in just that one story!! And yet, and this is what gets us "Older Brother" types, he was declared to be "a man after God's own heart". What??

Either GOD's heart is really messed up, or there is something else going on here as Samuel shows us when he quoted what GOD said to him about David, "The LORD doesn't see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." (I Samuel 16:7)  The heart. When David's heart was shown terribleness of his sin, he instantly recognized it and repented. This is what made David a man after God's own heart.

We are blessed to see evidence of David's repentance in the psalm he wrote after GOD spoke to him through the prophet Nathan, and in this most eloquent psalm we fellow sinners can cry out with David these most famous words, “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.” (Psalms 51:10-12, KJV).

Not only was David a man after GOD's own heart, but even further evidence that David understood GOD's heart can be found in that same psalm, verses 16 & 17: "Offerings and sacrifices are not what you want. The way to please you is to feel sorrow deep in our hearts." (CEV)  David understood and expressed that GOD values our hearts much more than our behaviors. That who we are is more important than what we do.

If the Older Brother in the story of the "Prodigal Son" had understood this, he likely would have responded differently to his Younger Brother's return. Yet, the fact that he responded in the way that he did shows us that the Older Brother's heart was just as far from his father's as his brother's. Although the outward behavior was much different, on the inside both brothers proved to be "Prodigals".

Maybe you, like me, have felt the self-righteous indignation of the Older Brother against the unfair treatment of the "lost" son and believed that he was right in his anger. It wasn't fair. I admit to relating just a bit too strongly to the Older Brother, but thankfully, now I have a better understanding.

There is a reason why there are two brothers in this story entitled "The Prodigal Son". At some point in our lives, we must all realize that whether we are the "Older" or the "Younger", the "Lost" or the "Saved", the "Good" or the "Bad", the "Sinner" or the "Saint", we all are, in our own way, prodigals—far from the Father's heart.

The second answer to my original question "What's going on here?" can be found in the fact that the Older Brother was not aware of and therefore did not understand his father's overall plan. Or did he? He had to know that his father was watching for the lost son's return. It is possible that seeing his father waiting for his Younger Son's return only fueled the Older Brother's anger more.

He was already angry that his brother got his inheritance early and was away having fun while he was stuck at home working. And then to see his father pining away after his lost son. The Older Brother had probably run through the scenario in his mind—what happens if my brother comes back? How will father receive him? Chances are that he was already suspecting that his father would go all soft on him and accept him back as if nothing had ever happened!

Sure enough—that is exactly what happened! The possibility that the Older Brother had imagined had come true. If it happened that way, it would help us even more understand his anger. The Older Brother had had a pre-meditated resentment that he had been stewing on and now it had come to pass. Now, he could say, "I knew this would happen!" and be "justified" in his anger. Nice how that works out, isn't it!

His obsession with fairness led to resentment, which led to anger. This was a choice that he made. It was not a choice that followed his father's heart. As an "Older Brother" type myself, I am willing to admit that I have been jealous of those who have gone astray and wished destruction on those who have acted in evil ways. It is so much easier to do that than to love our enemies! They don't deserve love!

Here is where we get back to the misunderstanding of how Our Father operates. We get stuck in confusion when we create GOD in our image. We try to make GOD live by our rules instead of really trying to live by His! By our rules, GOD's grace is not fair, but here's what we need to understand: GOD's grace is fair by GOD's rules and it's His rules that run the Universe!

GOD's grace is fair because it was His life that He freely gave to Death in exchange for the ownership rights to every human life. GOD's grace is fair because His blood, as the Law required, was bled out to cover every possible sin that could ever be committed. GOD's grace is fair because he purchased the rights to be extravagantly foolish with His Love!

We have a choice. We can choose to accept GOD's "Universal Rule of Extravagantly Foolish Grace" or continue working with our man-made rules of fairness. As I think I have laid out, if we choose to continue with the "Older Brother" mentality, we will end up like the Older Brother—obsessed with fairness, living with resentment when "fairness" doesn't happen, eventually building to episodes of erupting anger.

If that's your choice, I will make my best effort to give you grace, but I will always be asking you the question that was asked of me: "How's that workin' for ya?"

Why I Believe in Conspiracy Theories!

 

Why I Believe in Conspiracy Theories!

By Gary L. Clendenon, February, 2021

Pretty much all my life I have believed in “Conspiracy Theories”. I suppose being raised a Seventh-day Adventist in the 60’s & 70’s—where every negative news story was a “sign” that the “Time of Trouble” and persecution of “The Remnant Saints” were just around the corner—had a fairly strong influence on my initial belief system.

Thankfully, many of us SDA’s are growing out of that fear and adrenaline-fueled perspective to being “in the world, but not of it”. I think of the stories of “Chicken Little” and “The Boy Who Cried Wolf”. A moral of both stories is that our minds and bodies can only take so much of that unbalanced approach to life! Sadly, this is, no doubt, the reason some people left the SDA Church, and it could even be argued, justifiably so.

So, after saying all that, you might be surprised I am still here arguing for a belief in conspiracy theories, right? This ought to be interesting! As Christians, we grow—sometimes slowly, sometimes quickly, but we are on a Spirit-led journey, and we grow. Ideally, as we grow, we gradually move from a framework of “Fear and Rule-based Living” to—our ultimate goal—a framework of “Love and Relationship-based Living.”

As we grow, naturally our perspective changes and we are challenged with what to do with our old beliefs. It is completely natural to think it wise to just completely chuck out our old beliefs and move on, and many people do just that. As we grow and mature, though, we can find that there is a more healthy approach that is best exemplified by that awesome old German proverb, “Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.”

To be clear, the “Baby” in this example is the idea that there are conspiracies in our world, and I am arguing that it would be foolish to throw that idea out. When I’m done, I think you’ll see why.

First let’s talk a look at the meaning of the word “Conspiracy”. A conspiracy is a noun that is the fruit or result of the action verb “Conspire”. To conspire is to “make secret plans jointly to commit an unlawful or harmful act” (emphasis mine). It is the secretive nature of a conspiracy that makes it so challenging to believe in—because there is no real proof, only hints or seemingly wild speculations, that often times seem ludicrous and unbelievable!

After 60 years of life and study, my current perspective on “Conspiracy Theories” is best summed up by the following statement (aka “Gary-ism # 21”).

“A Christian who believes in no conspiracy theories does not understand the Nature nor the Reality of the World.”

Let me explain why I say this. You will notice that the word “Christian” is in my statement. It is there for a reason. My whole belief on “Conspiracy Theories” is based on the fact that I am a Bible-believing Christian. If that doesn’t describe you, then my arguments, though you may see the logic of them, will most likely not apply to you nor your thinking about “Conspiracy Theories”. Maybe, though, my thoughts will, at least, help you understand us “Crazy” Christians a little better.

So, just to clarify, I am saying that I believe in “Conspiracy Theories” because of my belief in the Bible’s story. The Bible is very clear on this topic. We have an Enemy and from the moment of our birth until our last breath on this Earth, our enemy “conspires” to keep us in his collection of “The Damned”. This is a personal conspiracy against us.

Revelation 12:12 says: “How terrible for the earth…! For the Devil has come down to you, and he is filled with rage….” The Devil is no pussycat, as Peter warns: “Be alert, be on watch! Your enemy, the Devil, roams around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour” (I Peter 5:8). Paul—using very war-filled language—advises us to “Put on the armor of God so that you will be able to stand up against the Devil’s evil tricks.” … and “...put out all the burning arrows shot by the Evil One” (Ephesians 6:11-16). Note that other versions for “evil tricks” use the words “schemes” or “strategies”. These words are synonyms for “conspiracies”.

As you can see from those texts, the Bible takes this war against us very seriously and all the language used to describe it is very serious. Adventist author, Ellen G. White, also took this same attitude on this topic. Here is just one small snippet out of many, many quotes that portrays her seriousness: “Satan takes control of every mind that is not decidedly under the control of the Spirit of God.” (TM, p. 79) As Christians, whether we choose to accept it or not, we are daily participants in this all out war against us, and our decisions can have major consequences!

In case we think “I’m really nobody important. I’m sure the Devil has more important things to do than worry about me.” You are right. He does! But, he’s not alone—and neither are we! Note the following verse also found in Ephesians 6: “For we are not fighting against human beings, but against the wicked spiritual forces in the heavenly world, the rulers, authorities, and cosmic powers of this dark age” (emphasis mine). In Revelation 12, we are told that one-third of all the angels were Satan’s followers and “thrown down to earth...with him” (verses 3-4 & 7-9). We are “not alone”, and we are not left alone!

C.S. Lewis also agreed with the seriousness of this conflict, writing: “Our leisure, even our play, is a matter of serious concern. There is no neutral ground in the universe: every square inch, every split second, is claimed by God and counterclaimed by Satan.” (Christian Reflections)

For me the most striking visual I have ever seen showing the unending, overwhelming relentlessness of our Enemies is the Sentinels in the Matrix movie. The Sentinels are a huge swarm of super-fast, intelligent machines intent on the destruction of rebel humans. They do not stop for anything until they have achieved the annihilation of their intended targets. (1) This is a stunningly scary picture of how our demonic enemies would thoroughly destroy us in an instant, if they could!

Fortunately for us, there is a flip-side to that scary picture: the other two-thirds of the angels who were faithful to GOD. The Bible reassures us that each one of us who chooses GOD’s Team are protected by these angels, and we are to “Fear not”. (2) Probably the best visual of this protection in the Bible is Psalms 91—a powerful chapter of comfort to the Believer. In regards to specific mention of that angel protection, the strongest are verses 11-12 (emphasis mine):

...because God’s your refuge,
the High God your very own home,
Evil can’t get close to you,
harm can’t get through the door.
He ordered his angels
to guard you wherever you go.
If you stumble, they’ll catch you;
their job is to keep you from falling.

Could it be that this unseen battle and generous, unseen protection has lulled us to sleep—thinking that since we don’t see it, it must not be there? That Devil kind of stuff only happens in the Mission Fields, not in our intelligent, sophisticated society, right? Wrong!

C.S. Lewis, in his excellent book The Screwtape Letters, writes that the Devil would either have us believe he doesn’t exist at all or that he’s some kind of Halloween-like costume character we should only be afraid of in a fun, flirty way. Either way, he can continue his quiet, efficient, detailed, behind-the-scenes guiding of our steps down the broad road to Hell.

This grand conspiracy extends to every human being in the whole human race. This conspiracy is seen and interwoven into every level of every possible thing we humans can interact with. Anything we can think of—by “anything”, I mean absolutely everything—is tainted by the Enemy’s design to continue to drag us further down into his kingdom.

The Devil doesn’t care what we are distracted with, as long as we remain distracted. Thus, he has infiltrated himself, or at least, his evil intentions, into every possible nook and cranny of every possible scenario we humans could ever encounter. We are set up—from the cradle to the grave—to be blissfully ignorant of the Kingdom of GOD and this great controversy over our minds and hearts. Lewis, speaks of this well-oiled machine of Evil in the following way:

The greatest evil is not now done in those sordid “dens of crime” that Dickens loved to paint. It is not done even in concentration camps and labour camps. In those we see its final result. But it is conceived and ordered (moved, seconded, carried, and minuted) in clean, carpeted, warmed and well-lighted offices, by quiet men with white collars and cut fingernails and smooth-shaven cheeks who do not need to raise their voices. Hence, naturally enough, my symbol for Hell is something like the bureaucracy of a police state or the office of a thoroughly nasty business concern. (3)

This is why I believe in “Conspiracy Theories”. This is why I further believe it is foolish and illogical not to believe in conspiracy theories. Given that “the wicked spiritual forces in the heavenly world, the rulers, authorities, and cosmic powers” are always out to do whatever it takes to keep us from a relationship with GOD, and that every human being not choosing GOD’s Team, defaults automatically to Satan’s Team, I don’t understand how anyone, knowing this information not be open to the possibility of Conspiracy Theories!

Is every conspiracy theory true? Of course not, but every conspiracy theory has an element of truth in it because, as I have attempted to show you: that is the nature and reality of the World we live in. Our Enemy would much rather us just always have the attitude: “Move along now. There’s nothing to see here!” But that would be unwise!

Given what I have shared with you, I hope you can see why I think it is foolish and illogical to just quickly dismiss every conspiracy theory that comes along as a “Conspiracy Theory”, which is code for ridiculous, lunatic, nutso, don’t-even-waste-a-second-thinking-about-it! This calling things a “Conspiracy Theory”, I believe, is a tool of our Enemy to just completely dismiss any further examination of what is really going on, and so many people fall for this!

Viewed through the lenses of this perspective I am sharing with you, I hope you can see how Jesus’ advice in Matthew 10:16 when sending out the Disciples to “...be as wise as, as shrewd as, as wary as, as cautious as, as cunning as, as sagacious as, snakes….” ought to be taken seriously by us, His Disciples, as well. Just before saying that, Jesus said, “I am sending you out as sheep among wolves.” That paints a strong picture of being hunted, surrounded, outnumbered—absolutely cause to be alert, cautious, and wise! (As I alluded to before with my Matrix example.) (4)

So, is it logical and reasonable to believe that there is a secret cabal planning to unite the world under one government, religion, and monetary system? Given what I’ve shared, absolutely.

Is it logical and reasonable to believe that UFO’s, aliens, ghosts of the dead, and Hell are all demonic attempts to communicate a message to us humans? No doubt!

Is it logical and reasonable to believe that there is a sinister plan to poison us and degrade our bodies through the the air we breathe, the food we eat, the water we drink, and the drugs we use for our “Health”? Wouldn’t you use this approach if you were the Devil?

Is it logical and reasonable to believe that the Devil and his Minions would do everything possible to distract and degrade our minds with disinformation through the News, Movies, TV shows, Books, Music, and other Mediums so that the cacophony of noise almost completely drowns out what is right and true? Of course!

And last, but not least, for those who like Religion, is it not logical and reasonable to believe that the Devil would create counterfeit Religions and Denominations to fool humans into a fake relationship with The One and Only True GOD of the Universe? Hell, ya!

I find all these “Conspiracy Theories” completely logical and reasonable, and that is why I believe in “Conspiracy Theories”. I would even go so far as to say, as a Bible-believing Christian, how could one not believe in them?

I want to close this with a positive thought for perspective:

Regardless of all the conspiracies against us, we need not fear! Our Heavenly Trio has also conspired, and in the end, GOD’s amazingly intricate conspiracies will completely triumph over the Enemy’s.

FOOTNOTES:

1. For a video of the sentinels, go here (Warning: Language): https://youtu.be/u40bLeFnOn4)

2. There have been found 365 different versions of the command to “not fear” in the whole Bible—one for each day of the year! ;)

3. The Screwtape Letters, “Preface” (emphasis mine)

4. I don’t think that Jesus used the simile of “snakes” by accident. I strongly believe it was an allusion to Genesis 3:1: “Now the snake was ‘more crafty’, ‘the shrewdest’, ‘more subtle’, ‘more cunning’, ‘sneakier’, ‘more clever’, than any of the other animals” (various Bible versions). The “snake” represents that moment of seducing and outwitting Adam and Eve in the garden. (This is also confirmed by Revelation 12:9: “The huge dragon was thrown out—that ancient serpent, named the Devil, or Satan, that deceived the whole world” (emphasis mine)).