I smell a Con!
A Good Old Fashion Scam!
Recently a member of my family had the craziest experience with a couple of con people. Through intuition, the tug of the Holy Spirit and the con people’s mistakes we were able to reveal them and get our family member away from them before too much damage had been done. I’ll share the story someday and boy it’s a doozy but for the purposes of this blog I’ll summarize it and move forward with my point.
A Good Old Fashion Scam!
Recently a member of my family had the craziest experience with a couple of con people. Through intuition, the tug of the Holy Spirit and the con people’s mistakes we were able to reveal them and get our family member away from them before too much damage had been done. I’ll share the story someday and boy it’s a doozy but for the purposes of this blog I’ll summarize it and move forward with my point.
The point is Satan is the ultimate con man. John 10:10 calls Satan the thief that steals, kills and destroys. If we had let the “con-couple” continue on with their scheme they would have stolen everything from our family member, destroyed his hope, and ultimately killed him with grief. They did manage to steal a little money, destroyed his pride a little but they did not kill him. In fact, he’s perfectly alive and despite being saddened by his blindness to the situation, he’s doing pretty well.
The con in Con-artist means “confidence”. A Con-Artist gains our confidence just long enough steal from us or hurt us. That’s what Satan does he gains our confidence in situations that deceive us into believing his lie and once we fall for it he will destroy the world around us. The sad thing is that we may never see any of it until it’s too late. We become blind to the destruction that is occurring around us because we’re focused on the lie.
Experts say the only way you can get out of con is get away from it and tell the authorities so that they can handle the situation. The same holds true when we fall for Satan’s lies. We need to repent and confess to God that you have fallen and that you need him to handle it. In my family member’s situation, he has asked the couple to go away but he’s yet to call the authorities on them. I fear that they will continue to try to con him and others unless he does.
John 10:10 also states that Jesus came so that we may have life and have it to the fullest. If we’re going to allow someone to gain your “confidence” in every situation, I would rather trust the one that wants me to prosper me and not steal from me, build me up and not destroy me and give me live and not kill me. I pray that the “con-couple” faces the consequences of their actions but I also pray that they repent and turn from their lives as con artist and follow Jesus. If they are that convincing in spreading falsehoods and lies can you imagine how convincing they might be if they were spreading the truth?
Ezekiel 33:11 (NIV) … “I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways!…”
Brian Holt
Brian Holt was called into and served in children's ministry for over 20 years. Brian had the privilege to lead in children's ministries ranging from mega-church to plant church size. Brian changed roles in his church and now serves as the Care Pastor at Rock Creek Church in Prosper, Texas overseeing the Care and Support ministries of the church. Brian has been married to his lovely wife Amy for over 24 years and they have 5 amazing kids. Brian's passion is to see every man, woman and child fall in love with Jesus and become one of his devout followers, transforming their lives in the process to be more like Him everyday.
2 Comments
SonShine
con-artist
And that is why Heb 5:14 is one of my favorite verses: But solid food is for the mature, whose perceptions are trained by practice to discern both good and evil.
We cannot be discerning without being “in” the Word, so we know and can see the “con-artist”. As teachers we must train our children to discern those who are wolves in sheep’s clothing. We need a whole unit on this topic so we can teach our children as well as our senior saints who are so precious that others try to take advantage of them. Let’s face it the wolf doesn’t bother with those who are fit and trim, he looks for the weaker ones, the sweet ones, the ones who move slower than the others and then he pounces! YIKES!
Brian..I think you have hit on a ready and needy topic. I would encourage you to develop a whole unit that SS teachers could use to teach this skill and make it available across the board to all ages.
Brian Holt
Thank you
I agree! You have to have that maturity and the ability to discern for sure. My wife and I felt very uncertain the minute we heard about the people that I discuss in the blog. It was if God was tipping us off…which in fact he was.
I just recently Googled the characteristics of a con man and those people fit the profile exactly. The article I read inspired me write how Satan is the ultimate con man.
You are a great encouragement to me to continue to write on this blog. I often feel that my subject matter is probably a bit too topical and not as theological but it's how I like to write and I very much appreciate your comments.
Brian