Don’t Be Snookered
I was a tall skinny kid in high school when I first heard about the Theory of Evolution. Back then I couldn’t help wondering that if people evolved from lesser forms of life over a very long period of time, then what about Adam and Eve? Was it possible the nuns and my mother who taught me all about God creating our first parents, and The Garden of Eden which had a serpent in it and a tree with forbidden fruit hanging from its branches; could they have been mistaken? I reasoned that if this “theory” about everything coming from nothing were ever proven to be true, then there is no God. I found the thought that He might not exist to be very disturbing.
I must have mentioned my concern to someone because I somehow got my hands on a book I think was called: The Catholic Answer Book. It contained the answers to many questions kids might have wondered about such as sin, confession, the Mass, Holy Communion etc. Sure enough, that book gave the kind of answer which my immature inquisitive mind wanted to hear. In fact, the explanation was much more than I had hoped for. It went something like this. God did the creating. Don’t worry about the Theory of Evolution even if some day it’s proven to be true. Now imagine God is a Divine Pool Player. He racks the balls up on the pool table. God chooses one ball and calls the pocket He will sink it in. He breaks, and sure enough that particular ball goes right into the pocket He said it would. Then He goes on to do the same thing with each ball individually with the exact same results. The book explained that’s kind of like what the Catholic Church teaches about God creating Adam and Eve and everyone else. But, suppose evolution is proven to be true? Once again imagine God as being The Divine Pool Player. God racks the balls up. This time however, instead of calling just one ball and pocket, God calls each of them by number and the pocket He intends to sink each of them in. God slowly draws back the cue stick takes careful aim and then bang: with one shot every one of those balls are sunk in the exact pocket God had called. This meant God was even greater than I had imagined. That answer satisfied me. I didn’t give evolution any more thought. Instead, I dreamed about more important things such as one day becoming a center fielder for the Brooklyn Dodgers or a cowboy in the movies, and girls.
I haven’t really given much thought to Darwinism since high school. If some folks wanted to believe in what I would eventually describe as being my masterpiece in idiocy, a satirical translation of the Bible in which I have the first verse in Genesis saying: “In the beginning was nothing, and all of a sudden; nothing exploded and lo and behold, in the course of time, nothing became everything,” Genesis 1:1 (DAV). In my opinion, people who choose to believe such silliness ain’t right. As long as they don’t try to ram their belief down my throat just as I don’t try ramming my beliefs down theirs, we can respect each other and agree to disagree.
Recently however, as a father, grandfather and pastor, I became convinced I ought to revisit the issue. I wanted to see what the “theory” had evolved into in the last sixty years. Although I have barely scratched the surface, I have been appalled and saddened by some of what I discovered. For instance, I was not all that knowledgeable about what is known as evolutionary psychology or that some fellow Christians have embraced evolution. In my opinion, both groups had been deceived greatly. I addressed each of these concerns in my last few sermons and I hope to return to them before I end this message. But first I would like to jog you memory about some historical Biblical folks who were also deceived big time. Being snookered isn’t anything new. It’s been going on since Creation where we are introduced to Satan, the Master of Deception.
Genesis 3:1 (ESV) 1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”
Genesis 3:4-5 (ESV) 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
John 8:44 (ESV) 44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
Then we have the account of how old Isaac was greatly deceived.
Genesis 27:1-10 (ESV) 1 When Isaac was old and his eyes were dim so that he could not see, he called Esau his older son and said to him, “My son”; and he answered, “Here I am.” 2 He said, “Behold, I am old; I do not know the day of my death. 3 Now then, take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me, 4 and prepare for me delicious food, such as I love, and bring it to me so that I may eat, that my soul may bless you before I die.” 5 Now Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to his son Esau. So when Esau went to the field to hunt for game and bring it, 6 Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “I heard your father speak to your brother Esau, 7 ‘Bring me game and prepare for me delicious food, that I may eat it and bless you before the Lord before I die.’ 8 Now therefore, my son, obey my voice as I command you. 9 Go to the flock and bring me two good young goats, so that I may prepare from them delicious food for your father, such as he loves. 10 And you shall bring it to your father to eat, so that he may bless you before he dies.”
And then in verse 19 we read about how Jacob deceived his dying father and succeed in robbing his brother Esau of a tremendous blessing.
Genesis 27:19 (ESV) 19 Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me; now sit up and eat of my game, that your soul may bless me.”
Later we learn what goes around comes around.
Genesis 31:7 (ESV) 7 yet your father has cheated me and changed my wages ten times. But God did not permit him to harm me.
And how can we forget the despicable deed the brothers of a seventeen year old kid named Joseph did when they sold him into slavery, and deceived their father into believing his youngest son was dead?
Genesis 37:31-35 (ESV) 31 Then they took Joseph’s robe and slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood. 32 And they sent the robe of many colors and brought it to their father and said, “This we have found; please identify whether it is your son’s robe or not.” 33 And he identified it and said, “It is my son’s robe. A fierce animal has devoured him. Joseph is without doubt torn to pieces.” 34 Then Jacob tore his garments and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned for his son many days. 35 All his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted and said, “No, I shall go down to Sheol to my son, mourning.” Thus his father wept for him.
Throughout history people have often devised very clever ways to deceive one another. King David was real good at it. The former King, a man named Saul was hell bent on killing David.
1 Samuel 21:10-15 (NIV) 10 That day David fled from Saul and went to Achish king of Gath. 11 But the servants of Achish said to him, “Isn’t this David, the king of the land? Isn’t he the one they sing about in their dances: “‘Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands’?” 12 David took these words to heart and was very much afraid of Achish king of Gath. 13 So he pretended to be insane in their presence; and while he was in their hands he acted like a madman, making marks on the doors of the gate and letting saliva run down his beard. 14 Achish said to his servants, “Look at the man! He is insane! Why bring him to me? 15 Am I so short of madmen that you have to bring this fellow here to carry on like this in front of me? Must this man come into my house?”
There are many other accounts of people deceiving one another throughout the Bible. We shouldn’t be surprised by any of their antics. For instance, God tells us through His Prophet Jeremiah:
Jeremiah 17:9 (ESV) 9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?
Read along with me as Jesus amplifies that fact.
Mark 7:20-23 (ESV) 20 And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. 21 For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
With some exceptions as we have seen with King David deceiving the other king to save his life, God hates deceit.
Psalms 5:6 (ESV) 6 You destroy those who speak lies; the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.
God does not want us to be scheming deceitful people looking for someone to snooker. And He warns us to watch out for those smooth talkers who pretend to be nice to us.
Proverbs 26:24-28 (AMP) 24 He who hates pretends with his lips, but stores up deceit within himself. 25 When he speaks kindly, do not trust him, for seven abominations are in his heart. 26 Though his hatred covers itself with guile, his wickedness shall be shown openly before the assembly. 27 Whoever digs a pit [for another man’s feet] shall fall into it himself, and he who rolls a stone [up a height to do mischief], it will return upon him. 28 A lying tongue hates those it wounds and crushes, and a flattering mouth works ruin.
Once again God is reminding us that what goes around comes around, and it behooves us to knock this kind of sinful activity off.
1 Peter 3:10 (ESV) 10 For “Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit;
Jeremiah 17:9 (ESV) 9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?
Deception is part of our fallen sinful nature. It is one of the sins Christ died to save us from. We should be ashamed of ourselves if we deliberately try to snooker another person into believing something that is not true. And we should not allow ourselves to be intimidated into believing Jesus doesn’t want us to lovingly confront someone who is caught up in such a serious sin. For instance, have you ever heard these words of Jesus used as a diversionary tactic?
Matthew 7:1-5 (ESV) 1 “Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. 3 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.
Some people will try to con you into believing that according to Jesus, judging is to be reserved to those who are without sin. Since we aren’t perfect, we should not judge. However, nothing could be further from the truth. Listen to what Jesus also told His listeners elsewhere.
John 7:24 (ESV) 24 “Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”
Does anyone really believe Jesus doesn’t want parents to judge their children’s sinful behavior, and in love discipline them; or our legislators passing laws prohibiting behavior which they judge to be harmful to society such as abduction, torture, rape and murder? Always search the Scriptures for yourselves to see if what is being taught really is of God. One of the most awful things I recently became aware of was pictures of twenty six teenagers that were on the front cover of a 1994 edition of a magazine. Every one of them had died because they and their parents had been deceived into believing that the Bible forbids blood transfusions. “The photographs carried the headline, ‘Youths who put Christ first.”[i]
There’s a lot of deception going on in our society and it affects us profoundly, especially unsuspecting naïve school children. “For example, biologist William Provine of Cornell travels the lecture circuit telling university students that the Darwinian revolution is still incomplete, because we have not yet embraced all its moral and religious implications. What are those implications? Provine lists them: ‘there is no ultimate foundation for ethics, no ultimate meaning in life, and no free will.’ Thus evolutionary psychologists are simply completing the Darwinian revolution by drawing out its full implications. They are connecting the dots, by showing what consistent Darwinism means for morality.”
The results can be quite abhorrent. A few years ago, conservative commentators around the country gave a collective gasp when an article appeared by a Princeton University professor supporting—of all things—sexual relations between humans and animals. The Professor was Peter Singer, already notorious for his support of animal rights. The article was titled “Heavy Petting,” and in it Singer makes it clear that his real target is biblical morality. In the West, he writes, we have a “Judeo-Christian tradition’ that teaches that “humans alone are made in the image of God.” “In Genesis, God gives humans dominion over the animals.” But evolution has thoroughly refuted the biblical account, Singer maintains: Evolution teaches us that “We are animals”-and the result is that “sex across the species barrier ceases to be an offense to our status and dignity as human beings.”[ii]
“A culture is driven by a kind of logic: It will eventually begin to express the logical consequences of the dominant worldview. If evolution is true-if there really is an unbroken continuity between humans and animals-then Singer is absolutely right about what he calls “sex across the species barrier.” Once again, all the dots connect back to your view of origins.”[iii]
“Given that evolutionary psychology often leads to morally outrageous conclusions, as we have seen, why is it gaining such a rapid acceptance? The reason is that, for many people, it promises to provide a morality based on the solid ground of science instead of the myths of religion.”[iv] With Singer, “Reason is presented as a mysterious capacity capable of creating something de novo, something that has never existed before-one might even say ex nihilo. This godlike power will enable us to rise above our evolutionary origins. Here reason is treated as far more than a utilitarian instrument; It is nothing less than the means of achieving freedom-metaphysical and moral freedom. ‘In a more distant future that we can still barely glimpse,’ Singer writes, scientific knowledge ‘may turn out to be a prerequisite for a new kind of freedom.”[v]
In closing I must echo the words of the Lord’s brother James who wrote:
James 1:16 (ESV) 16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.
In other words, DON’T BE SNOOKERED!
Lord willing, in a couple of weeks….
1.TOTAL TRUTH: Liberating Christianity from Its Cultural Captivity, ©2004 by Nancy R. Pearcey, Published by Crossway Books, a division of Good News Publishers, 1300 Crescent Street, Wheaton, Illinois 60187, page 214. (This is an outstand book which I highly recommend).
5. Does God Believe in Atheists? By John Blanchard, page 416.
Follow
