Distorting the Truth

How The Enemy Chips Away at the Truth
by Torrey H. Brinkley

Many have lamented at the loss of absolutes in our society, and how the truth has been warped and distorted. What was once considered wrong is now OK. What we thought was right is now considered "bad form." Things one could once say are now labeled "politically incorrect." Truths taught in our schools & churches are now just old fables. How did this happen?

The Enemy (of the Truth) has always had a plan to deceive and to bring down the wisdom and guidance from above. His steps to lead us into failure and falsehood are measured, calculating, and appropriate for the time. See how it all started:

Questioning Authority: In the Garden of Eden, Satan asked Adam & Eve, "has God said......?" The Devil didn't think these simple humans had a good memory of the truth of God's commands.
--How often is this tactic employed today by those who deny God's instructions? Educated folk today have tossed out bibical Revelation, and have replaced it with fanciful imaginations.

Denying truth statements: As well, in the Garden, the Serpent flatly contradicted what God had told the first couple, "No, if you eat of the forbidden fruit, you will not die!" God's dictates seemed so harsh, that Satan knew the couple would prefer to hear something softer.
--How quickly & flippantly do modern pagan educators dismiss anything stated in the Bible (whether miracles, origins, commandments or salvation-related)?

Building up the listener: Again, the Deceiver told Adam & Eve that they in fact would become like gods, if they would eat fruit from that one tree. Who wouldn't like the extra benefits from a promise like that, even if it means disobeying God?
--Satan loves to "empower" people who feel cheated by the system or the status quo. The Enemy knows there is strength in numbers, even if it is for the wrong cause or purposes.

Putting God out of the picture: If Satan can convince us that the Lord is not around, & He can't see us, then it becomes easy to justify doing something which we think is just our own little secret. How foolish to imagine that God pays no attention to even the smallest detail of our lives! (Just ask Adam & Eve how hard it was to hide from God.)
--To be sure, God has been removed from the modern classroom, for a good part of 90 years in American public education. The modern news media has not uttered the "God" word since its infancy. Hollywood refuses to acknowledge the presence of God, but loves to enable small boys and young, curvy women with magical "superpowers."

Introducing other objects of worship: From early stories in the Old Testament we see that people considered adoring other gods, even things made with human hands (idols, possessions, the fleshly body, lands, etc.). Even the children of Israel frequently left the God who changed history & overcame laws of nature to follow worthless idols.
--Humankind has been able to invent & create so many fascinating technologies, that they have all but forgotten the God who placed them on this planet, set the Sun and Moon in motion, gave us water & food to eat, and instructed us in how to live in peace, harmony & right living. Yet, no matter what things people worship today, they are empty until they find rest in Christ's love, forgiveness and acceptance. We need the Saviour to heal us, not more glamorous celebrities for us to admire.

Adopting the ways of foreigners: Another pronouncement God gave to Israel was to never accept the false teachings and philosophies and deities of their pagan neighbors. Thru foreign trade, social interaction, and inter-marrying, the Jews easily fell prey to those who carried them off into slavery, torture, abuse and degradation.
--No one person in history equalled the success and wisdom of King Solomon, who gained all the fame & fortune that the world had to offer, but he lost his single-mindedness, his purpose and his eventual kingdom, when he made foreign alliances & took on over 700 wives & 300 mistresses thru the goal of greedy "internationalism." Are we any wiser than Solomon today?

Choosing the wrong battles: It is so easy to get distracted from the right focus & the proper direction, and then to charge after the wrong Enemy. David was such a successful warrior and king that he battled scores of enemies around Israel. God eventually had to tell David that he was not fit to build the Lord's Temple and to restore Jerusalem, because he had too much blood on his hands.
--Today we see so many wrongs in the world, often lashing out against all kinds of enemies, and expend all our energy and resources, that we have no time left for God, His Word, sharing His message, building up other believers, witnessing to our neighbors, or feeding the hungry. A wise general reportedly said, "choose the hill you want to die on." That was bad grammar, but good advice.

Therefore, the end result of this attack on absolute values & truths has led to a dismantling in modern society of these pillars:
1) GOD (of the Bible) has been replaced with any religion, or no faith at all. Some even worship the "Planet".
2) COUNTRY (& its founding principles) has been superceded by a global view of history, issues, economics & planning. Some have abandoned hard work & saving, and instead hope for gambling winnings & government transfers of wealth.
3) FAMILY (as an institution of love, nurture & education) is now shown as no better than any grouping of peoples.
4) MARRIAGE (as something God intended for man & woman in blessed intimacy & mutual strengthening) is scorned as no better than any other relationship or laison (without commitment).
5) MORAL VALUES (especially God-given) are dismissed because any & all ideas should be equally acceptable. Popularity is more important than morality.
6) LAWS & COMMANDMENTS are rejected, as modern man asks "why should anyone else have authority over me ?"

--the author studied under Dr.Francis Schaeffer in Switzerland in 1969, and has served as a pastor in the USA and church-planting missionary to Spain.