Finding Spiritual Understanding in a Deceiving World

Written By: Jena (No AI) 

I don’t feel uniquely qualified to share this, worthy, or that I’m the right person. Nonetheless, I feel compelled to share this, I believe I’m being told I should. It has been rattling around in my brain for weeks.

We can hold onto our own ideas of spiritual health, or we can go to the most historically accurate, timeless source there is (the Bible).

I am working on my spiritual health, listening to some podcasts with scripture, reading the bible more, and praying more. A message that really resonated with me is how to not be deceived. I received this message in two different podcasts. Before I dive into all the ways to be deceived, I want to share a bit about my church experiences (as they will relate).

My Church Experiences

First Church

Growing up, I went to an Orthodox church. I felt like I understood what it meant to believe in God and believe in Jesus. I understood and believed in Jesus sacrifice on the cross to save me from my sins so that I could have eternal life. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). That’s something I feel fortunate for growing up understanding. But, I only saw church as a place to worship and socialize. I felt I didn’t really need to know much about the bible because I believed. Church was long, boring, and exhausting for me. I would go often because I felt like I should vs actually wanting to go. I finally quit going around the time the priest (the only one I ever knew) was accused of stealing money from the church. Yes, he was found guilty

Second Church

For many years I didn’t attend church at all. Eventually, I found a new church that was more like a non-denominational church. There I was actually taught things that were applicable to my life. Instead of God just being a distant God to fear and worship, I learned God really does love and care for me and wants a relationship with me. The sermons were most of the service and referenced scripture a lot! I learned more about the bible than ever before. At my old church the sermons were mostly prayers and songs. They had a tiny little sermon that often didn’t even reference scripture. So I actually enjoyed going to church for a change, which I previously didn’t think was possible.

Third Church

When I moved, I found a new church in South Carolina that is a lot like my last church. The sermons reference scripture and share lots of lessons from the bible. Lessons that apply to my life now. The church is really great at explaining the meaning behind full chapters in the bible and why it is relevant today.

This World is Full of Deception

So now, in this podcast the guy talked about how we should read and reference the bible ourselves vs just taking his word for what he shares about the bible. This message really resonated with me. Our world is full of people trying to deceive us. This is talked about in the bible! There will be people deceiving us: false teachers, false prophets, false religions. Just a few places this is mentioned: Matthew 24:4, Matthew 24:11, Matthew 24:24. 

How Churches Can Deceive You

So first lesson is that if you attend a church that doesn’t even reference scripture in their sermons, what are you really learning? What are they trying to achieve? Some churches want your money, some want you to just participate in all the activities, some want you to really worship the concept of church not God, etc. Many pastors, preachers, ministers, etc. are not called by God to be religious leaders. They choose the path for money, because it is easy, they think that will save them from their sinful life (good works), they have a desire to deceive, etc.

Even if they are saying all the right prayers, singing songs about Christ and God, this does not mean they are doing the right things spiritually. Just worship alone and religious rituals are not going to save people. However, many churches will have people just focus on worship and rituals as if that’s all that is needed. Some churches make people feel they are not going to heaven because they are not attending church, giving to the church, and doing all the activities. View 1 John 4:1 and Ephesians 2:8-9 

Don’t get me wrong, you can have a bad pastor/priest/minister or a bad church, and YOU can still be doing the right things spiritually. It is just harder to. During Jesus ministry many of the churches were doing a checklist of what looked like the right things, but didn’t really have a heart for God. Many would sin behind closed doors. Many chose not to believe in Jesus and some were part of the crucifixion.

Jesus Says:

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. ²² Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ ²³ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ Matthew 7:21-23

It would also be wrong to pick a church just because we have a warm and fuzzy feeling about it. I will further explain why worship without learning scripture is dangerous, read on.

The Hard Truth

The truth is we can’t really trust anyone 100% to give us the full truth. We can’t trust in books that are supposed to be about God and Jesus, if they don’t reference scripture. We can’t trust in podcasts that summarize bible text and don’t actually state scripture. When we hear messages from podcasts, videos, books, and preachers, it would be a good idea to reference the bible ourselves.

Once you believe in the gift of Jesus you are not supposed to just be done. If you stop learning you are likely to be deceived by some material thing in this world. I’ve experienced this. You are supposed to keep on learning about Jesus and God and the connection between the two. It is much easier to become deceived by the evils of this world if you don’t know or read the word. View Romans 12:2.

Scripture is Taken Out of Context

What is really scary is sometimes even scripture is taken out of context. A person can quote one piece of scripture from the bible and interpret it wrong, because they took it out of the context of the story. Also, they might ignore other pieces of scripture that are related. For example, believing we need to follow an Old Testament rule that doesn’t apply now because of Jesus death on the cross in the New Testament. I now see my second church did this, but I still feel they are a good church. The fact is no church is perfect.

I was listening to a podcast recently where the woman referenced multiple scriptures all saying the same thing. But it wasn’t something that needed to be interpreted for me to understand, it was obvious the meaning of this scripture. And it is something my current church has spoken incorrectly about. I even did a search for the scripture to see it for myself. So, that’s why we need to read the scripture in order to not be deceived. This is not something to leave the church over, is not the pastor trying to deceive me, this is a pastor that encourages us to read the bible for ourselves. I’m very sure it is just a mistake a lot of churches make.

Question What You Hear

Now I feel the woman on the podcast has said some things I don’t agree with too or may be I just misunderstood what she is trying to say. But if we read for ourselves (following and listening to God), God will share things he wants us to know. Now when you are new to faith reading the Old Testament first is also confusing, you can understand the Old Testament much better if you start with the New Testament. I personally do find it helpful to have someone breaking down meaning of scripture verse by verse, whether it is a bible book that does it or a podcast. But I’m working on reading directly from the bible too.

It is Easy to be Deceived

I feel how easy it is to be deceived in this world. There are many religions and that’s confusing, many denominations within Christianity, and that’s confusing. There are so many religions that say their’s is the best or the one and only. It is deception that we have to go to church, or that we have to pick an organized religion in order to be saved (check for bible references to that).

Church can be helpful though! I’m glad I found a church that I like. However, not actually learning anything about God and Jesus and not trying to grow your faith is a bit dangerous. You are more likely to be deceived by the flesh, satan, material things in this world, etc. It is a complicated world we live in. Romans 8:5–8

If you feel you have been deceived in some way, I’ve read it is good to take some time to feel that, Repent, forgive yourself, and then let it go and move forward.

One More Thought

The bible is the oldest, most historical book there is. So if you don’t believe in Jesus, how do you know you are not being deceived? You can’t know who God is without reading the bible and seeing how Jesus is part of the Old and the New Testament and is the answer to eternal life. There are many false religions that look all shiny and say lots of great things. BUT that’s exactly what the bible warns about: Anti-Christs, false religions, and other things that look great but are there to deceive you.

Many pastors, preachers, ministers, etc. are not called by God to be religious leaders. They choose the path for money, because it is easy, they think that will save them from their sinful life (good works), they have a desire to deceive, etc.

I’m not on some righteous path to judge other people, I’m not worthy. I’m just spreading the messages God wants me to share. Everyone will find their own truth whether it is right or wrong, God is the judge. Isaiah 33:22 2, Corinthians 5:10