-What does knowing about conspiracies have to do with “loving your neighbor”?
-What are the pros and cons of being a Christian Conspiracy Theorist?
In addition, we will close with some thoughts and encouragement for anyone seeking to pick up on this field of study.
WHAT DOES KNOWING ABOUT CONSPIRACIES HAVE TO DO WITH “LOVING YOUR NEIGHBOR”?
We find in several verses in the Scriptures that talk about treating your neighbor as yourself. It’s an important lesson and one that is simple and straightforward. I’ve often said that if everyone in the world adopted this philosophy, wars would cease to exist and true, sustainable, genuine world peace would transpire. However, we know that we don’t live in a world where such things are possible. In fact, every single one of us has broken this simple principle several times in our lives. And so it stands that our Messiah, Yeshua being the only one who has never sinned, is of the Father Himself and is gracious and merciful enough to forgive us for our transgressions. But part of the act of being saved requires that we do something. It requires us to take action and become the salt and the light unto the world in dire need for the One who delivered us from bondage. While this attitude is simply something that we will naturally adopt inherently into our own nature of being as children of God, our westernized society has institutionalized it, creating a good-will service that is called, “outreach.”
Outreach, in the context of the Church is defined in this way:
“Social welfare any systematic effort to provide unsolicited and predefined help to groups or individuals deemed to need it.”
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/outreach
The typical model for any outreach ministry, at least in my church which is known for its far reaching…outreach, goes something like this: You gather together at the church on a particular day, usually early in the morning. A group of any size comes together, prays, and then debriefs on the details of what the intentions of the outreach for the day are. Then they hop on busses or cars, drive to the location where they will be serving and proceed to carry out their outreach service. After they are done, they hop back into the van, drive back to the church, and discuss “how God spoke to them” during their experience of serving the less fortunate, the needy, the forgotten, the marginalized.
On a grander scale, this type of activity would be labelled as a mission, where the group would go to another country. While the impact is powerful and certainly eye opening, especially for the “blessed” and well off persons, it is my contention that this type of “outreach” is too systematic and controlled. This is not to denounce or to frown upon those who are genuinely out to serve others. But the problem is that these institutionalized forms of outreach are made in order to give people a sense of achievement and a marking off of the checklist of things we ought to be doing. In this type of outreach, there is something very pharisaic about the entire experience. Something is missing here. I think it’s called the Gospel! What I’ve found is that the truly passionate follower of Yeshua find their niche and passionately go after that group to treat them with the love and kindness of God, but also preach the Gospel message in the process, which is the central issue. In fact, a great way to test the spirit of outreach is to ask whether the Gospel comes first, or second. In other words, are people going out and doing these acts of outreach because of their faith in Yeshua and the grace of God? Or are they seeking a need, finding out ways to fill it, then creating the Biblical wallpaper to dress it up as church?
So why am I rambling on about outreach when this is suppose to be about the Christian Conspiracy Theorist (CCT)? Because I believe when the CCT learns about the inner workings and the various aspects of society, they ultimately become the most awesome and unique outreach minister there can be. Why? Because they have a deeper level of understanding to the injustice found on earth.
As I’ve mentioned in previous articles, the CCT understands that the rulers of this dark world is Satan himself. Now that’s not to say Satan is behind every curtain and under every rock. Although in some regard, he is because he was the one who deceived humanity into becoming fallen in nature. But it’s a deeper issue. For example, when the CCT sees the homeless man, the thought that comes to mind is that this man could not sustain and play the game of capitalism, which is run by Luciferians, and ultimately lands at the foot of Satan’s throne. Or if you go to a third world nation that is oppressed, you can understand that Satan, having been the source of pride and greed has seeped into the minds of the nation’s leaders, starving their people for the well being of the few. Or (this one might hit close to home) if you see or know someone with cancer, you understand that there has been an agenda to manipulate our food and water supply to bring about health issues to the masses in a systematic agenda for the purposes of eugenics and population reduction.
The information alone is not the factor here. It’s actually the response to it. One would never have to vocalize their thoughts to the victims, rather, our compassion and our heart simply churns in agony as we somehow are able to connect and understand at a much deeper level, the kinds of trials and tribulations these fellow brethren are going through.
Coming full circle in explaining what being a CCT has to do with “loving your neighbor,” it simply means that “outreach” becomes a lifestyle and not a weekend occupation. This casts a far wider spiritual net because outreach would be to the new ager, the satanist, the luciferian, the ones who are drenched in the occult, the atheist, the agnostic, the buddhist, and on and on and on. There are no boundaries because the poverty we would be seeking to fill with God’s love would NOT be physical in nature but spiritual. We have all been endowed with various amount of resources and lifestyles. But ultimately it is about how we can use them to spread the Gospel message in love. It’s the spiritual poverty that the CCT is most concerned about. If we are able to instill God’s love, God’s providence, God’s Word and get that person spiritually saved for eternity under Messiah Yeshua, I believe that is more valuable than simply becoming a giant dispenser of goods to those who need it.
As you might be able to tell already, being a CCT is not for everyone and certainly not something you can force upon anyone. The views held by CCT are always going to be “out there” and “out of the box” as someone close to me once put it. But the beauty is that there is a need for people like us. There is a need for the mind that is drenched in curiosity that they have to look beyond the veil. This in turn plays right into the concept of being a watchman for the Lord. But as far as pros and cons are concerned, they go hand in hand.
For most folks, being a CCT or for that matter a watchman is not a desired position to hold. Why on earth would anyone want to dig through the darkest and most twisted corners of the human mind? It’s much more desirable to be that popular author, or pastor that a whole community relies on as the spiritual spokesman and representative of your faith. Others simply want to be left alone professing his or her faith under the blanket of normalcy, minimizing the impact that one’s faith should have on an individual in exchange for the acceptance of social status or self image. Yet it’s these very people who seem to scoff at the advent of someone who is a Christian and an investigator of the darker side of humanity. This is a fine balance the CCT must handle.
A great example is after a recent interview Canary Cry Radio did with William Ramsey who has done a marvelous job of looking into the life of Aleister Crowley. As soon as we posted the episode on Youtube, the comments came flying in. One in particular set the tone of the conversation to follow:
“If you really were a christian you wouldn’t be studying satanism”
What an interesting thing to say. My response was quite simple:
“Ephesians 5:11 “Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them” You can’t expose what you don’t know.”
But think about the accusation made here. This fellow brother in Christ was declaring that anyone who studies satanism, or any other dark subject matter is not a real Christian. That’s a very harsh thing to say to someone. If it weren’t for my confidence in what I feel God has called me to do and be in this world, such comments would certainly affect me in the most negative way. But it’s clear that the logic does not follow. It would be akin to suggesting that a player on the LA Lakers is not a true Laker because he studies the plays of another team. It simply does not make sense. So while such accusations do seem harsh, it should only deepen your faith in God and what He has trusted you to do.
Another possible con to being a CCT minded brother or sister in Christ is a sense of isolation. Now this is a dangerous factor because such feelings can very quickly lead to deeper emotional troubles like low self esteem or even depression. Because there aren’t many folks who think like the CCT, it’s likely that these people will feel alone and left out of the “normal” crowd. A sense of feeling misunderstood or even ostracized is common. The worst part about all of this is the fact that the backlash seems to come more from the church than anywhere else. This to me is startling because avoiding the darker topics and sweeping them under the rug is akin to lying. Why do you think so many young people leave the church? I believe it’s because real life issues, and real world issues are not addressed properly within the Church. The focus on the fine and dandy things and ignoring the darker things makes for a very biased understanding of the Scriptures as well.
We as CCT are able to hold steadfast to the Word of God and have confidence in Him that this is what He has called us to do. None of us should get to the point of depression or isolation that can be wildly destructive for not only yourself, but those around you. The danger though is not to get bitter towards the church community. We must understand that all the issues we see in the institutionalized church is something that God will deal with. We are the watchmen. We cannot change these things. We can however warn them, and that should be our focus.
There are many other cons that could be brought up, but I believe all of them stem from these two factors. Getting criticized and as a result, feeling isolated. As a result, some CCT I know have become jaded and disenchanted with everything and everyone. This feeling leads to the same sort of exclusivity the occult have. In other words, feeling like they understand the world with this secret knowledge, while the other people are blind, no matter how true it might be, will become the focus of contention rather than the focus on God. Be aware of these traps.
But I believe that the most positive aspect of being a CCT is that your own walk with God will change. It will become deeper and stronger. God will tell you personally when He wants to step back from the research and focus entirely on Him. In the end we are all responsible for our actions before God and He will know the heart of the person who is the CCT. We should desire to expose the darkness to glorify the Lord. We should want the evils of this world expelled so that the Gospel can spread truth to people’s hearts. We should seek Him and Him alone in the pursuit of truth no matter how dark, deep, and destructive it may seem. Always remember that the most important part of being a CCT is that God alone is the one who saves. Not us!
CONCLUSION
I hope I was able to shed some light on what it might mean to be a CCT. Again, some people are naturally formed to do such research and exposition while others are not. Don’t hold anything against those who disagree with you, or accuse you of not doing God’s work. Also, I believe it’s important to remember to be a good researcher. Make sure your information is solid and documented. The worst thing you can do is come up with wild ideas that has no foundation in anything; not the Bible, not government documents, etc. This type of conspiracy theorist, while may be popular, are simply sensationalists and are making claims to draw attention to themselves. Our goal should be to draw attention to God. Finally, be in prayer as you do your research. The deeper you begin to look at the occult, the more prayer you should be in. Ask friends and family to cover you with prayer when diving into dark spiritual topics. Letting them know that you are doing such research to glorify the Kingdom will earn their respect as well as your own, as you will be held accountable for what you dig up.
May God bless all of you who consider yourselves Christians and a Conspiracy Theorist. I leave you with this encouraging verse to keep in mind:
“Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets. “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.”
~Luke 6:26-27~
Gonz, August 25th, 2012
