Welcome back to all of our listeners! I’m BJ Sipe, and you’re listening to the Set Your Mind Above podcast – where everyday ordinary events teach us extraordinary eternal truths. I’m so glad that you’ve tuned in today, I am excited to share my life and my faith with you, and I sure hope that you’ll do the same with me along the way.
It seems like people will believe just about anything now days, doesn’t it? And no I’m not talking about identity crisis or believing that Oregon could upset Ohio State tomorrow night, although I should probably consult a therapist about that. No, I’m talking about the level of gullibility that people have to believe anything they hear or read. We talked about fake news not too long ago, but this is a little more than that. We were at the coffee shop this morning and after our regular Friday morning Bible study we got talking about fake and catfish accounts that fool gullible people into doing some of the most insane things. Usually it’s someone from some far off remote town in Africa or South America that supposedly needs money immediately and plays up some long drawn out story to try to get someone to wire them cash as soon as possible. If you’re smart, you know pretty much immediately that such emails or accounts are fake. There are so many dead give aways: the grammar, the story, the insistence on as much cash as you have now with a promise you’ll make it all back and then some, etc. Some people delete the emails or friend requests, some people will respond and say to get lost, I even know of one comedian that will try to keep them on the hook and mess with them a little bit. But it’s not just emails and social media accounts, it’s even phone calls. Dead serious, while I was writing this I got a call from a number I didn’t know – but it was an Oregon area code so I answered it. “Good news, you are the lucky winner of our grand prize by Hilton Hotels. Just stay on the line and we’ll connect you to a representative.” Yeah, I don’t think so. Click. But the worst is when someone with a catfish account will find someone that is actually gullible enough to believe them and start sending them money. I remember an episode of Dr. Phil that went viral back in 2015 about a woman who was catfished and swindled out of an insane amount of money. She met this guy online who called himself Chris Olsen who jumped backed and forth between (you guessed it) Abuja, Nigeria and Cotonou, Benin. He wanted to be her boyfriend and soon as they talked told her how much he loved her and she believed it. Pretty soon he started asking for money within three months for all kinds of things: a nanny, cell phone, taxes, hotels, food, attorney feeds, etc. He was in a rough spot but was going to make it all back soon and they would be together as soon as he could get to her. So she started sending him money. First she sent $108,485.14 after three months. Then another $108,950.40. Then she sent a staggering $878,489.94 to him. When Western Union cut her off, she started begging friends and family to send him money on her behalf. Amazingly, she was able to get likewise gullible friends and family to do this for her. Friends and family from Nevada sent $40k, from Montana $250k, from California $150k, and from Louisiana $28k. All in all, she sent this man over $1,422,000. Her money she was sending to him was slowing down because she was just completely running out of money, and yet even while she was on the show she still believed this guy existed and that he loved her. She could not be convinced otherwise that who she was “dating” was a fraud using her only for her money. It’s truly a sad story, isn’t it? But what is even sadder to me is the others that she got involved into this scam as well. They merely took her word for it without any caution or concern, blindly sending money to a crook rather than reaching out to her to get some help. It’s my hope that people running these catfish accounts and scams get caught and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, and that justice is served on those who would so defiantly destroy the lives of those foolish enough to believe them.
What is even more dangerous is what I am going to call “catfish preachers” that stand up in pulpits and broadcast on your televisions every single week. Today, I’m going after the false teachers, such teachers that are warned against in passages like Titus 1, 1 John 4, and Matthew 7. But I want you to consider the strong language of 2 Peter 2:1-3, and then vv. 12-15, “But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.” Continuing in vv. 12, “But these, like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed, blaspheming about matters of which they are ignorant, will also be destroyed in their destruction, suffering wrong as the wage for their wrongdoing. They count it pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions, while they feast with you. They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Accursed children! Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray.” These false teachers are among us today. They claim direct revelation from God, though God no longer communicates to man directly except through his Word, and such claims are made to deceive their listeners. They claim they can heal the sick, though they have no authority to do so and faith healers have been exposed time and time again. They claim they can tell the future (often through distorting the book of Revelation), though their every predicted event has never taken place. And yet people still listen and follow blindly, willing to give these wolves in sheep’s clothing millions and millions of dollars. These false teachers have a net worth of up to $300 million dollars, teaching corrupt doctrine and making false claims that the ignorant, simple, and untrained are not able to recognize. Such wicked men will stand before the judgment seat of Christ and will most certainly pay eternally for their intentional deceit and manipulation for dishonest gain in this life. But my question to our listeners today is simply this: are you spiritually gullible? In 1 John 4:1, John the apostle warns and says “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.” And yet how are we to do this? How do we test the Spirits? Well, perhaps it is best to look at the example of the Bereans when they heard the preaching of Paul & Silas. In Acts 17:10-11 we read, “The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.” These Jews did not simply believe anything that they heard, even though who stood before them were men that were truly sent by God. To ensure that what Paul & Silas were saying was actually true, they searched the Scriptures themselves to see whether these things were so. My friends, it doesn’t matter what your preacher or pastor says, it doesn’t matter what your friend says, or your teacher, or even what I say if it doesn’t line up with the teachings of Scripture. The only thing that matters is this: what does God say? To know that, we need to open up his Word. Do not be deceived by catfish preachers and false teachers, study the Scriptures for yourself & know the truth.
Thank you so much for listening to today’s episode. Tune in, Tuesday-Fridays, as a new podcast episode will be uploaded each day. Also, be sure to follow the Facebook page for the Set Your Mind Above podcast for future announcements and video sessions. As you have the opportunity, share these thoughts with your friends and family, and share with me what important lessons you are learning from every day, ordinary events. Until next time know that I love you, that God loves you, and may we all each and every day set our minds above.