How Do I Recognize Spiritual Deception?

Have you ever thought someone was shooting straight with you, only to discover they were taking you for a ride?

This is what happened to me last year.

Living in Idaho's high-desert climate, I found the dryness started to affect my skin, making it extremely itchy. Because it was the first time I had ever experienced something like this, I didn’t know what was happening and assumed either Janan had changed laundry detergent brands or I was allergic to something in our house.

She hadn’t, and no matter what I tried, my itchiness only got worse. Sometimes I'd be awake till 2 a.m. just scratching, only to wake up several hours later exhausted. Then one day, my friend JD suggested I get a water softener, and I realized this was likely my issue.

Not wanting to pay full price for a brand-new water softener system, I went on Facebook Marketplace and found a local installer with a unit only a few months old. I checked out his company, and he had a solid rating.

His pitch was that he had just removed a water softener system from a customer's home, and that it was as good as new. This sounded like a good deal to me, and a few days later, he installed the system.

At first, everything seemed to work well, and knowing nothing about water softener systems, I trusted his judgment. My skin condition improved, and the first two months seemed fine.

Then, in month three, I noticed a small leak in the unit. I gave the guy a call, and he came out to take a look. That's where things got weird. He made a series of excuses about why the system wasn't working as it should, why I'd need to pay more money...and casually mentioned he was taking some new illegal drug.

Terrific.

Realizing I should have paid closer attention at the beginning, I looked underneath my unit and noticed the label said: “installed in 2013.” So much for a brand new system. I did a little digging and realized this installer had swindled several other clients in my area with the same pitch.

Looking back, I still feel a little foolish. I thought I’d done my due diligence, but my desire for a good deal cost me a couple of thousand dollars.

Be Careful

In Colossians 2, Paul addresses believers in Colossae who were, in many ways, being taken for a spiritual ride. On the surface, the teaching they were hearing looked legitimate. It had the appearance of wisdom, tradition, and even spiritual depth. But underneath, it was not what it claimed to be.

These teachings include early forms of what scholars often call “proto-Gnosticism” alongside strong Jewish legalism. People were being told they needed more than Jesus Christ. They were urged to follow strict rules about food, observe special religious days, and seek deeper spiritual experiences through mystical practices or even angel worship.

Paul warns that these teachings were hollow and deceptive, rooted in human tradition rather than in Jesus Christ. And in Colossians 2:8, he says, “Be careful that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit based on human tradition, based on the elements of the world, rather than Christ.”

As Arthur G. Patzia writes, “Paul is not objecting to the study of philosophy (lit., ‘one who loves wisdom’), because in the Hellenistic world religious communities offered their teaching as philosophy. His concern is with those who have turned the pursuit of wisdom into a ‘philosophistry’ characterized by empty and deceitful practices.”^[1]

Know Your Kryptonite

Like the Colossians, we're all prone to falling for deception, and often, we're easy prey for people who speak our language. Personally, I'm not easily persuaded by a TV evangelist in a $10,000 suit asking me to write a $30,000 check so he can have a private plane. Some are.

I'm also not quick prey for excessive emotionalism, and am quickly turned off if a speaker gets up on a stage, tells this heart-wrenching story, only to make a terrible point. And I’ve long been suspicious of intellectual elites who use condescending, manipulative language to make others feel like they are inferior.

But you know where I am vulnerable? My defenses come down when someone speaks articulately and conversationally, putting a slightly different spin on something I haven't heard before. They speak with quiet confidence and not much bluster. And it's that combination that makes me the most vulnerable.

We all have our kryptonite.

The key is to know what yours is and to guard against it. How do you do this? In Paul's words, by holding close to the head of the body, which is Christ.

Like a sheep knows the voice of their shepherd, so we must get to know the voice of Christ. This is the only way we’ll stand strong when competing voices try to pull us away from him.

How do you do this? It's not rocket surgery, but try to infuse your quiet moments with as much Scripture as possible. Here are a few ways I do this:

• When I'm brushing my teeth, I listen to Scripture on the Dwell Bible App.
• Before I start work each morning, I pull out my Bible and read a few verses—often leaving it open as I work.
• And when I sit down to read a book on my Kindle, I'll read a few pages of the Bible I've downloaded.

Nothing crazy, but these daily disciplines add up.

The great thing is that the more you do this, the more you will recognize deception. You might not know why something that was said is wrong, but you will know something is off. The voice of the Good Shepherd is too loud for you to ignore.

^[1]Arthur G. Patzia, Ephesians, Colossians, Philemon, Understanding the Bible Commentary Series. Accordance electronic ed. (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2011), 51.