10 key words in 2 John #9: deceiver

Introduction:

These three short letters – 1,2 and 3 John – are traditionally thought to be written by the author of the Gospel of John, known as John the Evangelist. 1 John is written to a group of early believers, some of whom were losing sight of the truth to be found in Jesus Christ. This letter – 2 John – is written to an individual – and this individual is a woman!

This month’s approach is to pick out 10 key words from the letter and unpack those words to see what message they contain for us today. So I suggest that each day, you read the whole letter, then read my thoughts on a particular key word and then take that word with you to reflect on throughout the day.

The whole of 2 John:

1 The elder,

To the lady chosen by God and to her children, whom I love in the truth—and not I only, but also all who know the truth— 2 because of the truth, which lives in us and will be with us forever:

3 Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son, will be with us in truth and love.

4 It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us. 5 And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another. 6 And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.

7 I say this because many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist. 8 Watch out that you do not lose what we have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully. 9 Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. 10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take them into your house or welcome them. 11 Anyone who welcomes them shares in their wicked work.

12 I have much to write to you, but I do not want to use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to visit you and talk with you face to face, so that our joy may be complete.

13 The children of your sister, who is chosen by God, send their greetings.

The 10 key words: 

• lady
• chosen
• children
• love
• truth
• Jesus
• joy
• command
• deceiver
• teaching

Today’s word: deceiver

deceiver: noun: someone who leads you to believe something that is not true

beguiler, cheater, trickster, cheat, wrongdoer, liar, imitator, faker

So I’m immediately thinking media, politicians, fake news, super positive Facebook and Instagram posts, advertising, diet programmes and exercise coaches, reality TV stars, photoshopping, celebrities…

Not every promise is fake, of course, not ever claim false. Not everyone who promises much delivers little. Some healthy eating regimes do work. Some celebrities really do have it all. Some politicians really do act for the goodof the people. But definitely not all.

We cannot believe all that we read and see. Which is hard for someone like me who is naturally trusting/gullible. OK, so I’m wise to the more obvious stuff. I see Instagram for what it is – the curated best bits of people’s lives. I assume all images I see on billboards are photoshopped. But I’m a sucker for uplifting stories and quotes and pseudoscience (my husband’s take on the ‘meaningful’ ‘facts’ I share with him). He has a highly honed ‘bullshit’ filter – unfortunately that has led him to a level of cynicism that I do not aspire to. It’s tough, isn’t it? I don’t want to give up hope that people are capable of authenticity. I want to be able to trust. I guess all I’m looking for is a healthy dose of awareness.

I was scammed this week. I’d been careless, clicking through to some game on Facebook probably, and the hacker had got hold of my commonly used password. He claimed to have access to my laptop and email account which was scary. He also claimed he had proof that I was a pervert and all the dodgy porn sites I’d been visiting and access to compromising images of myself. That I found less scary. He could have nothing like that on me because there was nothing to have. And even if he did publish something about me, I’d like to believe that people know me well enough to not believe any of it. But these scammers are clever. They make these suggestions because sometimes, they will hit on someone who they can blackmail in this way. They wouldn’t do it otherwise. However, if you strive to walk in truth and love, then you have nothing to hide and people like this can have nothing on you.

I value integrity and honesty and authenticity. I want to know the real you. I want the world to know the real me. That’s why I can’t stand shammers and fakers and hypocrites and deceivers. Life is too short for connections based on lies and pretence.

In this passages, John is talking about deceivers within the community of believers: those who are faking it and leading others astray with their false teaching and half truths. We should not believe everything we hear from the mouth of a politician or everything we read on Facebook, but neither should we believe everything we hear in church or from the mouths of other believers either. If what we are hearing does not ring true, then it may not be. We all need to have that healthy level of awareness and be aware that there are deceivers out there – deliberate or otherwise. We need to be able to discern God’s truth when we hear it (that takes practice, of course). According to John, we need to have nothing to do with those who would deliberately mislead the people of God. I’m thinking of those with their own agendas who twist the Word of God to justify their prejudices and position.

Find love. Find truth. Align yourself with those people who walk in love and truth. Be one of those people yourself.

Be real.