Don’t Fall for It!

By Joe Slater     Sometimes I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. So many “friends” on social media keep falling for the same hoaxes that were debunked years ago. “Oh no! Facebook is going to start charging us for having an account!” Um, no, they aren’t. They couldn’t even if they wanted to, because you haven’t given them your credit card number or your bank information. Somebody started the hoax, it went viral, and gullible people keep passing it on. (sigh)     The same thing happens in spiritual matters. Jesus warned that false christs would arise. “Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it” (Matthew 24:23-24). His words came true in the first century AD and many were led astray. It still happens today, though less frequently.     John cautioned us to “test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1). Just because someone says something with an air of authority doesn’t make it true! Remember the noble Bereans who “received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so” (Acts 17:11).     It has been accurately stated that a lie, repeated often enough, becomes accepted as truth. Countless falsehoods are routinely treated as true today. For instance:         “Peter was the first Pope.”         “The Catholic Church gave us the Bible.”         “All you need to do to be saved is believe in Jesus.”         “The denominations are branches on Jesus, the vine.”         “We’re all going to the same place but taking different roads.”     Don’t fall for it! Search the Scriptures! Know the truth!

- Joe Slater serves as minister of the Church of Christ in Justin, TX. He may be contacted through the congregation's website: http://justinchurchofchrist.com