Don't Stay Deceived

One thing worse than being deceived is staying deceived. In this short writing, when I talk about being deceived I'm not talking about the people in cults and false religions who believe they are saved but really are not. I'm referring here to Christians who are genuinely saved but have some wrong denominational beliefs. All true believers embrace the fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith: Christ's death, burial, and resurrection; His divinity and humanity; the Trinity, etc. But Christians who hold to and defend the fundamentals may be erring in some of their secondary beliefs.

We all tend to think that our own beliefs are right while others with differing beliefs are wrong. But why don't we ever think that we could just as easily be the ones who are wrong? The fact is, nobody is right about everything which means all of us are wrong about some things. And if we are wrong about some things then we are deceived to a certain degree. The deceived believe they are not deceived while at the same time believe the undeceived are deceived. This is the nature of deception.

It wasn't until many years into following Christ that I realized I was deceived about some things I believed. Saved, yet somewhat deceived. And once I adjusted my beliefs in a few areas, I had to admit there were probably other areas I was deceived but not yet aware of. Now I've come to a place where I try to regularly question what I believe against what Scripture actually teaches. After all, if what I believe is really true then it should stand up to close scrutiny. And if some of my beliefs turn out to be false then as a servant of Christ I have no choice but to change them. Being right honors Christ and being right comes only after changing my wrong beliefs.

Many Christians, on the other hand, seem to have their beliefs set in stone. They don't even want to consider they could be wrong about some things. But to not think they might be wrong about some things is really to think they are right about everything. And, as said earlier, nobody is right about everything. We all need to reevaluate our beliefs often and be willing to change them when we are found to be wrong. Staying deceived is far worse than being deceived.