A Thought for the Week of November 25

"Many false prophets have come into the world." (1 John 4:1) I wonder who the false prophets are? I don't doubt that they're around. Some of them are probably well known. Some may claim to speak for God; others may speak for any one of the false "gods" that fill our society. But surely we have to have some way of discovering who they are - so at least we'll know who not to listen to, in this era when there are so many competing and conflicting messages - even coming from the Christian community. A prophet, of course, is one who speaks for God, so a false prophet would be one who doesn't speak for God - even though they may claim to. If you consider the Old Testament prophets, you discover that prophets were also concerned with both the social and religious well-being of their society. They decried faithlessness toward God and uncaring attitudes toward others. Jesus picked up on this theme when he (as well as later authors such as James) seemed to suggest that we serve God the best when we serve others the most. It would seem to me that among today's false prophets are those who insist that we consume more and more of everything, that we always need to have the newest and best of everything. Which, of course, makes some people rich, puts some of us in debt and makes workers toil for as close to minimum wage as possible. When we put profits ahead of people, and money ahead of gospel, we have a problem. I'm thinking of this because Christmas is approaching. The stores are already decorated. I went into our bank the other day, and staff were decorating the tree. Christmas specials will be on TV soon. And so much of Christmas now is directed to getting us to spend. More and more and more. Which, it seems to me, is a message that comes from false prophets. Remember that, in the words of James, "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." Watch out for the false prophets who tell you otherwise! And have a great week!