5/5/11 Floyd, 74
"To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted." (Titus 1:15) Is there a connection between conspiracy theorists and disbelief in Jesus? Are those who say Bin Laden isn't really dead - or that we never really walked on the moon - often the same kind of people who say the Bible was just written by a few people to control the rest of us, or that Jesus didn't really rise from the dead? I think there's a big connection. Today at the grocery store I met Floyd, an older African American man who seemed to take pride in questioning just about any sort of authority we talked about, spiritual or secular. Personally I don't believe man has the long-term ability to keep the kinds of secrets that conspiracy theorists claim. We flatter ourselves to think we could be that smart or disciplined as humans. Floyd not only claimed the Bible can't be trusted but that even if it could be trusted people would only read it in different ways. I tried to help him see that the same God who made sure to inspire His own revelation of Himself also made sure to preserve His word. And He isn't trying to fool us; there is no secret way to interpret it. Floyd grew up in a strong church environment but has obviously spent a lifetime finding ways and reasons to refute the Bible, both real and imagined. He has had to lie to himself about it so much that he has lost touch with reality, and many of his ideas defied common sense. Needless to say, I didn't convince him of anything today but as always, I trust that God can do something with the seeds that were planted during that half hour in the frozen food aisle at the grocery store - in Floyd or any one of the dozen of other shoppers who walked past us.
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