Out Our Way: Deceptive 'friends'

Genesis 3:1-6 - "Now, the serpent was more crafty than any other creature ..."

Out our way, most folks like to kid around and don't really mean any harm - but sometimes harm comes anyway. They say they are "friends" but sometimes act like enemies. 

I have likely shared this before, but at my first roundup and branding, I very nearly had a very painful prank pulled on me. Being an absolute tender foot and "cowboy wanna be," the wranglers let me ride with them and even helped herd some of the cattle into the branding corral.

Now, this ranch had a branding pen set up. The cattle were driven into a holding pen and their calves were pushed into a chute. The gate would open for each calf and it would be ushered into a narrower chute where there was a branding table, Steel arms would hold the calf against the table, the table flipped, and the docking and branding and ear tagging took place. Then the table was set down again, the calf released, and another gate opened through which it quickly ran. 

Now, one of my friends thought it would be a hilarious joke to hand me a lariat and have me rope a spooked calf as it ran out of the gate. Of course there was no place to dally the rope, so had I done so the rope would have either shot through my hands and burned the flesh severely - or I would have held on and been jerked to the ground and dragged across the ground by the terrified animal. Ho ho! Big joke! Big laugh! Big foolum! Let us just say I never trusted that "friend" again.   

In the Garden of Eden, the serpent (whom we tend to identify with - or at least as an agent of - Satan) came as a "friend" to Adam and Eve. Knowing they were "tenderfeet" in the Garden, what fun to trick them into self-destruction by having them eat the forbidden fruit. It was not "the Tree of Knowledge" as some who have not studied the text often mistakenly believe, but the "Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil" In short - opening the gates to the temptation of corruption, disobedience, and rebellion against God. The serpent assured them he was wiser than they and knew the mind of God, and they should follow his instructions instead of relying on what God had said. "God was just kidding when he forbade you to toy with evil. Trust me, I know better and this is the real truth." And Adam and Eve fell for it - to their dismay and destruction. 

We live in an age of many serpents - gaslighting politicians, propagandists pretending to be journalists, terrorist funded agents in Universities and in Hollywood seeking to poison the minds of the gullible. Sadly, serpents also inhabit the Church with their corrupted theology and demand their followers ignore the Word and listen instead to them.

The result is always the same. The "Garden" is lost and the Serpent's victims lose it all. But here is the good news. The serpent does not win in the long run. He is eventually brought down and exposed and his disguise ripped away. And a new" Garden" is planted. Yes, more serpents will come and invade it and eventually that garden will also be destroyed – but God will again plant a new one. The cycle is not forever for the eternal Garden of Paradise cannot be invaded and the "Kingdom" will finally be established. The Risen One told us this and has promised to return. We sing Psalm 13 and cry, " How long,O Lord?" I do not know, nor does anyone here on earth - but the King who is coming knows. So does the serpent - and that is why we see his poisonous efforts increasing all around. That is panic, beloved. The King IS coming and the serpent's destruction is not far off.

Be blessed and be a blessing!

Brother John

--

The Rev. John Bruington is the retired pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Havre. He now lives in Colorado, but continues to write "Out Our Way." He can be reached for comment or dialogue at [email protected].