Conspiracy Theory

con·spir·a·cy
An evil, unlawful, treacherous, or surreptitious plan formulated in secret by two or more persons; a plot.

Humanity loves to be intrigued. Admit it; we are enthralled by scandal and mystery. We brew it, are baited by it, and buy into it. John F. Kennedy and Elvis…the Oklahoma City Bombing and September 11th. Who shot the president that fateful day in Dallas? Could the King still be alive, or has he really left the building and this life? Did Timothy McVeigh really commit the crime alone and did the government know? How could hijackers skirt security and overpower the pilots of planes to take thousands of American lives? There must be more than we’re being told. These are just some of the questions raised following major, life-changing, world-shaking events. But as Ecclesiastes teaches, there is nothing new under the sun, and it was in fact the Son whose resurrection was responded to with one of the greatest conspiracy theories of all time.

11 While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. 12 When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, 13 telling them, "You are to say, 'His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.' 14 If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble." 15 So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day.

– Matthew 28

Truth be told, Christ would not have won a popularity contest during his day. The chief priests saw him as a threat, and they weren’t willing to take the bet. Their reps were at stake, and they weren’t about to lose their temple cred to a dead man; or even worse, one that was resurrected. You can chalk it up to a hell-bent and bound power trip.

Matthew is the only gospel writer that gives account of the chief priests’ conspiracy. I’m glad that he trusted us with the whole truth. Perhaps the others were concerned about perpetuating the absurdity. Instead, Matt turns their story into somewhat of a mockery. He basically writes, “Here’s what they said, but no, He has in fact risen from the dead.”

Conspiracy theories always seem to spread and rarely reveal any clue of concealed truth. They instead cause chaos, create dissension, conceive disbelief, and cultivate distrust in everything we once knew to be true and held firm to. Just go back to the beginning: the serpent tried to convince Eve that God was conspiring against humanity.

4 "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. 5 "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
-Genesis 3

Satan still does that to you and me. Thousands of years have passed, and yet his play book remains virtually unchanged. The stupidity is that we still fall for the fake just like Adam and Eve did that fateful day. The whispers say, ‘God doesn’t understand…Does he really know what’s best?...He’s holding you back.’ What will you choose to believe? God’s truth, or a conspiracy theory? If Satan is the father of lies (John 8:44), then he and his henchmen must be behind the conspiracy theories in our lives.

The High Price We're Willing To Pay To Disobey

Let’s face it, sin is in. It’s been somewhat of a permanent trend since Adam and Eve. As long as we’re getting away with it, we buy into the lie that it makes us content. So many times I have been sorry for my sin not because I have hurt the heart of God but because I regret the punishment it brings upon me. The truth is, even the Bible admits that sin is fun for a season. Somehow we find that reason enough to engage in acts of disobedience.

In Joshua 6 we find the Israelites poised to take the land God promised them. They’ve wandered in the wilderness for 40 years, now Joshua has commanded them to march around a city six times. But then came the seventh day when they were to lay claim to Jericho. Before they began their now daily regiment, God gave a warning to His top man:

18 But keep away from the devoted things, so that you will not bring about your own destruction by taking any of them. Otherwise you will make the camp of Israel liable to destruction and bring trouble on it. 19 All the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron are sacred to the LORD and must go into his treasury." - Joshua 6

But as it was in the beginning, it only took one man’s sin to do them in. Adam sealed our fate to this day. Death is the punishment we face.

12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned— 13a for before the law was given, sin was in the world. – Romans 5

This time it was another man whose name began with an ‘A’ that would doom his fellow man. Achan chose to disobey God’s command and keep some of the devoted things for himself. Scripture says that God’s anger burned against Israel because of what he did. Yet, no one else knew and the Israelites went ahead with a plan to conquer Ai as part of their next quest. Little did they know that God would not go with them. The spies were so confident that they told Joshua not all of the men would have to go; just two or three thousand. In the end, 36 of their men died and the Israelites were chased from the city.

Isn’t that how it always is? We seem to think that our sin is our business. After all, we’re convinced it doesn’t affect anyone else. And yet here is this example that clearly shows the price we’re willing to pay to disobey. God had warned them. Yet, all it took was Achan’s act of disobedience to bring judgment on an entire nation. In the end Achan and his family paid the price with their lives. But his sin also took 36 other men.

20 When Achan son of Zerah acted unfaithfully regarding the devoted things, did not wrath come upon the whole community of Israel? He was not the only one who died for his sin.' " – Joshua 22

Sin does not always have an obvious, direct affect. Sometimes there are repercussions that we don’t always connect. Still, they are there nonetheless.

There is something missing when you compare the Israelites’ triumphant victory at Jericho to their failed attempt in Ai. God’s blessing is blatantly absent. Here’s what He had to say before their first battle for the Promised Land:

2 Then the LORD said to Joshua, "See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men. – Joshua 6

Yet, God is strangely silent as the men prepare for a second time. The Israelites were confident in their own abilities and went into battle alone. They didn’t even know that the Lord was no longer with them. That’s the way it is in our lives. We think that we can continue in sin and that God will bestow his blessings upon us. Then we’re surprised when we fail. The danger lies in this: like Israel, we are often unaware that God has left us. Our sin does us in. So, let me ask you this: Is sin really worth the high price we must pay to disobey?