Hijacking The Narrative

I try to stay away from much of the undertow that happens on Facebook – political debates, slanted news stories, non-validated claims, ‘chain anything’ or celebrity hype. But last week, a friend of mine shared a video about how “Black people are rejecting the ‘white’ Jesus and white supremacy. This, of course, got my attention and these are the kinds of Facebook things that prompt me to speak.

This idea of “Hijacking the Narrative” is not new and it’s author is well known: None other than Satan himself.

Here’s The Word:

Matthew 4:3-10 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

Hijacking is always a slight of hand play. It tries to take what you see and undermine it by presenting a distorted cause or condition that affirms the switch. The devil, knowing that bodily, Christ was hungry, sought to play up His godly abilities with a ‘disobedient’ self-centered focus. Could Christ have turned stones to bread? Of course….that wasn’t the question, but the enemy tried to make it the concern. Just like the Facebook post from my friend stating that “Black Christians all over the world are waking up and rejecting “white” Jesus.

Even if Jesus really was as WHITE as possible, (we all know He was Jewish) does that have absolutely anything to do with His commission from The Father, His commitment to the Cross, or His compassion for the lost? None whatsoever. Honestly, there are “Black” Christians all over the world who don’t have the American slavery influence when it comes to their conversion experience like this post implies their being ‘woken up’ from.

Then, there’s the tie which isn’t even the Devil’s best work when it comes to subtlety, because he used the term "white Jesus" that there’s an immediate connection and support of white supremacy. The Bible doesn’t support the idea of anyone suppressing or disenfranchising anyone – even when it does talk in terms of slaves and masters which is not a direct correlation to Slavery in America – The Bible was written to Jews in their time and then expanded to non-Jews in their time which included the idea of slaves and masters. White supremacy is not a white Jesus phenomena, it’s a sinful heart phenomena.

The fullness of our belief system is not simply based on Jesus. Our salvation is ordained by The Father, accomplished by Christ, and confirmed in us by The Spirit - and the Father and Spirit have no color. The Bible tells us in 1 John 4:1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

If you’re the kind of person that’s easily persuaded by people’s narratives, it would benefit you to develop better habits in regards to confirming the things you hear:

     • First, ask yourself, what’s the motivation behind what I’m being told?
     • Is there more than one side to this story? Not everyone who disagrees with you is automatically lying or crazy.
     • Is there source information I can check to validate the claims being made?
     • What benefit is there for me to believe this?
     • Do these claims contradict a well-established truth? Not that it’s impossible to counter a well-established truth, but in that case, commit to investigating things further.

Jesus says of Himself that He is the Way, the Truth, and The Life (John 14:6) And I believe that it’s the Father’s heart being expressed in 3 John 1:4 where it says he has no greater joy than to hear that His children walk in truth.
We have to have a desire – a hunger for truth and a corresponding energy level that seizes the opportunity to clarify and affirm it, for our benefit and the benefit of others. Most news stories today come with a twist of a fact here, an unrelated connection there, a sprinkling of a redefining of motives and intentions and it’s become hard to believe anything you hear. You may (or maybe not) feel provoked to get involved, but this twisted thinking will not stop at trivial matters, it will come to undermine the truth of The Gospel, and already has. Which is why we're encouraged thusly;

Jude:3-4 Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.

Pick your battles. That’s why I pick to support and defend these most important of issues – Christ and Him crucified – sufficient to the salvation of the lost, to the Glory of God. This, I will defend against the slight of hand; against those trying to hijack the narrative.

In Him,
Cros