Meditations from Zion

I struggled today with the “lawless one,” false signs and miracles and, to cap it off, God willing to send a delusion to those who are determined to believe a lie. No way out for them? No hope? No mercy? Then I saw the truth of it: a tipping point exists for everyone.

II Thessalonians 2:11-12
For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.

Malcolm Gladwell’s Tipping Point is one of my favorite books, along with a number of subsequent titles he wrote since 2000. What or who causes a tipping point? In Gladwell’s frame of reference, it has to do with “social epidemics” or how an idea or trend gains and ultimately crosses over into popularity.

I can imagine the “lawless one” being good at any one or all of Gladwell’s people types: connectors, mavens, and salesmen. Charismatic people, in the classic sense, make things happen as they scatter what they “know” and what they’ve “heard” and what is “cool.” And eventually, many are on the same bandwagon and believe.

What is truth and what is the lie? It is a critical question to put before the Holy Spirit daily.

Once that tipping point is reached and the lies are accepted for truth and doubt is cast aside as irrelevant and perhaps irreverent, then it’s possible that a way back is lost.

I don’t want to believe this is possible. I don’t want to believe or imagine the existence of an irredeemable soul.

According to Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians, it is possible to reach that moment, that decisive juncture. I envisage someone backing up and with each step, getting closer and closer to a precipice. If any one of us can see the chasm, then we should be holding on, calling out, wooing him/her back to safety. Right?

Does such a calamitous journey only happen with individuals or does it also happen with people groups? I don’t know. I’m just asking. But it does seem plausible.

I cry out for truth, that none would be deceived, that none would be lost. This is another reason to prayerfully “hold back evil” so that each and every person has a real chance to experience God’s mercy, God’s provision in the Anointed One, and God’s Spirit of renewal from within.