The Spin Cycle (Part Two)

If you’ve been reading this blog for any length of time then you know the drill by now. Whenever I do a series it’s best to go back and read the previous parts in order to avoid thinking I am a schizophrenic (not entirely off base). So, if you haven’t already done so, go here and read part one.

Now we can expose these spin doctors for all they are worth (which is about two cents).

First, just a little bit more biblical background. Remember that I said these spinners had all the evidence in the world right in front of them to show that Jesus was the long awaited Messiah, but their jealousy and hatred of Him caused them to be blinded by the very light that shone in their dark worlds. Look what the apostle John says about such people in John 1:10:

“He (Jesus) was in the world, and the world was created through Him, yet the world did not recognize Him.”

Though Romans chapter one makes it clear that recognizing the truth about God is considered a “no-brainer,” disengaging the brain ends up being what hundreds of millions of people do in regards to the truth each and every day. And sense God will never force anyone to love Him, the world has seperated into two groups—those who believe in (trust in) Jesus and those who do not. And, as it turns out, those who do not have to explain away the illogical choices they make by becoming masters of the spin cycle. It’s those very spin masters I want to expose in this little series.

When do we first see them?

Well, right out of the gate actually. At the time of Jesus’ first miracle, we already see people separating themselves into the two afore mentioned groups. In the second chapter of the gospel of John, Jesus turns water to wine at a wedding feast. Immediately, scripture tells us that the disciples made a choice to entrust themselves to Him and that they believed He was the long awaited Messiah. As Jesus went on to perform other miracles, it only served to strengthen their faith.

But what of the folks in the other group?

I like the way a good friend of mine, Josh Via, put it in his recently published book, “The Discovery,” (an awesome read, by the way). He said,

“We discover through the context and added bit of commentary that these guys (the spin doctors*) had only a superficial belief—a belief as shallow as the motive that drew them to Him in the first place (they wanted to see Him do some tricks*). But Jesus wasn’t fooled. He knew who His real followers were. He knew the motives of their heart before they breathed their first breath. So He did not entrust Himself to them.”

In short, “they didn’t believe in Him (truly believe in Him), so He did not truly believe in them.”

Ouch.

And they must have picked up on this early on. Jesus would never play by their rules and that made them more and more angry which only served to blind them to more and more obvious evidence. And when that happens, a lot of people see only one choice left to them.

Rewrite history.

Spin the facts to your advantage.

Lie.

And that’s what those who never place their trust in Jesus end up doing. Spinning the truth into something they can live with. Recreating God in their own image instead of bending the knee to the God who created them in His.

What a tragedy.

But we’ve only seen this spin cycle from 35,000 feet. Tomorrow we’ll zoom in for a closer look at some actual cases of spin doctoring by the spin masters themselves.

* words added by me.