When "Let God Judge” Is Not Enough....

The Snake-Oil Gospel: Timotheus Warns the Church

A MolueMonologues reflection on false prophets, multidimensional heresies,

and why “Let God judge” is no longer enough for discerning Christians.

“Obioma” was speaking when I rejoined the group.

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The Weight of Apostasies

“They trample all over His body, and that grieves my heart. They nail Him back, again and again, on the cross—for their own glorification, for their own name’s sake. And it bothers me because no one who truly loves Christ or believes in Him could teach such multidimensional apostasies!”

Multidimensional apostasies?
That wasn’t the vocabulary of an itinerant tailor.

“You are not a tailor,” I thought to myself.

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The Snake Oil Ponzi Scheme

Obioma continued:

“They do not believe in Christ or a single word of the New Testament. Either that, or they deliberately mislead their congregations.

I once thought, perhaps, they were just a little ignorant of the truth. Maybe they were preaching zealously about what little they knew—a bit like Saul of Tarsus before his conversion. But I was wrong. It is a carefully designed Ponzi scheme they operate—selling snake oil disguised as anointing oil, preying on the gullible. They sell hope, only to make hearts sick because that hope is always deferred.”

He paused. Even the rain seemed to quiet itself, as though nature was listening.

“Every Christian should be bothered by this. But it seems everyone is saying, ‘Let God be the judge.’”

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Sparring with the Oldman

At this, the old professor I had nicknamed Ed Ricketts cut in.

“What’s wrong with that? Some of that snake oil seems to work!”

The Oldman shot back:

“Statistically, every falsehood pronounced as prophecy has a 50% chance of appearing true. If lotteries had those odds, there’d be no beggars on the streets!”

“But some of them perform miracles,” Ricketts persisted.

The Oldman’s tone tightened, bristling with irritation (oh, how those two loved to spar!):

“Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, drive out demons in Your name, and perform many miracles in Your name?’
Then I will tell them plainly:
‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness!’”

“Thank you, sir!” Ricketts exclaimed, rising dramatically and offering a mock bow. Laughter rippled through the group.

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A Warning About Signs and Wonders

Obioma cleared his throat:

“Indeed, some of their hocus-pocus may seem to work, but we must remember the Word of the Lord. He warned us not to equate signs and wonders with the presence of the Holy Spirit.”

There was no chance this man was truly a tailor. Why he chose the disguise, I had no idea—but I intended to find out.

“Obioma,” I interrupted gently, struggling to keep up with his fervor. “In one sentence, what do you want us to take away from this?”

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Timotheus Speaks

He smiled, and for the first time, introduced himself properly:

“My name is Timotheus.

And my one word for every Christian is this: Vigilance. Watch carefully those who always seem to finagle money from you. Recognize their every move. These are the same people who politicize Christianity, who make a great show of godliness but possess none of it.”

Then he was off again, punching the air:

“These people are like polluted wells in a verdant oasis—bitter waters that…”

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The Scribe’s Dilemma

On and on he went…

We had a new star in our midst.
You’d think I would be overjoyed.

And in part—yes—I was.
Like angels rejoicing when Christ is spoken of with love and conviction.

Yet, beneath that joy lay a quiet ache:
a sense that my days as the Oldman’s scribe were drawing to a close.

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Don Kenobi
#MolueMonologues