The con in the word “conman” comes from the word “condfidence”. As we have come to recognize it today, cons are liars who are out to exploit people. In short they are evil.
If you’ve ever heard the saying: “fool me once shame on you” you may have heard the second half: “fool me twice shame on me.” We do have a responsibility before men & God to recognize fakes.
The trick to being a good conmen is being plausible. However just because what they describe may be possible, what makes them deceptive are the facts that they skip over. A common one being, what they offer isn’t usually probable. Think lottery ticket. They sell advice like lottery tickets and exploit hope in the process. There is nothing for them to lose in this process, they cannot, will not, and do not guarantee your success. They don’t even have to print tickets! They just build your confidence. The more confidence they can build the more “con” they can exploit.
Besides the lottery (“it could be you!”), another great example of a con is a company called Amway (formally known as Quixtar, formally known as Alticor formally known as Amway). They’re probably due for another name change soon. Here’s a quick look at conmen at work:
Does it look familiar? Think Church. Unfortunately, there is little soil more “fertile” than the hope of religion. Chant Jeremiah 29:11 or the prayer of Jabez enough times and Christians are all over the hope that comes from promises of success and riches. The catch? It’s a con.
This isn’t yet another criticism of the prosperity gospel, there are plenty of those to be found going back years. John Piper, David Platt… um Jesus. What this is is a warning to be on your guard against “confidence” men who puff others up with strings attached.
The reason Church is a common place to find this is because in Church we “encourage” and “compliment”. It is perfectly good theology to let people know the “good news” and to pat them on the back along their way. We highly value “encouragers” but “exhorters” are “too opinionated” and the prophets get outright ostracized readily. Remember, it’s the prophets that are hated and killed. If prophets are the buzz-killers of the Body of Christ the encouragers are the chocolate, caffeine, even crack. However, those encouragers, who can argue with them?
2 Timothy 4:3 : “For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.”
Sound familiar? Or how about this?
Luke 6:32: “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them.”
Of course everyone loves “encouragers” because we’re all sinners, even non-believers are… so we “love” those that “love” us. However Jesus didn’t dwell on this type of “love” much. It comes naturally to everyone. So it stands to reason that we shouldn’t be surprised if nothing supernatural follows behavior so natural as flattery. Yes, flattery. Encouragement’s evil twin.
Conmen thrive on flattery. They appeal to your ego, they appeal to your vanity, and to find an in they can even appeal to your emotions. However, what they often lack is the ability to deal with anything that threatens their image. If a conman gets caught in a lie that he can’t weasle out of he will flee. His intentions were never relationship or love, they were exploitation. They may have even believed that they were serving God and just getting a little bit of “reward” on the side. They should check out a guy named Achan in the Old Testiment who thought a little on the side was innocent.
In fact, let’s all consider Achan for a moment, because there’s a bit of him in all of us. It may be rare to find an actual sheep under the sheep’s clothing nowadays, but when we do it’s an amazing thing. So whether you are fellowshipping with other believers or not, don’t be surprised that it’s rare. Look in the mirror instead. Ask yourself what “reward” you’re trying to get for you time . Even the smallest little trinket could be a major problem. Become the person that you long to find. To do that will probably require sacrifice, and almost certainly not be financially or socially profitable for you. But that’s when you can smile and say with confidence: “I am not a conman. I am not Achan, I am not robbing God.”
The rewards of sacrifice go to Christ, and He redistributes it as He sees fit. The great “socialist” in the sky & the only one qualified to rule that way.
For those of you that know conmen, recognize that Achan didn’t think what he was doing was terrible either. In fact, it was impossible to pin down the sin without God’s help. Nowadays God isn’t *usually* in the business of swallowing people up with earthquakes. So tread lightly, and test carefully, and bear 100% mercy. We’re not the judge, and we may discover that with God’s help we can rescue our brother from Achan’s fate. Even if you are sinless, you undoubtedly at one point were not. So put yourself in their shoes and be a rescuer not a condemner.