Red-Herring Diverts Souls from Christ

© 2018 by Tom Boynton (editing by Kathy Boynton)

One day, as a young boy, I played “hide-n-seek” with my Dad in the sand dunes at Jones Beach.  I was “it.”  I counted to the number, we’d agreed upon, and then went looking for him.  He’d been wearing a red plaid jacket which I quickly spotted.  While I was investigating the jacket, he sneaked around to “base” behind me and declared himself “home free.”  He had taken off his jacket and hung it over a bush to trick me.  After we were done laughing, he said “I tricked you with a red-herring.”  I didn’t know what that meant so he explained it to me.  Merriam Webster defines a red-herring as, “something that distracts attention from the real issue.”  While I investigated his jacket, Dad was able to make it to “base” and win that round of the game.

Unfortunately, Satan sets up many red-herrings to distract souls from the real issue of eternity.  I was speaking to an individual, this morning.  He is involved in an organization in which God is mentioned quite often.  He said they often talk about Solomon and even reference the Bible a lot.  In a somewhat chameleon-like fashion, they align themselves with many religions.  However, this individual commented, “we don’t talk much about Christ.”

The apostle Paul described himself as a co-laborer with God’s redeemed, whom he described as “God’s building” (1 Corinthians 3:9).  He pointed out that Jesus Christ is the only possible foundation upon which this building can be built.

“For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 3:11)

An organization which relegates Christ to a position of unimportance, in matters of life, can be very dangerous.  It deceives people into diverting their attention from Christ, the only Savior, to red-herrings which cannot save.  The result is far more harmful than what I experienced when I chased my Dad’s jacket rather than him.

God the Son, Jesus, died a sacrificial death to save His people from their sins (Matthew 1:21).  He rose again for our justification (Romans 4:25).  He said,

“… I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6)

Are you following a red-herring that has removed Jesus, the Lord, from the center of your thinking?

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See Christ:  The Only Savior  for other articles on this subject

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