Spinning truth and promoting a false narrative is a concept that has been around a long time. We used to call it deception and lying. “The serpent said to the woman, ‘You surely will not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil’” (Gen. 3:4-5). Satan was spinning the truth and selling a false narrative. He was insinuating that God was oppressing Eve and keeping knowledge from her and Adam. By eating of the tree, they would be woke enough to know the difference between good and evil. What he failed to mention was the responsibility to always choose good and never do evil.
In Jesus’ day, He was public enemy number one for the Pharisees. When it came time for His trial, for crimes that He did not commit, it was obvious that He was innocent. “Pilate came out again and said to them, ‘Behold, I am bringing Him out to you so that you may know that I find no guilt in Him’” (John 19:4). Pilate, perhaps thinking that a convicted murderer and insurrectionist wouldn’t be chosen over an innocent man, had the people choose between Barabbas and Jesus (Matt. 27:15-23). “But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to ask him to release Barabbas for them instead” (Mark 15:11). What was happening that day was not about truth, justice or righteousness. Pilate, a rational thinker, was amazed at what was happening (Mark 15:5). It was about the narrative that the religious elite had been spinning.
In our lives there are a lot of false narratives being spun around us. That sin is good, you should tolerate it. That there is more than one race. That there is more than two genders. That government can fix everything. That believing anything other than the narrative is neanderthal thinking. We must be logical and Biblical thinkers to see the spin and help others see it also. “Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you thinks that he is wise in this age, he must become foolish, so that he may become wise” (1 Cor. 3:18). “Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men” (1 Cor. 1:25). Only in God’s wisdom can we see through the lies and deception. Part of that involves seeing what the real threat and battle is about. It is not about political or national issues. The fight is for souls. It is between sin and righteousness. We cannot be eating what Satan is serving the world. We must choose Jesus over Barabbas, over sin, every day.
Satan spun truth to deceive Adam and Eve, and it led to sin entering the world. He thought he was doing it again with the crucifixion of the Christ. However, it led to salvation for man and destruction for Satan. There is comfort in knowing that with all that is happening in the world, God is in control.