A very old scam with a long history, is called the “Bait-and-Switch”, were people are promised goods or services at a substantial discount, and then later come to find out that what they were promised is either not available, or not as good as was originally expected. The customers are then often highly-pressured to consider more expensive items instead of what they were originally promised.
In the United States, such actions are generally considered to be “false advertising” and many lawsuits have been filed over the years for such practices.
So it saddens me when I see people falling victim to the exact same type of bait-and-switch tactics in modern Christianity. There’s a lot of this going on today and most people don’t even realize that it’s happening to them. In many ways it happens very slowly and subtly, over a period of years, and it ruins people’s spiritual lives.
Well, the scriptures are not shy in warning about it, and so today I want to share with you some common bait-and-switch tactics in Christianity that I have come across, and how you can avoid them by knowing the truth of Jesus Christ.
There are many things in today’s culture that try to grab our focus. There are all sorts of things that aim to seize our attention and hold it. Anything from TV commercials, news broadcasts, music performances and talking heads of all sorts. They are all after one thing… you.
Whatever you put your attention on grows. What you focus on, you actually give power to. Did you know that? It sounds like new age philosophy, but it is actually in your Bible. The Holy Spirit, as the divine master teacher, taught this principle long before any new age wannabe – and the Holy Spirit actually taught it correctly – on the solid foundation of Jesus Christ. This is what we will be studying today.