I was convinced that I was smarter than that, to be taken in by a spiritual predator! And yet this scripture once again proves to be true: “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18).  Pride doesn’t always manifest itself in obvious way but it affects our attitudes in subtle ways—like thinking “it couldn’t happen to me” or “I’m too smart for that”.  I am grateful to my heavenly Father that I am not destroyed (but I am out $100); and it is difficult to envision myself having a haughty spirit (disdainfully proud, snobbish, or scornfully arrogant), however, God is committed to my never getting that way!  I guess there is a little bit of “I’m not as gullible as other people…” feeding my attitudes, though.

But it happened, just this past week. I was approached online, on Facebook (I can imagine you shaking your heads at this point, wondering how I could for a minute be taken in, and knowing that you wouldn’t be) by someone purporting to be from a ministry that I admire, asking for money to support an orphanage in Nigeria (now I know you must be convinced of my fool-hardiness, I probably would be if I were reading this!).  As I look back at the experience, I recognize some scripturally identifiable demonic tactics.

The dialog started with a question: “Do you have faith?”  The implication of the question was that if I had faith, then I would send money to support a particular ministry.  My natural reaction was to become defensive and start an internal dialog about faith, whether I have it, and how I should demonstrate it.  The problem was that I was looking inside of me, trying to assess my own spiritual condition instead of immediately turning to Jesus and asking Him if I have faith and what He wants me to do about it.  The reality is that everyone has faith, we just get to choose where we invest it—in the person of Jesus Christ and all He has accomplished on our behalf, or in the dictates of the enemy and this world.

“For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith” (Romans 12:3).

Faith is dynamic, not static, as the Holy Spirit admonishes through the apostle Paul, “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving” (Colossians 2:6, 7)—the way our faith grows is by being rooted and built up in Jesus, not by trying to prove it to ourselves or someone else.

Interesting that Satan’s encounter with Eve in the garden began with a question, “Did God really say that?” and then he added his personal misrepresentation of God’s directive. Satan’s approach to Jesus sought to undermine His identity (“If you are the Son of God”) and to twist scripture to serve the enemy’s purposes.  …and demonic forces continue to use and misrepresent the Word of God to manipulate believers.  I also have noticed that the enemy seeks to question or undermine our identity in Jesus (children of God, joint heirs with Christ – Romans 8:17, 18) and our faith, so that we will not feel secure in the amazing grace of God and the testimony of our lives will lose the dynamic effectiveness of God’s love and mercy.

It is significant in Peter’s first epistle that, before describing the activities of Satan, he counsels believers to “humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.” He continues his letter, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.  But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen and settle you” (1 Peter 5:6-10).

I recognize that giving is both biblical and an expression of worship:

Jesus taught, “Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom.  For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you” (Luke 6:38).

Paul described the gifts he received from the Philippian church as “a sweet-smelling aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God” (Philippians 4:18).

After my experience this past week, I decided to write down some personal criteria in regards to giving. Here they are:

• No need is so urgent that I don’t have time to pray, to seek God’s heart and the Holy Spirit’s leading in my response to it—I will allow the peace of God to rule in my heart (Colossians 3:15) regarding donations (and everything else, for that matter). 
• If a request for money seems compulsory, then question its source. In Paul’s second letter to the Corinthian church, he wrote this about giving: “I thought it necessary to exhort the brethren to go to you ahead of time, and prepare your generous gift beforehand, which you had previously promised, that it may be ready as a matter of generosity and not as a grudging obligation. But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:5-7). It is not necessarily selfishness that causes us to feel a “grudging obligation” in giving; sometimes it is the Holy Spirit cautioning us to seek His guidance. Generosity produces joy in the giver; if cheerfulness is absent, it is a good idea to ask God “why?”
• I will never use a credit card to make a donation because it would be presumptuous to give something I do not have while expecting God to “bless” me with the money to cover the debt. “Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; Let them not have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless, and I shall be innocent of great transgression” (Psalm 19:13).
• Besides my church, I have several reputable organizations I give money to—I do not believe God expects us to answer every legitimate plea for help; when we ask Him, the Holy Spirit will highlight in our hearts the places and the amounts He wants us to give.
• If you have any doubt about a donation request, talk about it with someone you know and trust. One of the verses the person, who managed to manipulate me into giving money, used was Matthew 6:3-4 – “But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.” Implied here was that my giving to this orphanage should be kept secret; I am sure, however, in this situation that person was more concerned about not being exposed than any reward the Father might have for me.

I was pretty ashamed about having this happen to me—being conned by a predator. I also recognize that we have an enemy whose mission is to steal, to kill, and to destroy (John 10:10) and deception is one of his tactics.  However, by learning from my experience and if this post can help someone else, then it was worth it!

“And we know that all things work together

For good to those who love God,

To those who are the called

According to His purpose.”

Romans 8:28