Former Blackout Artist

But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them —bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping. – 2 Peter 2:1-3

Years ago I remember going into the gas station to pay for my fuel and I handed the clerk a $20 bill. She took it and ran it through the machine that makes sure that it’s legit and not a counterfeit, but the machine kept rejecting it. She called her manager and they checked it again. Same thing happened again. “Sir, where did you get this twenty-dollar bill?” I replied, “I have no idea. Could’ve been anywhere. Why? What’s wrong?” She answered, “It’s not real – it’s counterfeit.”

Somehow, I ended up with a counterfeit twenty-dollar bill in my wallet. I felt so vulnerable and exploited! And the manager had to keep the fake bill and contact the local authorities. So here I am, out $20 because someone passed me a fake bill!

Would you recognize the real thing from a counterfeit? I didn’t. And that got my attention!

Peter talks about false teachers slipping in among God’s people, the same way counterfeit money slips into someone’s wallet. They teach things that sound spiritual on the surface but are completely at odds with what God has actually said. He’s saying, “Look, this is going to happen, so don’t act surprised when it does.” And what makes it tough is that these teachers don’t walk in waving a big neon sign that says, “Warning: I’m a heretic!” They come quietly, subtly, and sometimes even wrapped in language that sounds “Christiany.”

That’s the dangerous part really—the subtlety of it. Peter says these teachers “secretly introduce destructive heresies.” Secretly. That means they don’t come through the front door—they sneak in through the side window while we’re not paying attention.

And honestly, we see this all over the place today. The prosperity gospel is the big, obvious example: the idea that if you just have enough faith (and maybe give enough money), God owes you health, wealth, and success. It’s loud, flashy, and it looks appealing—until you compare it to Scripture and realize it’s nowhere close to how Jesus or the apostles talk about suffering, obedience, or discipleship.

But it’s the quieter false teachings that worry me more. The ones that sound like motivational speeches, just sprinkled with Bible verses. The ones that make Christianity all about “living your truth,” “following your heart,” or “believing in yourself”—ideas that sound harmless but actually steer us away from depending on Christ.

Sometimes the lies aren’t even in what people say—they’re in what they leave out. No repentance. No holiness. No talk of sin. No mention of submission to God. Just a soft, feel-good message that never confronts anything. Paul warned about this too—teachers who tell people what their “itching ears want to hear.” And that warning shows up in several places, including 1 Timothy. The point is the same: not everyone who stands up and talks about God is telling the truth about Him.

And here’s the thing—none of us are immune to being fooled! That’s why Peter’s words matter so much. False teaching doesn’t grab you by the shoulders, it kind of creeps into your thinking little by little. Before long, it becomes normal. And honestly, the only real defense we have is to know the truth well enough that the lies sound “off.”

This is why it matters that we’re actually reading and studying our Bibles—not just scanning over verses, but letting Scripture shape how we think. Because the more familiar you are with God’s Word, the faster you’ll recognize something that isn’t His Word, no matter how nice, clever, emotional, or “spiritual” it sounds.

Peter ends this section saying that many will follow these false teachers, and that’s sobering. But it also motivates me. I don’t want to be someone who just drifts along with whatever sounds good that week. I want to be anchored to what God has already said—because that’s the only way to stay steady in a world full of smooth-sounding, half-biblical, Jesus-flavored nonsense.

So today, let Peter’s warning do what it’s meant to do – wake us up and implore us to pay attention, to push us back into Scripture. Because at the end of the day, truth doesn’t change. And God has already given us everything we need to recognize error—if we’re willing to stay rooted in Him.