Don’t Drink the Kool-Aid
When I was a kid, Kool-Aid was a treat. It’s hefty sugar syrupy sweetness was refreshing. However, I really only cared for it in small doses since it was so sweet. It came in many different flavors, with orange and fruit punch being my favorites. Being a versatile beverage, sometimes we froze it in little Popsicle shaped trays so we could have a frozen treat on a hot day. We shared it with our friends, and they shared theirs with us.
Fast forward a number of years and I heard a manager once say we had find a way to get people to drink the Kool-Aid as a way to ensure they bought into our corporate culture. Not only that, but also have them make and sell the Kool-Aid. Since this was the first time I had heard that phrase, I tucked it into the back of my mind.
Church, we are surrounded by Kool-Aid peddlers and sadly, there are some within the Church. It is necessary that we know and understand what is in the cup we bring to our lips and drink from. The Bible tells us to study to show ourselves approved (2 Timothy 2:15) and to test the spirits (1 John 4:1). There are many different doctrines, many different belief systems and many different interpretations of the Scriptures. Man is not perfect and we can get things mixed up. It is our responsibility to read and study the Word for ourselves, and to pray for the Holy Spirit to reveal truth to us. We must also remember that Satan will always mix a little truth into his big lie in order to get us to taste his Kool-Aid. He will sweeten the deal with added sugar and fruity flavors, so we must be knowledgeable enough to recognize the counterfeit, otherwise we will find ourselves chugging a glass.
Everything that happens in the natural is the result of happenings in the spiritual, and things we speak in the natural can be birthed in the spiritual. It has recently come to light how sugar is not exactly healthy, and how sugar substitutes are even unhealthier. Diets high in processed sugar and sugar substitutes can lead to serious overall health problems. I’m not here to discuss the scientific evidence, there is plenty online for us to look at. I am here, however, to point out that when Satan hands us a glass of Kool-Aid and says to drink up, it’s not going to come from the red, pointy eared, pitch-fork tailed guy we may have been led to believe he is. Jesus called him the father of all lies. So we better believe someone calling themselves our friend is going to hand us a champagne glass of sparkly Kool-Aid and tell us it’s the finest wine money can buy. Then they are going to sell us on it. In the spiritual, if our diet consists of everyone else’s doctrine and belief system, and we don’t define what we actually believe through our own prayer and study of the Word, we will find ourselves spiritually unhealthy. It is imperative that we seek God for ourselves and to have healthy fellowship and discussion with others.
Don’t be lazy and believe everything you read or hear. Test it. Put it before the Lord and let Him reveal what’s in it. It may be all good, simply not for us. Just because the crowd is sucking it down by the gallon does not mean we should too. Be different. Be daring. Don’t drink the Kool-Aid.
Ephesians 4:14-15 “that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—”
James 1:22-24 “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; 24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.”
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