Social Media Parasites

There’s a growing presence of social media parasites online; people are misusing the reputation of famous influencers to perpetuate a different message for profit. For example, someone will use Jordan Peterson‘s likeness, his voice, and even his image to sell classes and products that loosely sound like Jordan, but don’t represent his values. This is happening across the board to actors, authors, influencers, and world leaders… if someone is famous, their image and likeness are being misrepresented somewhere on the internet. In most instances, it is used for funny videos that we all know as satire or a joke; however, the technology is only being perfected until we won’t be able to discern the true image from a lie. This is the perfect playground for a fallen angel who has mastered deception and masquerades as an “angel of light” (See 2 Corinthians 11:14 NKJV).

“We are in a war of truth versus lies.”

This phenomenon is not new; just the technology is. This type of thing has been happening to Jesus Christ the very moment Satan realized He had been mastered by the Master and played like a pawn in the plan of the redemption of mankind (See I Corinthians 2:7-8 NKJV). It must have infuriated the ancient and arrogant fallen angels to realize that all their dark schemes were destroyed by the Son of God; even with His hands tied behind his back, He still made an open mockery of their evil attempts. (See Colossians 2:15). The devil’s power over death and hell was stripped away (See Heb. 2:14), but Satan’s ability to deceive is still very active on the earth today. We are in a war of truth versus lies.

When Christ finished His work on the cross––atoned for the sins of mankind; justified us before a Holy God; and paid all the spiritual legal fees necessary to free humanity from an eternal prison—in response, Satan and his rebellious and unclean spirits went back to work with their plan to separate God from His creation through deception. A major branch of their evil attack on humanity is to leverage false religion to confuse and manipulate man. Like social media parasites, they have taken a form of God’s reputation and likeness and twisted, deluded, and redirected it to a lesser, ineffective religion that leads nowhere but back into the dark prison of sin and self. The enemy has presented diluted versions of Jesus, perverted versions of Jesus, hijacked principles, stolen truths, misdirected wisdom, and mixed versions of God, all to distract us from the Original. Jesus in other religions is referred to as a good prophet, a rabbi, a guru, an enlightened teacher, an archangel … anything but the Messiah, the Son of God, and Savior. Satan doesn’t mind you believing in Jesus, just as long as it is a lesser representation. Those versions hold no authority against darkness, because those versions are part of the darkness.

Jesus made it clear and testified that He cannot be any of these other deluded identities who peddle a lesser image and purpose. He also told us that His true identity as Son of God is the key to power against evil, which is why Satan attempts to distract from Christ’s true identity. Consider the following passage:

When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. (Matthew 16:13-19 NKJV)

Jesus commends Peter for seeing what the Father in Heaven had revealed to him, affirming the truth that Jesus is indeed the Messiah and Son of God. Then goes on to explain that Jesus will build His true church on the revelation that He IS the Christ, the Anointed One! Furthermore, the truth of Jesus’ Messianic authority will pull down the gates of Hell everywhere it is spoken and believed! The false ideology that Jesus is just a teacher, rabbi, prophet, or any lesser authority doesn’t destroy Hell, because those thoughts were born of Satan himself. Those ideas are part of the devil’s adulterating strategy. Those who perpetuate these ideas have no power against darkness, because they are in the same dark camp with Satan, in agreement with a lie and a false image of God.

Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him. (John 14:1, 6-7 NKJV)

We can definitively reject all other religions, philosophies, or ideologies that represent Jesus as anything else but the Messiah, the Son of God, and Savior of the World. These lesser images of Jesus are religious parasites born of the father of lies, and an “angel of light” masquerading as a deluded truth that leads people to a false hope. Jesus gave us a heads-up that this would happen when He stated, “For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand” (Matthew 24:24-25 NKJV). 

“If we know and understand the values of the Kingdom of God we will easily reject any voice that leads in another direction.”

In this hour, one of the greatest gifts we need as the true church is the discerning of spirits (See 1 Corinthians 12:10). We will need to discern what is born of God and what is not, as lies and the technology of deception advance rapidly. This gift from the Holy Spirit is received in the secret place of prayer and communion with the Holy Spirit and daily meditation on the truth of God’s Word, the Bible. This daily devotion will train our spiritual eyes and ears to recognize the real Lord Jesus and reject false christs or prophets not sent by God. If we know and understand the values of the Kingdom of God we will easily reject any voice that leads in another direction.

Let me remind you that Jesus said, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of my hand” (See John 10:27). Our ability to hear and follow the authentic voice and authority of Christ Jesus is the secret to this powerful promise of eternal life and security.

By Joseph E.O. Mead