by Shawn Burke

What is real? Do we even know anymore? DeepFakes, plastic surgery and Botox, avatars, edited and airbrushed photos to cover our flaws, opinions and, internet factoids shaping our thoughts and telling us what to believe. What is it all for?

Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

John 8:32 (NIV) 

In the popular TV show Supernatural, Sam and Dean Winchester are two brothers that hunt down evil spirits and demons, both seen and unseen. In their sleek, black, classic Chevrolet Impala, they follow clues to chase down, find, and terminate the monsters of the night, bringing an end to the horrors they have created for themselves and others. Sam and Dean partner up to help others overcome their fears and reclaim the life that had been overcome by demons.

While the Winchester brothers devote themselves, risking their health and safety to hunt evil, supernatural beings on others’ behalf, I am drawn to their ability to see things as they are. They can see the demons that others can’t. They even partner with angels such as Michael, Raphael, Gabriel, and Castiel (Cas), who help them battle the monsters of darkness.

For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.

Ephesians 6:12 (NLT)

I’ve heard it said many times that “I don’t believe in what I can’t see.” However, most of us believe in love, oxygen, wind, hope, viruses, even DNA molecules. Why are these things believable if we cannot see them?  Maybe because we see the effects of those things? The wind blows, and we see the trees bend and move, or the leaves blow across the yard. We know oxygen and DNA exist because science tells us they are necessary for life to exist, even though they are invisible to the eye. We know love exists because we have felt it or shared it with someone. What about angels and demons? Are they any less real since we cannot see them? Can we see the effects of them?

Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."

John 20:29 (ESV)

INTERVENTION

Consider for a moment a co-worker, Dave, who has recently lost his best friend to cancer. He likely begins the grieving process as any normal person should, experiencing sadness, denial, anger, isolation, depression, and other stages of grief. It may last weeks or even months. However, for the sake of discussion, Dave comes to the point where he feels he can no longer cope with the loss of his friend and begins drinking heavily to help numb the pain. He pretty-much stays drunk all the time, pushes others away, turns away from social engagements, isolates himself, and may even begin to use drugs to help him cope.  

Within a few weeks, his co-workers notice a different person emerging. They try to intervene, but Dave refuses their help, and they too are pushed away. Eventually, Dave’s boss counsels him and threatens to terminate employment. Dave erupts in anger, shoves a stack of papers off his boss’s desk, and walks out. Now he is dealing with even more stress and financial hardship due to the loss of the job. More anger and bitterness creep in as he feels victimized and helpless to correct his situation. 

With compounding financial problems, frustration, and hopelessness, Dave begins to question if it is all worthwhile…he opens the drawer in the nightstand next to his bed and pulls out a revolver. As he sits quietly in the dark bedroom, crying with a gun in his hand…ready to end it all, he suddenly has a glimpse of a child playing and laughing without a care in the world. Leaning over, placing the revolver back in the drawer, he glances at the clock that reads 1:37 AM, and then rolls over to cry himself to sleep.  

The next morning, Dave received a phone call from his mom. He reluctantly answers the phone, just as the voicemail recording kicks in, he says, “Hello?” Dave’s Mom says, “Good morning, sweetheart…are you awake yet?”

“Yup…I am now.”

“I had a really strange dream last night that woke me up in the middle of the night. It was a dream of you when you were about three years old and were playing on the beach. You were so innocent, happy, and sweet…then out of nowhere, a huge wave came ashore and swept you away from me. You were gone, and I couldn’t find you anywhere. It scared me so much that I woke up and prayed for you.”

“No, mom. I’m still here. I’m ok…just curious, do you know what time it was when you woke up?

“Yes, I looked at the clock when I woke up, and it was 1:37 AM…I remember it so clearly because it was the exact same time you were born.”

RECOGNIZING TRUTH

What is truth to you? What if it differs from your perspective? What if it offends you? Does that change the fact that it is true? Who defines it? Does it change based on your circumstances? Does it change based on your feelings or what you believe? 

I propose that the Bible, the Word of God, is absolute truth. It has endured for thousands of years and has withstood immense scrutiny. Scholars and scientists have attempted to disprove it, yet science and history continued to confirm its validity. Atheists have tried to discredit it and pervert it, but still, it stands. It is a solid foundation upon which we can depend on regardless of what may be happening around us. Much like a compass, we can depend on it to point us towards true north when the chaos in the world around us has us disoriented, so that we may find our way out of the wilderness. What is your truth founded on?

Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.

John 14:6 (NSV) 

There are hundreds of questions and perceptions about what truth means these days. Many truths are being traded for half-truths and even blatant lies. Why are so many people deceived and blinded to truth? Is it a choice, or is there a greater power at work that deceives people and hides the truth from them? Are there things that we cannot see, competing for our attention, energy, time, and resources, ultimately seeking our destruction?

They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator.

Romans 1:25 (NIV)

THE GREATER STORY

Have you experienced a time when you were caught in an unexplainable funk, perhaps depression, that comes out of nowhere with no logical reason for you to be depressed? What about when everything seems to go wrong at once: you lose your job, your girlfriend leaves you, your truck breaks down, and then the worst thing imaginable happens...your dog runs away! Sounds like an old country song, right? 

What about a time when you’ve had a near-death experience? Driving home late at night, maybe you had a few too many drinks, or you were just exhausted, and your mind started to wander a bit. You zone out as you’re cruising down the road at 70 mph. Suddenly a deer walks into the road, and you swerve across the double yellow line lane to miss it. Another oncoming car locks up their brakes and skids around the corner and nearly smashes into you head-on. As you come to a stop on the side of the road, heart pounding as you realize you just cheated death and can’t believe what just happened.

Maybe there was a time in your life when you felt a lot like Dave, who we mentioned earlier, you too thought that a situation was hopeless and life wasn’t worth the agony. You came to a point so low you considered ending your life. Suddenly, someone called you, or something happened to shift your thoughts to a childhood memory, or a Bible verse popped in your head that caused you to reconsider. What or who causes that?

Consider for a moment, an unseen battle that rages around us between light and darkness, good and evil...angels and demons. The demons and powers of darkness try to control and destroy us, and angels fight to protect us, bringing light into the darkness, freeing us to see the truth. Maybe you’ve never seen it with your eyes, but have you felt the battle before? 

Maybe an unexplainable heaviness weighing us down or a sudden miraculous event that occurred in your life or the life of someone close to you? The anxiety gripping you in the pit of your stomach or overwhelming fear, causing you to freeze, keeping you from even trying. What about the fear suddenly leaving you and immediately feeling bold confidence and unexplainable strength and faith to face a dreadful or seemingly impossible situation? Could it possibly be angels battling on your behalf, protecting you, and fighting off attacking demons? Like a bright light, piercing the darkness, bringing you hope once again.

While I have no idea what angels look like, I certainly don’t envision little winged babies floating on clouds playing harps. I imagine fierce warriors standing guard over us, interceding to save us from demonic attacks, and even save us from ourselves. I imagine angels are a lot like Castiel (Cas) from Supernatural, who will fight for us. Their sole purpose is to protect us and ensure God’s plans for us to succeed. I believe some of the things Cas said to Sam accurately portray how dedicated angels are to us:

“Nothing is worth losing you.”

“I’m hunted, I rebelled, and I did it, all of it, for you.”

“I’m the one who gripped you tight and raised you from perdition.”

As we face each day, we are continually bombarded with images, texts, photos, social media, sounds, news, feelings and emotions, memories from our past, hopes and fears for our future...how do we process it all? Maybe we need some kind of filter? How about a pair of glasses that help us see truth over the lies? If only such a thing existed...I believe it does. The reality in the Word of God helps us filter out all of the noise so we can find true north again. It brings peace amidst chaos. It can turn fear into hope, hatred into love, bitterness into forgiveness, and reveals to us the things we can not see with our eyes. We have the choice to choose to put the glasses on or continue trying to wrestle with the chaos on our own.

Resources

We’ve created a free downloadable PDF to explore the article deeper. It contains discussion questions about the topic in general terms that will give you a jumping-off point for beginning a conversation.

The second page contains a way to see the topic from a biblical perspective.

And finally, to go deeper into the subject, we have chosen a few curated resources to explore from other authors’ and thinkers’ research or perspectives.

Read. Engage. Enjoy!

What do you think?

Depending on how a gem is held, light refracts differently. At B+PC we engage in Pop Culture topics to see ideas from a new angle, to bring us to a deeper understanding. And like Pastor Shane Willard notes, we want “…Jesus to get bigger, the cross to get clearer, the Resurrection to be central…” Instead of approaching a topic from “I don’t want to be wrong,“ we strive for the alternative “I want to expand my perspective.” 

So, we invite you to engage with us here. What piqued your curiosity to dig deeper? What line inspired you to action? What idea made you ask, “Hmmm?” Let’s join with our community to wrestle with our thoughts in love in the Comment Section! See you there! !