How do People Begin Believing in False Religions and False Teachings?
I have written on the topic of Barriers to the Gospel, which I encourage you to read, but what is it that initially tickles the ears of those who are opposed to it? Where does deception begin? We know that someone is not born opposed, but opposition in one’s life seems to grow stronger in many cases. I find that barriers to the gospel are nurtured into a personal defense for not believing, versus the idea that barriers are the seed which began it all. I don’t think we should confuse these categories because it can be quite helpful to understand the flow of things for our discussions in apologetics and evangelism.
A bonsai tree begins its life as a seed like all trees begin, but this tree is different. It grew and was nurtured in a manner that defies a natural path. This is like how barriers to the gospel are nurtured. Much time and work took place for the final product to come to fruition. The fruit are the barriers, but the questions I want to address are, what does the process look like to reach this final product of barriers to the gospel? How are these barriers nurtured? Finally, why does evangelism seem so unsuccessful at times?
The Growth of Deception
Consider for a moment some of the Guinness World Records:
Most Spoons on a Body: 50 metal spoons magnetized to the body.
Stretchiest Skin: A man in the UK can stretch his skin to 15.8 cm.
Longest Fingernails: Over 1 meter in length.
Largest Mouth Gape: 4.014 inches (He is unironically an American).
Fastest 100m Dash on All Fours: 17.47 seconds.
Most Piercings: Over 400.
Largest Gathering of People Dressed as Smurfs: 2,510 people.
Fastest Time to Type the Alphabet on an iPad: 3.88 seconds.
Fastest Time to Eat a 12-inch Pizza: 23.62 seconds.
Most Balls Caught Blindfolded: 11.
Most Big Macs Eaten: Over 20,000 in a lifetime.
After examining such a list, the question is, how is it that people believe certain things are significant but are not actually significant? Look how easily people are deceived into believing something. For another example, draw your attention to social media, say, TikTok. Recognizing how easily people are deceived is as easy as watching what people deem worthy of someone’s time. Numerous social media influencers seem to be largely deceived on what people want to be exposed to and to what they need to be exposed.
The Bible records an interesting conversation in John 9:35-41
“Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” He answered, “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.” He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him. Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains” (emphasis added).
What is concerning is that when someone claims to know something that is false, they remain guilty. This is why James 3:1 says, “Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.” The act of teaching presumes knowledge.
Just like crazy people don’t know that they’re crazy, the same is true for people who think they know the truth but do not know. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1:18, “The cross is foolishness to those who are perishing…” Paul is telling his readers that there are people who believe they know that the cross is foolishness. There are clearly deceived people in the world regarding what is true, because they are convinced that they understand the truth.
The Bible tells us that Satan is the deceiver of the whole world. There are greater powers at work in deception than simply the superficial desires of people. Revelation 12:9 reads, “And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.”
The reason so many people are deceived is in part because Satan’s power is overwhelmingly underestimated. In all of this deception we observe, it is clear that there is a more powerful force behind the chaos. Consider Jesus’ words to the Pharisees in John 8:44, He says,
“You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”
Like a father who teaches his child how to ride a tricycle, Satan guides where he can, and once deception is independently owned, he has nothing to do but watch his children grow in their deception. Consider Genesis 3:1 “…He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” So, what leads people to deception? What comes before this? Even Satan needs a starting point, right?
Distorted Passions
The problem is… People are arguably deceived by being passionate about the wrong things. This is evident in social media platforms. Scrolling through a few minutes’ worth of time will convince anyone of this fact.
1. Barriers to the gospel (the whole big picture of the bonsai tree in bloom).
2. People are deceived about what they should be doing and believing (the branches and leaves).
3. Deception sprouts from misguided passions (the trunk).
4. Misguided passions come from not being watchful (1 Peter 5:8), not being ready (1 Peter 3:15), not being prepared (2 Timothy 4:2), not seeking and destroying false arguments (2 Corinthians 10:5), and not worshiping God with all our mind (Matthew 22:36-40) (A.K.A., the seed).
I think that point (4.) above can be reduced to a single idea: The desires of the flesh. We are not watchful, ready, prepared, seeking and destroying false arguments, and not worshiping God with all our mind because of the desires of the flesh. Jesus says in Matthew 26, “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” What He means is that the desire of the flesh is hard to overcome. What has been discussed thus far, the following is the logical flow of such:
Flesh Wrong Passion DeceptionNurtured Barriers
Some may ask, is the result of deception, passion? Or is the result of passion, deception? It is arguable that the result of passion is deception, because of what we read in several verses. In 2 Timothy 4:3-4, we find the phrase, “to suit their own desires…” This idea is echoed in James 1:14-15 as well: “…but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.” Again Ephesians 2:1-3 reveals that, “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts.”
It begins in the flesh because the flesh is the seed. Distorted passions could not come before the flesh, because there is nothing to be passionate about before the flesh exists. There is nothing to deceive without the existence of the flesh. Like the bonsai, the flesh grows and is nurtured and discovers what it craves which produces passion for more. When passion is questioned introspectively, the deceiver confirms such misguided or distorted passions, which produces the nurtured barriers to the gospel in full bloom.
Being passionate about the right things consists of getting and keeping our compasses calibrated. 1 Timothy 4:1-2 reveals that,
“The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.”
Read that again… “whose consciences have been seared…” Paul is talking about moral compasses that have been reversed in polarity. The reason for this is because they have been deceived, because of misguided passions. Deception is confirmed by false teaching and those who are deceived will inevitably produce further deception. So then recognize false beliefs for what they are. Kill them at the root while they are still manageable. Do not be so easily convinced when it comes to your questions concerning truth claims.
The Bible is clear. Be watchful (1 Peter 5:8); Always be ready (1 Peter 3:15); Be prepared in season and out of season (2 Timothy 4:2); Contend for the faith (Jude 3); Destroy all arguments against the knowledge of God (2 Corinthians 10:5).
Why Does Evangelism Seem So Unsuccessful at Times?
As is made clear in this article, there is a lot of examination, unpacking, digging, and getting messy. It requires time, cooperation with the Holy Spirit, and with the apologist’s assistance in processing, and prayer. It is a lot of work. Don’t be discouraged because as Jesus says in John 4:35-38, “I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor. You never know when something that you say or do will break barriers to the gospel and lead someone to the foot of the cross.
2 Timothy 4:3-4, “For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.”
© Nace Howell, 2026
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