The best fishing season is fast approaching and the newest tool in the fisherman’s tacklebox of tricks is the Whopper Plopper. Designed to deceive, it is a carefully colored and crafted lure with a tail spinner that churns the water as it spins–its most thrilling feature. With this attention getting action, the Whopper Plopper is irresistible to an unsuspecting bass, a fish who really did not plan to end up in hot grease as corn meal breaded fillets. He only thought the plopper with its seductive action was calling him to a delightful meal. The perfect deception.
For one angler, fishing season is year-round. Satan also fishes with a Whopper Plopper but he fishes for humans. Shouldn’t we have a bit more discernment than a fish? A fishing lure is exactly that–a counterfeit to draw a fish away and capture it. The lure is a lie meant for harm. How many Whopper Ploppers do your children experience daily? On television, on the internet, on social media? Counterfeits are designed to look appealing, good, and exciting, but will draw our children away from what God desires for them.
Consider teenagers and young adults. Just like bass, our young people often lack discernment and can find themselves in compromising situations. Discernment comes from being able to compare the true to the false or counterfeit. Training our children to recognize the counterfeit occurs the same way agents are trained to recognize and reject fake $100 dollar bills. They are first trained in the authentic. Agents cannot be trained in all the various kinds of counterfeits as there are far too many so they memorize the face of the true. This illustration has often been used to show how Christians gain discernment in identifying what is true and what is false.
We can learn to spot the counterfeit but only if we know the authentic. In our world, counterfeiters are busy and creative, always coining some new way to deceive. All attempt to make their product look like the true currency, from new lifestyles to new spirituality to new morals. The lure is designed to draw us away from what we know to be true.
How will we protect ourselves and our children? There is good news, for God has designed the family and the church to teach and trade with the authentic. It is in the church and in the family where our children learn about authentic marriage, hospitality, service, and love. The list is long. When your children go outside of your home, you want the sin they see to look odd and abnormal to them. This will be their greatest protection. We want our children to resist temptation by knowing something better exists than what is presented to them.
In I Thessalonians 5:21-22, the Apostle Paul encourages his spiritual children to “test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.” For us and our children, the more we know about God, his character and his ways, the stronger we will be in resisting our many encounters with Whopper Ploppers.
Take it Further:
Talk to your children about Whopper Ploppers!
What temptations do they face every day? Which ones “plop” right in front of them unexpectedly?
How can recognizing the true protect them from the counterfeit?