How to Tell the Difference Between Right and Almost Right
Kool-Aid drinkers are people who blindly accept a way of thinking without question...
The term “Kool-Aid Drinkers” came from the infamous 1978 Jonestown, Guyana Massacre. The event represented one of the single most horrifying cases of lack of discernment ever recorded.
On November 18th of that year, the charismatic and delusional cult leader Jim Jones ordered nearly 1,000 men, women, and children to drink poisoned Kool-Aid. Many of Jones’ followers willingly ingested the valium and cyanide spiked drink, while others were forced to do so at gunpoint. The final death toll at Jonestown that day was approximately 909, a third of which were children. A few residents managed to escape into the jungle as the suicides took place.
The victims were members of the People’s Temple, a so-called “Christian” organization that incorporated everything from Marxism to faith healing. Jones touted the group as a “rainbow family” made up of Americans of all races, ages, and creeds, who wished to create a socialist-style utopian society. The congregation moved from California to the South American nation of Guyana after being accused of financial fraud, physical abuse of members, and mistreatment of children.
Jones’ socialist farming paradise never materialized. The members worked long unpaid hours in the hot sun without proper hydration or nutrition. Some were forced to perform sex acts in front of large audiences. Their passports were confiscated to keep control of the members. Their letters were censored, and they were encouraged to rat on one another. Jones required temple members to participate in mock suicide drills in the middle of the night.
As it turned out, on that November evening, the last drill was for real…
One must ask the question… how can anyone so lack discernment to fall prey to something so wrong? The danger signs were everywhere, yet the congregation steadfastly clung to Jones and his brand of abusive leadership. Today the term “Kool-Aid Drinker” has come to mean someone who lacks even basic discernment skills and blindly accepts a way of thinking or narrative without question.
As used in Psalm 119:66, the word discernment refers to knowledge and good judgment. It is the ability to recognize the implications of different situations or courses of action. A discerning person has developed the ability to decide between truth and error. The operative word here is developed. Few, if any, of us are born with the ability to tell the truth from lies.
The Bereans were masters of this. Paul and Silas preached to them during Paul’s second missionary journey. They did not immediately accept what they were told but first examined what they heard by comparing it to the truth of the Old Testament scriptures…
“10 The brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. 11 Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so. 12 Therefore, many of them believed, along with a number of prominent Greek women and men.” (Acts 17:10-12 NASB)
The Bereans were not biblical scholars but everyday folks who realized that God’s word was the only reliable source to check out Paul’s preaching. They exercised discernment rather than thoughtlessly accepting Paul and Silas’ teaching without question. Only then did they believe. They are a model for us today for how we must approach ways of thinking, theories, or narratives that we encounter every day. They made careful distinctions in their thinking about truth. In other words, the ability to think with discernment is the same as thinking biblically.
These days, we are constantly being assaulted by false narratives… Climate Change, COVID, and Critical Race Theory, among others… all designed to control people using fear and guilt. The end game of these narratives is an eventual one-world government and one-world religion combined. These narratives are being persistently promoted through movies, art, music, books, radio, schools, the press, and even in some churches.
Very few people will actively pursue the truth. Most will not.
Sadly, too many people have willingly exchanged the truth for a series of lies and false narratives. Far too many people foolishly accept whatever politicians, teachers, Hollywood, or the media tell them. This makes them easily deceived. Because they don’t care if something is true or not, they are willing to believe lies. Scripture tells us that if they persist in this long enough, God will send them strong delusions to ensure they will continue accepting the lies that condemn them.
Want to become more discerning? An excellent place to start is the book of Proverbs in the Old Testament. One needs to read only seven verses into Proverbs to learn the key to wisdom:
“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.” (Proverbs 1:7 NASB)
Why not read it, study it, commit some key passages to memory and begin to act on its truths?