Right About Everything, Wrong About One Thing
July 15, 2026
"Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist—denying the Father and the Son."
1 John 2:22 (NIV)
What if you could be right about almost everything and still be completely lost?
In 1993, David Koresh convinces seventy-six people that he is the reincarnated Son of God, that he alone can rightly interpret the Bible, and that he owns them. The standoff in Waco ends in a fire that kills him and seventy-five of his followers, including children. They believe in someone with their whole lives. They just believe the wrong someone.
John says every false belief system does one of two things. It puts someone else in the place of Jesus, or it denies who Jesus actually is. They say He is a “great teacher” or a “good moral example”. Each version sounds respectful, but each one is still the spirit of antichrist, because none of them requires you to actually need Him.
There is an easy way to tell a cult from real Christianity. A cult leads you to believe something. Christianity asks you to receive Someone. That's the difference between a belief system and a relationship, and it's why John puts it the way he does, to "abide in him" (1 John 2:28, ESV). You don't fall in love with a doctrine. You abide in a person.
Stay disconnected from that Person, and you become available to anyone who wants to fill the space. You don't have to build a compound in Texas for that to happen. Maybe you've made your career, your political opinions, or your own decency the thing you actually stand on. Before you turn on the news or take in one more confident opinion today, ask yourself an honest question: Am I standing on Christ, or on something I've put in His place?
It doesn't matter what you're right about if you're wrong about Jesus.
Prayer: Lord, thank You for being a safe Person I can always run to. You’re not distant. You want to connect with me and know me. Lord, show me anywhere I’ve put something else in your place. I want to stand on You alone today In Jesus' Name, Amen.