Disguised in Beauty

Today I made what may be my last visit to Russell's Pond. This is the pond that was on the property that my Dad bought back in 1946. Several years ago, he gave it over to a local Conservation Trust to protect it.


Russell Pond 1973

But the pond is not the same as when I grew up. Then it was mostly open, with some grassy marsh on one end and scattered pond lilies floating, showing off their yellow booms each year. Indeed, if we and the neighbors did not build up the dam, the pond would have long since succumbed to eutrofication and would now be a red maple swamp like so many other hundreds of acres in the area, including one known as "Long Swamp" after which a nearby street is named.

But now, the pond is slowly filling in. First came the cattails--a native plant. But then came the purple loosestrife and exotic pond lilies--invaders that are not native to the area and which have a reputation for quickly changing the natural cycle of wetlands.



The surprising thing is that these exotic invaders can be quite pretty. In fact, the pond lilies that have come in are planted as ornamentals.

Quite beautiful.

Quite deadly to native ecosystems.

If caught early, these exotic plants can be controlled fairly easily. But once established, they are almost impossible to get rid of.

There is another kind of exotic invader that we also have to watch out for. One that is even more dangerous and more insidious: The Angel of Light.

Paul writes about this character in 2 Corinthians 11:14 (ESV)

And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.

Paul is writing in this chapter about false apostles--those who claim to be Christian but who come with a message that will actually undo the work that Jesus has started. The message of these false apostles will have a ring of truth to it--in fact they will use the Bible to support their claims. But they will twist and distort the scripture to accomplish their task of turning people away from true faith in Jesus. In this chapter, Paul is writing about those who would say that there is some kind of work we need to do, other than believe in Jesus, in order to obtain salvation. The implication of this is that what Jesus accomplished for us by His death and resurrection is not enough. It becomes a form of idolatry because it puts us on a par with Jesus in being able to secure our salvation.

The most difficult thing about all of this is that any one of us can easily become one of these "angels of light." Whenever we take scripture and twist it to meet our own ends and then try to get others to accept this as the true gospel, then we are guilty of the same thing. In fact, when we do this the gospel--which means "good news"---becomes no good news at all because we are adding requirements to salvation that are not necessary.


God, help me to walk in the simple truth of your good news--your gospel--as you revealed to us through the prophets, through Jesus and through the Spirit-filled apostles. May I not distort your gospel by adding things to it that you did not intend. May I not distort your gospel by living a life that is contrary to it. Help me to live my life so that my life and my words point others to the amazing grace of the Gospel message: that Jesus came to bring us salvation from the penalty for our sin by His death on the cross and to bring us new life by His resurrection.