Am I Eating Scallops or Sting Ray?

If you’ve tuned in today to learn an uninteresting fact about me, you’re in luck!

I love scallops!

Now, let me give you a little backstory…

I am a native Southeast Texan, who was raised by a Cajun father and I eat almost all things Cajun, Southern, and Texan. Maybe I should invent a new word here, like, Couthan, except I’m fairly sure no one would use it.

As a native of this area, I’ve learned to love the local and regional cuisine and, as an adult I eat almost all the things-and, yes, I do put my potato salad in my gumbo, before you ask. I draw the line at alligator because alligators are mean and I’m pretty sure that meanness comes through, even when they’re served as an entrée.

In the past few years, though, I’ve become more globally cultured and now enjoy salmon, many other grown-up fish, I’m crazy about lobster, but my absolute favorite is scallops. They’re just so plump and juicy and normally drenched in butter, with this lovely, mild flavor…I’m telling you, scallops are happiness on a plate.

So, imagine my dismay when a friend of mine a while back, mentioned to me,

“You know, around here, when you order scallops, you’re probably getting sting ray.”

Uh, SAY WHAT???

Truthfully, I didn’t really believe him at first; until he immediately told me to Google it, and, MUCH TO MY DISMAY, I found article after article about how when restaurants can’t or don’t want to pay for scallops, they serve sting ray. Unbelievable. The way you can tell, for your information, is that if your “scallops” look like cookie-cutter scallops – all the same size, same exact shape, etc. they are probably really sting ray. In the words of my grandmother,

“If that don’t beat all!”

So all these years, I have ordered and eaten what I thought were scallops and then find out in my late forties that I, in fact, have eaten a LOT of sting ray. Talk about being cheated and tricked and just downright swindled! I feel so duped, so incredibly deceived. There should be a law against serving sting ray when people order scallops. Why, this is a conspiracy-a scallop conspiracy!

I’ll bet by now you’re wondering what in the world this has to do with 2 Thessalonians 2, right? Well, strangely enough, when we check in with the Thessalonian Believers, this is pretty much what’s happening with them: some false teaching has again made its way into the Thessalonian gathering, saying that Jesus has already returned! And, instead of getting together, checking the teachings that Paul, Timothy, and Silas have given them about Jesus’ 2nd coming, many of these young Believers just fall for the false teaching! They even quit working, because I guess they just thought,

“Why bother?”

And, my question for this situation is a lot like my question about the scallops,

“How does this happen?

The truth is, these young Believers had been taught what had to happen before the return of Christ. Let’s check out 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 to see what Paul has to say about Christ’s return.

2 Thessalonians 2:3-4NLT Don’t be fooled by what they say. For that day will not come until there is a great rebellion against God and the man of lawlessness is revealed-the one who brings destruction. He will exalt himself and defy everything that people call god and every object of worship. He will even sit in the Temple of God, claiming that he himself is God.

Now, you may be thinking what I’m thinking and what the Thessalonian Believers were apparently thinking:

• Great rebellion against God? Check

• “man of lawlessness?” MANY Check

• Destruction? Check

• People who exalt themselves and defy everything people call god and every object of worship? Check and check

I totally get it. And, in the Thessalonians’ defense, the early Believers honestly thought Jesus was coming back any day. It was like,

“Hey, not sure what you have planned for Wednesday, but you might want to streamline your schedule, because we’re pretty sure Jesus is coming back then. Yeah, Wednesday of this week.”

But these Believers, like us, had been taught exactly what to look for. They were taught that certain things had to happen before Jesus would return. And, even though it sure seemed like some of them were and had happened, they were to look for THE man of lawlessness, who would do crazy, terrible things AND then sit in God’s Temple, claiming to be God. That had not happened yet, but they were tricked into believing that Jesus had returned anyway.

Ever been there? Maybe you and I haven’t been tricked into believing that Jesus has already returned, but are there untruths you’ve believed, thinking they were truths, only to realize later you’d been deceived? I have to raise my hand on this one, because I certainly have been guilty of this.

So what do we do? As Believers, how can we stay on track? How can we keep the REAL TRUTH the REAL TRUTH in our lives?

Thankfully, Paul addresses this very question in 2 Thessalonians 2:15, and this is my very favorite verse in this chapter:

2 Thessalonians 2:15NLT With all these things in mind, dear brothers and sisters, stand firm and keep a strong grip on the teaching we passed on to you both in person and by letter.

“Keep a strong grip,” I love that! It’s kind of like when I was learning to hold a softball bat, my dad was like,

“No, baby. GRIP it-hold it tight, or you can’t hit the ball.”

When we grip something, we hold on for dear life! Think about your first time on a “big kid” roller coaster; I don’t know about you, but I wasn’t letting go for anything-I was scared to!

This is just what Paul was trying to get through to the Thessalonian Believers; they needed to hold on for dear life to the teachings Paul and his guys had taught them, in person and in letters just like this one. And it’s just the same for us, except, unlike these early Believers, we have God’s Word right in front of us! When we hear something, and feel that check or question in our spirits, we can immediately go to God’s Word and check it out.

Knowing God’s Word and trusting in it is really the only way NOT to be deceived by false teachings. And, just like it was in the early church, false teaching is EVERYWHERE! But, the truth is, we don’t have to be deceived! Read God’s Word, meditate on it, study it for yourself, let it become the actual fabric of your life! I used to tell my son when he was growing up,

“The Bible is our measuring stick; we hold EVERYTHING to it and see how it measures up.”

So, don’t be deceived! I mean, who wants sting ray when you can have scallops?