Lady Wisdom vs Lady Folly
Are you following Lady Wisdom, or are you being lured, enticed, and deceived by lady folly, under the guise of holistic wellness?
In ancient times, there was a powerful, mythical water serpent that lurked in the swamps of Lake Lerna — which was said to be the the entrance to the underworld.
According to the ancient myth, the Hydra’s blood and venom were so poisonous that even their stench was deadly. But instead of one head, the deadly monster had many — and when one head was cut off, two more grew back in its place. Socrates, an ancient greek philosopher, used the powerful image of the Hydra to describe a deceitful person who, when his argument is proved to be a lie, immediately comes up with two more arguments.
In today’s world, the heads of the Hydra remind me of the different ways in which the Father of lies, prince of this world and ancient serpent, appears to be enticing Christian women away from the faith...He does not appear as an evil, venomous snake, but as one whose skin has morphed into a trending aesthetic, feminine form, speaking in poetic and enticing language, hissing venomous half truths.
Convincing women, it is not poisonous, they just “are not enlightened enough” to understand the wisdom and medicine found in it’s venom yet. With each hiss, pretending to be wise and receive “new revelations about salvation” while just repackaging poetic lies in the form of “light” language and “ancient wisdom.”
Seductively slithering at the door of its house, calling out to those who scroll by. Reminds me a lot of the archetype of the woman of folly found in Proverbs 9:13-18. Unfortunately this imagery reminds me of what I have been seeing come across my screen as I scroll through social media, especially in the holistic health space and have noticed the amount of influencers, dressed in trendy fabrics, selling various forms of “snake oil,” once claiming Jesus, now turning people away from Him and toward deception. Or worse, turning them towards a prosperity gospel.
Luring their unsuspecting followers in with pretty snake skin, gaining their trust while slowly poisoning their minds and leading them to their spiritual deaths. “This snake isn’t poisonous!” their followers begin to proclaim as they give them a huge platform, “it is just poetic and misunderstood,” not realizing the poison is already circulating inside them, changing and diluting the way they perceive truth.
Bringing to life the words written in Romans 1:22-25:
“Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things...
Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever!”
“You’re just closed minded and living in fear of your westernized God!” They say...
Not realizing, just as a boa constrictor slowly squeezes it’s victim, causing it to lose blood supply, and oxygen, the unsuspecting woman is beginning to cut off her supply to the precious blood of Life (1 Peter 1:18-19).
As a result, she begins hallucinating, believing any form of correction is just hate speech and any form of truth is “suppression.”
But the truth is...
Light becomes painful when you have been constantly living in the darkness and have grown sensitive towards it.
Anti-venom can feel like burning from the one infusing it.
When someone is drowning, they will attempt to kill the one trying to rescue them.
It is not because being rescued is wrong, it is because this is instinctive behavior of someone dying.
This does not excuse their behavior, but it is a reminder to have compassion when attempting to extend a “life preserver”or “anti-venom” to someone.
I mention this because though the deception is abounding, the way in which many Christian women are attempting to respond is also concerning.
Anyways,
In the meantime, here are some ways you can guard yourself from being enticed.
Ask yourself, is what this person sharing drawing me closer to my ego, worldy influence and power, or closer to God?
When Christ went into the wilderness, He experienced three different types of temptation from the devil:
Satisfy his flesh
Worship the devil
Rule the kingdoms of the world.
His tactics may appear in different forms, but the underlying temptation is often the same.
2. What are the moral implications of what this person is sharing and teaching? Many of the “spiritual wellness” teachings sound great in theory, but if you trace down the roots of their beliefs, there is no ground for morality. Murder and molestation can be excused because it is a form of “someone’s truth and life expression.” There is no moral ground without an understanding of sin and right and wrong. I am thankful for a God who is both loving AND just. He is a God of order, not chaos, and He is righteous, not just accepting. f
3. Is my current response to this person driven from a place of genuine love and concern for their soul, or did they trigger or mirror an underlying belief about my faith I currently hold? You can tell the difference between a woman responding out of security vs fear and uncertainty. So can the world.
It is important to take inventory of your own heart (1 Corinthians 10:12). And to remember, we are called to embody these words:
“but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect...” 1 Peter 3:15
Gossiping about their downfall to gain a following, is not of God, it is of the flesh. And just because you have fallen into “new age” deception before, does not make you a “spiritual discernment expert.” There is a way to offer truth and correction, with gentleness and respect, and it starts by embodying hope and the Spirit, first, not by jumping to conclusions or pretending to be a new authority when you are actually still a babe in Christ. I see this happen a lot among women who fall into new age and come out it and then claim to me a new expert and authority on new age. But just because you fell into new age deception, does not make you an authority on it, especially as a new babe in Christ. It can be very tempting to go from one extreme (hyper spirituality) to the other (hyper conservative) where you begin to label everything as “demonic” and jump to conclusions.
As a health care provider, I do not need to every illness to know how to recognize it. When I was a cardiac nurse caring for people after a heart attack, I did not need to “experience” a heart attack to be able to recognize the signs and symptoms or give someone life saying treatment. Same goes spiritually. People who come out of new age deception and jump into teaching on social media, or start a “spiritual discernment ministry” and gain a huge platform as a new expert, reminds me of the warning given in 1 Timothy 3:6, that church leaders should not be new converts, lest they become puffed up and fall. It was a warning of protection, not suppression, and many ignore it, claiming they have wisdom, but are often ungrounded in their teachings.
That said, rather than being enticed by lady folly, I hope this encourages you to be discerning and look towards the archetypes of Lady wisdom in your life, especially in the holistic health space.
Here is how to spot her:
She is a woman who fears the Lord (Proverbs 31).
She points to ancient wisdom and embodies fruit of the Spirit like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, and faithfulness (Galatians 5:22).
She does not pretend to be perfect, she admits when she is wrong, and she is thankful for the gift of repentance (1 John 1:9), daily renewal, and regeneration she receives from her Heavenly Father, who does not withhold any good thing from His children (Proverbs 34:18) and who promises to continuously cleanse us from unrighteousness when we ask (1 John 1:7-9).
Out of her mouth, she speaks words of life, not accusations, and she points people not to herself, but to the One who holds the living water, who is able to quench their thirsty Souls (John 7:37-39).
She does not build an audience by gossiping, because she knows it is not of God, she is accountable for every word she speaks, and her words are a reflection of her heart (Eph 4:29, Matt 12:36, Proverbs 18:8).
She is willing to have open dialogue and be corrected (Proverbs 12:1, Proverbs 15:32).
She is not ignorant of satan’s devices, she knows he clothes himself as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14).
Her life is like a sweet, smelling aroma pointing others to Christ, and she does not peddle or dilute the gospel to make an income
(2 Corinthians 2:14-17).
She stewards her body well because she knows it is the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 6: 19-20), but also recognizes there is only One Source of salvation, truth, and healing... She recognizes a well cared for body does not guarantee a life free of suffering.
While she values the creation, she does not worship it, but rather stays loyal to the Creator, rooted in the Holy Spirit, living with urgency towards repentance, knowing as it is written in His Holy words, the time is near (Romans 13: 11-14) and the Lion, from the tribe of Judah, will soon put an end to all the “heads” or forms of the ancient serpent.
