What to Do When Cheaters Do Prosper. Spiritual Warfare Part 3

"Arnold, cheaters never prosper."

Bottom line upfront: Both my mom and grandma told me that, and I bet yours told you the same thing. But with all due respect, they were wrong, and the enemy has been using that line on believers to drive them away from God for a long time.

What they should have added is "...and don't let it set you back spiritually when they do." People cheat and they prosper, right up until they don't... and some of them are never caught. Not on this earth, anyway.

After I walked away from following Jesus, I spent the next 27 years noticing a lot of the people I ran with were cheating one way or another and some of the most successful ones called themselves Christians. When I came back to the Lord, I figured that would stop bothering me. It didn't. In fact, it bugged me even more.

I still see the "Christian leader" who cheated and stole his way to the top and got a bigger platform for it. I still see the guys who continually lie on their numbers and are being "blessed like no other".

And that little voice inside of me keeps saying: you idiot, why are you doing this the hard way, Arnie?

The fact is, that little voice is the battlefield. The lie that keeps hitting me is this one: faithfulness doesn't pay. And a lot of the time it looks true.

When I say faithfulness pays, I'm not talking about the good life, the beach house, and the fancy cars. Faithfulness means staying close to Christ rather than letting someone else's success decide who you become. That's the whole payoff, and I've come to believe it's the only one worth having.

A worship leader who almost quit over it

There's actually a psalm about cheaters prospering written by Asaph, a worship leader under David, and it isn't pretty.

My feet had almost slipped... For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked... Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure. —Psalm 73:2–3, 13

He was one step from quitting while still standing up front. Then he says what turned him around:

Till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny... Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. —Psalm 73:17, 23

The psalm doesn't say the cheaters were hauled off that day. What changed was where he was standing when he looked at them. I've had to walk into that same sanctuary more than once, and it all still looks wrong to me until I do. And the whole time, you are being held by the one who loves you so much He died for you.

So here's the only thing that has actually worked for me.

You focus on Jesus until you win the day spiritually, and you help others win the day. That's it.

When I came back to Jesus, I made a decision to follow Him. It lasted until about the next morning. Then I had to make it again. Twenty years of our research has only confirmed that conviction: it is about a daily relationship, not a one-time decision.

There's a line in the movie Moneyball I've borrowed for this: "you get on base, we win. You don't, we lose."

The cheater down the street may be doing great. But nobody beats the enemy with flashy home runs. You beat him with small, "boring" base hits, consistently, day by ordinary day.

Open your Bible and read until something actually sinks in. That's a base hit. Then put it into practice and tell someone along the way. That's another base hit. Pray regularly. Base hit.

And when you pray, pray honestly and tell God you're jealous of the cheater... Asaph did, and it's in the Bible, so you're allowed.

Pick one place today where it would be easier to shade the truth and choose not to. If you blew it yesterday, confess it, take the grace, and get back out there. The enemy would love for yesterday to disqualify you and have you sit on the bench today. And find one person who is also watching a cheater win and tell them faithfulness still pays, because they need to hear it from somebody with scars. Base hit. Base hit. Base hit.

And here's why you can do it again tomorrow:

Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness (Lamentations 3:22–23).

“New every morning.” You don't have to win the year. You just have to win today. And when you get up tomorrow there's a fresh supply waiting.

And if you're over 50, you've watched cheaters prosper for fifty years and you're still here. Don't tell me that's nothing. The people coming up behind you need what you know. Get on base today where somebody younger can watch you do it.

Your turn

Pick one of those base hits, do it today, then tell me which one. I read every response and your name never goes on anything we publish.

All in, eyes up!

P.S. Starting Monday on Spiritually Fit Today, forgiveness coach Kat Bluma joins me to talk about why forgiveness is so hard, especially heading into Thanksgiving. We'll look at what forgiveness is and isn't, how to let go when no apology is coming, and some surprising research on forgiveness. I hope you'll join me.