There’s something about conspiracy theories that attracts us.
The deep state, Russiagate, birther, Epstein, QAnon, and the New World Order are terms that have entered the public consciousness over the past few years. The grassy knoll, flat earth, chemtrails, and the moon landing have been popular subjects for years. There are endless debates about vaccines, voter fraud, the pandemic, and no doubt there will be many still to come about the recent Pennsylvania assassination attempt.
Such theories capture our imagination while attempting to explain the inexplicable. In doing so, they provide structure to the chaos of the world around us.
As Christians, we love to seek out truth, and we believe that God is ordering history according to his will.
So, what is the problem?
The Problem with Conspiracy Theories
The issue isn’t conspiracy. We know that powerful people do evil things, and we know that they often try to conceal their dealings or spin the narrative.
Proverbs 17:23 tells us, “The wicked accepts a bribe in secret to pervert the ways of justice.” This explains why so many conspiracies have a ring of truth to them. According to the Bible, wicked people do exchange bribes and favors to twist the law or work the system to their favor.
No, the real issue is stewardship. It’s a matter of what we do with the truths with which we have been entrusted. Paul put it this way: “Charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith” (1 Timothy 1:3–4).
Instead of faithfully living out the Christian life, the conspiracy theorist engages in speculation and does it to such a degree that it can only be described as devotion. At the root of this devotion to speculation is a different doctrine. It’s a different doctrine because it doesn’t center on Christ (1 Timothy 1:11).
To help a counselee caught in a love of speculation, you must help expose this wayward devotion as sin and point them to the truth of the Gospel.
Understanding and Counseling the Conspiracy Theorist
Let’s take a look at four areas the conspiracy theorist might find attractive, comparing each to the greater truths God gives us in his Word.
1. Secret Knowledge vs Biblical Truth
Grocery checkout lines are known for displaying two types of products: Candy and gossip magazines. Twice the book of Proverbs identifies these as the same basic urge: “The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels; they go down into the inner parts of the body” (18:8; 26:22).
Like chocolate or the juicy news of who is cheating on whom, conspiracy theories provide an indulgent thrill of pleasure. It may be masked as a search for truth, a love for learning, being prepared for the future, or staying up to date on current affairs. But at its root, the allure of secret knowledge is a love of pleasure.
Jesus said, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God” (Mark 4:11). Show your counselee that the greatest and most satisfying secrets are revealed in Christ, and everything they need for life and godliness comes through knowing him (2 Peter 1:3).
2. Confirmation Bias vs Renewal of the Mind
Confirmation bias is a fancy, technical-sounding way of saying that we hear what we want to hear.
People love to hear the things that “suit their own passions,” and thus “turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths” (2 Timothy 4:3–4). Conspiracy theories have enough truth sprinkled in to plausibly confirm what we already think—wish? hope?—to be true.
Challenge your counselee with this passage, then study Romans 12:1–2, where Paul calls for believers to be transformed in our thinking as an act of worship. Teach them to think biblically and help them grow in discernment as they learn to love what is “good and acceptable and perfect.”
3. Blame Shifting vs Taking Responsibility
As difficult as it is for us to change our minds, it may be even more difficult to change our habits. Myths allow us to avoid responsibility for how we spend our time by placing the blame on someone else: Them.
Every conspiracy involves a “they.” After all, it is far easier to believe that a shadowy cabal of elites has intentionally compromised our food supply than it is to change our diet and begin exercising.
A subtler form of blame-shifting, and one that is perhaps more common, is for your counselee to focus their efforts on exposing and fighting “them” in chat rooms and social media debates instead of prioritizing God’s instructions for their lives.
The lie is that they are pursuing noble causes (Truth! Justice!). But the reality is that they are surfing the internet instead of fulfilling their duties to God and neighbor (Matthew 22:27–40).
Help your counselee see these things with the classic illustration of the “circle of concern” and “circle of responsibility.” Draw a circle and label it “circle of responsibility.” Inside, write down the God-given responsibilities they’ve been neglecting in their pursuit of so-called “truth.”
Next, draw a wider circle around the first one, and label it “circle of concern.” Write down things that they may be concerned about, but are not necessarily their responsibility. Help them think through where things like “civic duty” and “current events” fall, and what that should look like in their life.
4. Self-Centered Narrative vs the Story of Redemption
Conspiracy theories provide a framework for us to make sense of the world around us. Like Asaph in Psalm 73, we see the prosperity of the wicked and wonder why they succeed while we struggle.
A good conspiracy theory explains our struggle by placing us within an epic story of good versus evil, the global elites plotting against regular folks such as ourselves.
Yet the structure of the narrative is itself the problem. As Carl Trueman has said, “Conspiracy theories… make us feel more important in the grand scheme of things than we are. If someone is going to all this trouble to con us into believing in something, then we have to be worth conning.” In the end, conspiracy theories are about us.
But there is a better story.
It’s the story of God’s beautiful creation and our purpose to reflect his glory. It’s a story in which we are the ones who conspire against our Creator, turning from him to seek our own glory and pleasure. Yet in this story, God sent his own Son to save us from the trouble we inflicted upon ourselves by forgiving our rebellion, giving us new hearts, calling us to walk in his ways, and promising us a glorious future.
Train your counselee to view the world through this story of redemption. Teach them the beautiful truths about Christ, help them renew their minds in the Word, prepare them to value and live out their God-given responsibilities, and help them locate their life in the Bible’s narrative of creation, fall, redemption, and consummation.
