“Drink the Kool-Aid” is used in both a positive and negative sense when we talk about following a mission or philosophy; however, its origin lies in the 1978 tragedy Jonestown where over 900 members of Peoples Temple took poisoned fruit punch at the direction of their leader, Jim Jones (2008, S.Stept).I have been on a personal mission of late to discover what in the world does it look like to serve God… truly? Does serving God mean having a church personality, work personality, home personality, social personality… and so on? Does serving God mean voting what the “other Christians” vote, condemning women for an abortion with a picket sign or crude remark? Maybe serving God is going to church an hour or so a week. There are literally thousands of questions I could ask because we all have them; I want to touch on one particular question? What does serving God look like individually?
I mentioned a brief description of the expression “drink the Kool-Aid” because this expression reveals a group of people who believed a false prophet, idol, and a plain out lie. Many who experienced this tragedy first hand can tell you how easy it was to become entangled…many who weren’t involved with this tragedy quickly judged these people, wrote them off as crazy, delusional, and weak.
OK… confession time. I’ve drank the Kool-Aid several times in my life; and several times the Holy Spirit has revealed truth to me to prevent me from further decay of my spirit. What do I mean by this? My latest realization that the Holy Spirit has really been hammering home is just accepting what I see in TV sitcoms, movies, sporting events as “acceptable.” What a lot of people don’t know is that companies like Time Warner, General Motors and Marriott make millions off of the pornography industry; these are three American born companies who are serving the Kool-Aid of sexual immorality. Sure, they’re not making it but they are contributing to a $2.84 billion dollar industry in America, $4.9 billion worldwide. When Internet statistics reveal that 40 million adults regularly visit Internet pornography sites… there is a large amount of people drinking the Kool-Aid; this doesn’t even count the adults who visit pornography stores, strip clubs or under 18 users (most likely through their Smartphone’s).
Where does it start? I mean, Jim Jones of People’s Temple didn’t just overnight convert over a thousand people over to his cult; there was a slow acceptance. It’s like what has been said about frogs; you can put a frog in a pot of water and gradually turn the heat up, the frog will never realize till its boiling to death. We have allowed our culture and society to gradually turn the heat up on us…
In our culture it’s easy to say we have Faith and that we believe in God. What if our backs are against the wall? What if you are standing toe-to-toe with a decision to either choose God or choose satan? Want the honest answer… most choose satan. Why? Look at the proof, just like a lawyer or jury – look at the evidence. Media, style and culture are direct reflections of why most choose satan. This is strong and offensive but we make hundreds, maybe thousands, of decisions each day that either point us to Christ or point us to the prince of this world, satan (John 12:31, John 14:30). This is nothing new, people have been making choices for thousands of years to serve the world, and I get it because I was once that guy and honestly to some degree still am. Paul tells the Romans in Romans 12 not to become so well-adjusted to our culture that we fit into it without even thinking. Instead fixing our attention on God and we will be changed from the inside out. Readily recognizing what God wants from us and responding to it. Unlike the culture around us, always dragging us down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of us, develops well-formed maturity in us. Basically, “don’t drink the Kool-Aid!”
Our culture has turned into some twisted freak fest of sexual immorality; it’s everywhere and on everything. Among all the drugs that I ever experienced nothing was harder to overcome like the sexual cocaine that lured me into a trap and raped my mind and conscience; it was addictive and demoralizing. Sexual immorality is deadly and that’s why Paul made it clear in 1 Corinthians 6:16-20 that sexual sins are different from all others because we violate the sacredness of our own bodies, the bodies that were made for God-given and God-modeled love, for “becoming one” with another. Unlike mainstream drugs, pornography has become somewhat of an acceptable behavior for men of all ages… “Just being boys.” God created sex for a man and his wife to enjoy; He permanently linked its pleasure to marriage, love, intimacy and lifelong commitment. When a sexual relationship is modeled after what God called it to be it is grounded in love, freely shared and maintains its priceless meaning and many healthy benefits. There is no cost, no charge, no guilt and no regrets. When sex is twisted and manipulated by our culture by feeding us sexual images and sexual references in our movies, TV sitcoms, grocery store magazines, car ads, clothing ads, cartoons… (Literally every venue of our culture has some type of undertone of sexual reference or immorality) – We are all drinking the Kool-Aid of deception by the gallons! All men are tempted sexually; however, not all men entertain the temptation. Women – if you think it’s not a problem then you too have drank the Kool-Aid.
So, let’s ask the questions once more; how did Jim Jones convince over 900 people to join him in insanity? He gained trust, he bullied, and he gradually introduced small amounts of “craziness” to build this insane group of people. Let’s flip it… we let TV networks, politics, movies and culture define what is acceptable. Cartoons with subtle sexual references flood our children’s minds. What’s the difference? I know some families, men, women and even teenagers who have already drank the Kool-Aid of deception and truly believe what the world says goes… who is the prince of this world?
Men – if you read this and it hits home; talk to someone. There are true believers out there that will not judge you or force religion on you. But they will help you for a relationship with Jesus. You do need a relationship with Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit to impact your life.
Women – pray for your eyes to be open to the accepted worldly things that trip up the men in your life.
Reference:
Kendrick, S. Kendrick, A. Alcorn, R. & Kimbrough, L. (2011) The Resolution for Men. B&H Publishing Group, Nashville, Tennessee.
Stept, S. (2008.Oct.15).MSNBC.http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27204411/ns/msnbc_tv-documentaries/t/where-did-drink-kool-aid-come/
