GREAT THINGS ENTERPRISE
CLAUDE BLACK
Mark 13-5
Gaslighting
The word “Gaslight” was the title of a 1944 movie in which a conniving husband tries to drive his wife into madness so that she will be institutionalized and he can gain access to her wealth. In the movie, the gaslights in the house flicker, but the conniving husband convinces the wife that she imagines the phenomenon—even though she knows the lights actually flickered. So, in contemporary parlance, the word “gaslighting” means attempting to make someone doubt something they know to be true—even when they are right.
Jesus told his disciples that the beautiful temple they admired would be completely destroyed, so that not one stone would be left on another. Four of his disciples came to him privately and asked what signs they should look for as this catastrophe approached. “But Jesus began to say to them, ‘Watch out, lest someone deceive you.’” (Mark 13:5)
Ironically—or providentially—my biblical reading for this day began with 2 Peter 2:1-3: “But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed, these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.”
In a 2024 Psychology Today article titled “3 Ways to Stop a Gaslighter,” the author suggests: (1) Refuse to engage. If it is obvious that someone is trying to gaslight you—trying to convince you of something you know to be incorrect—walk away. (2) Speak only in scripts—that is, short, direct, to-the-point sentences. (3) Keep emotion out of it. If a gaslighter can provoke an emotional response, they are well on their way to convincing you to doubt something you know to be true.
So Jesus’ words are as important today as they were spoken in the land of Israel over two thousand years ago—“Watch out, lest someone deceive you.”
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