A little sleep, a little slumber,
A little folding of the hands to sleep—
So shall your poverty come on you like a prowler,
And your need like an armed man. (Proverbs 6:10-11)

Yesterday, I talked about what conspiracies are in light of the World cover story on QAnon claims taking hold within the church. Why people believe unproven and often outlandish theories about select people or the world at large is hard to pin down.

One idea is that the theory of evil conspirators pressing toward world government flattens all the bad news into a single problem, drawing a battle line between the light and the night. One cultural commentator said the QAnon theories resemble the rumors of Satanic rituals circulating among believers in the 80s. In a way this makes sense. Who is the biggest corrupter of our world, if not Satan himself?

But if you’re inclined to agree with that, think about why creation is under a curse to begin with. In Adam’s fall sinned we all. Sure, the devil fed us a line, but we bought it and rejected what our Lord told us. It wasn’t his rebellion that brought down the curse; we earned that ourselves.

This is the big reason world conspiracies fall short. Humanity isn’t a flock of sheep, many of whom falling victim to a few evil goats who are themselves being manipulated by the devil. A strain of evil runs through every one of us.

“For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do” (Rom 7:19).

It is Christ’s work in us that keeps us from grassroots sin: pride, selfishness, and seeking our own interests. It is Christ’s work in the world that keeps unrepentant sinners from ruining themselves and those around them. We don’t need a secret society to pressure us into sin. We do it willing, even as we tell ourselves to stop.

Many great evils occur throughout the world as a result of normal people making choices. The explosion of 2750 tons of ammonium nitrate last month in Beirut, killing over 200 people, ruining a vital port that will harm countless civilians for months, and shutting down the government completely, was the result of neglectful politicians who saw no reason to clean up a mess. What harm was it doing to anyone two months ago?

A scientist who was nearby said, “I heard a terrible wheeze, a sinister noise. I saw a huge cloud flashing in my direction. I lived through the civil war in Lebanon, but this was the moment I was sure I was going to die.”

Unintended consequences and unforeseen events have caused wide ranging damage from ruined birthday parties to ruined lives. A famished president ate a pile of fresh fruit that killed him with cholera. Poorly designed o-rings allowed a spaceship to explode. And that thing you said to your friend at work? That’s why you’re meeting with the boss in the morning. We don’t often go looking for harm; we just run into it along the way.

Neglect is only one form of grassroots sin. We’ll talk about another form in another post.

Photo by Sigurdur Fjalar Jonsson, Unsplash