In any crisis, you’ll have scammers that try to take advantage of a situation. There will be people that will attempt to act like your friend when you are lonely. There will be those who will threaten and cajole because they can manipulate a person’s fear.
Yet there will be others that will be kind, generous and an inspiration to the world. A crisis doesn’t necessarily make good people bad. It merely magnifies what is in a person’s heart; the good and the bad.
I used to be very puzzled by the following Bible verse. But in light of today’s environment, it makes perfect sense to me.
Be ye, therefore, wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.
Matthew 10:16 (KJV)
Jesus gave his disciples a great paradox. The wicked (and anyone who tries to scam another is doing a wicked act) will be among us. We need not be naive but be as wise as a serpent that is alert for danger and taking evasive action.
At the same time, we are not called to let the wicked affect us and turn us into evildoers. We are to be as harmless as doves. We can do good and be kind without falling into the traps of scammers, spammers, and the generally unethical tricksters.
So beware of the kid with the magical, empty box that only starts up when you insert twenty dollars. and don’t follow his lead!
