Rules of the Con

"You can never con an honest man"

"We cannot be robbed of God's providence." This was one of the common sayings in the household of Thomas Carlyle.

Benjamin Warfield said of this statement, "In it, the plummet is let down to the bottom of the Christian's confidence and hope. It is because we cannot be robbed of God's providence that we know, amid whatever encircling gloom, that all things shall work together for good to those that love him.

It is because we cannot be robbed of God's providence that we know that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ -- not tribulation, nor anguish, nor persecution, nor famine, nor nakedness, nor peril, nor sword.

'For over us there curves the infinite

Blue heaven as a shield, and at the end

We shall find One who loveth to befriend

E'en those who faint for shame within his sight.'"

Craig Harris of the Herald Press in Palestine, TX once wrote about God taking care of his wife in a medical situation. Craig remarked that one of his friends said to him “Yeah, God takes care of the righteous.” He replied with, “No, God takes care of the simple.”

Isn't that so true?

It reminds me of BBC's (and in the States, AMC's) great show Hustle.

In the show, an ensemble of players from card shark to accident victim to pickpocket, work for master inside man Mickey Stone (Adrian Lester). Stone, a well-dressed smoothie, imparts Solomon-like commandments - "don't have anything you can't walk away from in a minute" - to his team-members.

As Albert Stroller, former "Man From U.N.C.L.E." star Robert Vaughn finds the marks; those who need a bit of seducing are placed in the path of Stacie Monroe (Jaime Murray), who also works as an identity thief. Ash Morgan (Robert Glenister) and Danny Blue (Marc Warren) handle surveillance, disguises and execution of plans that make the victim feel like he's made a bad investment rather than been swindled.

The cons are more addicted to the grift than the riches; they're likable thieves who watch each other's backs. It's easy to cheer for them as they walk away from a convoluted illegal stock purchase gone wrong with £100,000 ($176,000) to share. Or when they create a movie star (Monroe) and a mogul (Blue) to get revenge on a casino owner who wronged Stroller. Blue is the student in the crew, and his screw-ups help humanize the operation.

While the slick overtures and fluidity of plot are impressive, what is more intriguing is the philosophy often espoused by Stone; 'Rules of the Con.'

The first, being "You can never con an honest man."

This philosophy is not only helpful toward softening the blow of the actual grift, but it also embodies a deeper truth: The honest man is somehow, in some deeper, intrinsic way -- protected.

He is immune from the con. And in Season One, Episode Three, when an honest mark (victim) is accidentally conned, the team pulls off a separate con, just to pay the honest mark back.

As I observed this philosophy in action on the show, the thought crossed my mind, "God takes care of the simple."

Scripture is profuse with the concept that God's children have a special providence over them, watching out for more than their physical well-being. The psalmist recognizes this truth when he cries out for deliverance in the psalms, entreating God to deliver him from the oppressor.

And true, while we know that we will not always be kept from physical maladies, it is an encouragement to know that when the spiritual grift is underway, we have honesty & providence on our side, and that, according to the rules, will keep is safe.