LURKERS & TASERS
(8-minute read)
IT WAS AN EPIC DUEL that took place over forty days, away from the public eye. On the one side was Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit - lacking nothing in terms of His spiritual authority as the Son of God. On the other side was one who was uninvited and a master impersonator - the devil himself. The devil owns nothing and he has only what he skilfully deceived others into handing over to him. He misapplies the Word of God and creates falsehood, but acts as though he is the creator of knowledge (remember what he suggested to Eve in the Garden of Eden, and she took the bait because what he said sounded believable).
You can read about this ‘high-level’ conflict in Luke 4:1-13. It is noteworthy that the Holy Spirit led Jesus into a place of conflict, and not to green pastures and quiet waters (Psalm 23:1-2). Therefore, it is dangerous for us to think that anything that disrupts our normalcy and peaceful existence is from the devil. Christians who constantly gripe about ‘bad’ workplaces want more Disneyland experiences than they care for destiny-making life assignments.
Let’s be clear of this: since Eden, the enemy of our soul has not let up in luring us away from God, whether we are on the mountaintop or in the valley. He is a crackerjack manipulator who has no power and no shame; constantly tempting us with different agnostic ways of living, truisms and arguments that are presented as being more human-friendly and inclusive with the only caveat that God is excluded in all this. Through obsessions and possessions, desires and aspirations, attractions and distractions, the devil lures us into a state of mental, spiritual and emotional paralysis that we get used to over time.
But least we also forget, since the fall, mankind has been hoodwinked into thinking that the devil made more sense than God. At the same time, our Lord and Saviour has also been busy restoring His order in homes, churches, workplaces and relationships through those who believe in His Son, Jesus, who is the Way, the Truth and the Life.
Here are three temptation ploys that the devil commonly uses:
HOLD ON TO SELF-SUFFICIENCY
Today’s self-service business models provide a multiplicity of apps for customers to submit their orders, request for quotations, and book appointments or a table at a restaurant without having to talk to anyone. It may give the impression that customers today have a more direct relationship with businesses even as more businesses are turning to chatbots to imitate and replace human-to-human customer care. In the process, they are alienating their customers and normalizing a self-help culture that permeates into all aspects of our lives.
Not surprisingly, mantras like ‘Believe in yourself’ are very appealing to our fragile ego. The hustle culture also puts self-reliance on a pedestal. I can do it. I have everything under control. Focus on the positive. I know what I’m doing. I don’t need God to tell me what to do. These are common refrains heard among friends and family. These words may sound healing and uplifting in the moment but it is like a beat-up car telling itself Just believe in myself; I don’t need to return to the manufacturer for servicing.
1 King 17 provides a riveting story during a 3-year drought, when God sent the prophet Elijah away from danger and set him up to be supplied with food and water by ravens (v4-6), and an impoverished widow (v7-24). God chose to sustain Elijah through ravens (filthy birds that ate anything they got their claws on) and a widow living not in luxury but on the breadline. If Elijah had a self-sufficient mindset, he would have preferred to find his own food and reject the offer of food from the beaks of foul and unhygienic ravens, and from a widow living on the brink of starvation.
The devil used the age-old tactic of appealing to the human ego and challenged the Lord to prove His identity as the Son of God by turning stone into bread (Luke 4:3). Arguably, the Son of God had the power to fight His own battles but instead Jesus countered, not with a truism but with the Truth: ‘It is written: Man shall not live on bread alone. (Luke 4:4).
What signals are you sending to those around you? Do you take pride in your self-sufficiency, and do you encourage it in others as well? Or do you actively lean on God and let Him reveal, guide and direct you into His truth - step-by-step through your lived realities?
Sometimes, God helps us by providing us with a plan B, useful connections or the best of science and technology can offer. But other times, He wants us to just trust Him to intervene on His schedule. In John 15:5, Jesus declared, ‘I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.’ Because Jesus said it, we'd better believe that we can literally do nothing enduringly good apart from Him. It's the basic truth for all human existence.
RELINQUISH SPIRITUAL AUTHORITY
Cyberattacks happen when malicious agents gain full access to our passwords, bank accounts and other personal data by exploiting our ignorance of cyber risks and getting us to do what they want. The devil works in the same way with his own way of masquerading as a trusted source of comfort, advice and direction through sources that are agnostic or atheist.
God knows how prone we are to make a god out of anything - positive philosophies, charismatic teachers, architectural monuments, wealth and material success, pop stars who die prematurely, and phenomenal artefacts of pop culture. We deify anyone who says anything that triggers collective moral action or individual reflection. Ironically, there's no new thinking that has existed since human creation, only new problems.
We may not bow down to any idol, but whenever we uphold any norms, tradition, thinking or teaching as superior to what the Bible teaches, we are effectively surrendering to the devil, giving him unlimited access and control over our lives.
The devil thought he was offering Jesus an irresistible deal when he said, “If you worship me, it will all be yours.” (Luke 4:7). The deceiver conveniently left out the finer detail that he never ever had any authority or ownership over creation or anything. Jesus rebutted, ‘It is written: Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’ (Luke 4:8, Exodus 20:1-6).
So what is our God-given spiritual authority? Jesus revealed in Matthew 18:18, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.’ Not even the devil has this authority!
TEST GOD AND PLAY GOD
Children often play pretend games when they act like their adult parents – imitating how their parents speak and act. Adults sometimes act like God Himself when they claim to have His permission to do things that contradict His Word. When we fail to honestly confront our loved ones but make excuses about their unacceptable or harmful behaviour, we are testing God’s power to turn lives around. When we refuse to wait on God or take unprecedented risks with Him because we think we always know the best solutions to our problems, we are indeed playing God.
The devil, too, loves to play God and he also loves to play on our human propensity to do the same in ever subtle ways, especially by misapplying the Word of God or exploiting our lack of familiarity with the Word. That was what he was doing when he challenged Jesus, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here.’ Now, we know that ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.’ (John 1:1). The devil forgot who his opponent was and that there was no way he could use the Word of God against Jesus who is the embodiment of the Word itself!
For the rest of us, even the most erudite theologian, we are equally gullible to be tempted by the devil who shows up in all guise and pretense. Therefore, we are warned, ‘Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.’ (1 Peter 5:8). No one is exempt.
The danger of being self-sufficient, lacking spiritual authority and acting like God is not something that we can easily discern in ourselves. Often, they are picked up by other believers close to us. Knowingly, the devil will isolate us in shallow, superficial connections with others and deceive us into living like closed books even when he can read us like open books simply because he is far more knowledgeable about human behaviour than we are!
Make no mistake: if Jesus Himself, full of the Holy Spirit, could face such intense temptations from the devil, none of us can possibly think that we are ever temptation-proof and deception-proof.
This is a summary and reflection based on a virtual BIR Session held on 5 November 2023.
