In The Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis used an older tempter named Screwtape to instruct his nephew Wormwood in the art of destroying the lives of unsuspecting "patients." He taught the junior tempter to confuse them and keep them disconnected from God. For a few minutes I
will be playing the part of the devil.
If I were him:
I'd wage war on a man ...
- I'd mess
him up and warp his perspective, because
- Men are uniquely situated in their family reflect the glory of God
- Men were purposely, divinely entrusted with spiritual leadership
- If you can negatively affect men, you have gone far down the road to destroying the family
- Men and biblical manhood are phenomenal strategic targets for the enemy
- Men are uniquely situated in their family reflect the glory of God
- Men were purposely, divinely entrusted with spiritual leadership
- If you can negatively affect men, you have gone far down the road to destroying the family
- Men and biblical manhood are phenomenal strategic targets for the enemy
I'd make him
religious ...
but not a follower of Jesus
I'd dissuade him from reading John 17:3 or 1 John 5:13. I'd blind him from this: "But why do you call Me, 'Lord, Lord,' but don't do the things I
say?" (Luke 6:46). I'd make him
think that some childhood confession that hadn't really affected the direction
of his life in anything like a significant, transformational way is just fine
as religious experience goes. I'd make
him think that he has satisfied the unique demands of the Gospel by his regular
church attendance. I'd keep words like
"repentance" and phrases like "the Kingdom of God
I'd make him a tyrant ...
instead of a servant-leader
I'd make him an irresponsible, overbearing,
domineering bully. I'd make him a tyrant
at church and at home. I'd make the
basis of his leadership his volume and threats and manipulation rather than his
humble availability to his Master. I'd
make him think that his headship is in no way related to compassion or
character but is primarily about control.
I would make sure he couldn't tell the difference between being
demanding and being an example. I'd work
day and night to hide from him the Bible verse that says, "The LORD is near
to those who have a broken heart, And saves such as have a contrite
spirit" (Psalm 34:18). I'd
never let him near the passage that says, "But
He gives more grace. Therefore He says: 'God resists the proud, But gives grace
to the humble.' Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from
you. Draw near to God and He will draw
near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you
double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep!
Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord,
and He will lift you up" (James 4:6-10).
I'd make him busy ...
but unfocused
I'd keep him far away from that half-baked poem John Piper
quotes: "Only one life will soon be passed/Only what's done for Christ
will last." I'd make him out of
balance with respect to vocation and recreation. I'd take his job and his hobby and give them
a priority out of any reasonable proportion. I'd make him supremely
passionate about the wrong things. I'd
have him so out of balance that all the demons would be laughing at him. I'd make him someone hell doesn't take very
seriously. I'd fill his mouth with
opinions about everything but the Gospel.
I'd fill his hands with everything except the tools of ministry
(Ephesians 2:10). I'd have him thinking
that Sunday School and church are for sissies.
I would have him up and out the door every day without thought to the
disciplines that cultivate a worshiping life.
I would make him so busy that his only
recourse is self-sufficiency.
I'd make him a
materialist ...
instead of a giver
I'd hide the saying of Jesus: "Take heed and beware of covetousness, for a man's life does not
consist in the abundance of things he possesses" (Luke 12:15) far from
him. (See 1 Timothy 6). I'd give him a thoroughly unbiblical and
unhealthy view of possessions. I'd make
him so tight he squeaked when he walked.
I'd drill into him a thoroughly unhealthy and unsound view of
ownership. I'd make him satisfied with the
most meager concept of sacrifice. I'd
make him a lover of things and a user of people. I'd have him accumulating possessions and
living by the bumper-sticker mentality that "whoever dies with the most
toys wins," and I'd do it so subtly, he'd never even see the attitude of
his own heart. I would have him building
bigger barns and saying to himself, "Soul take your ease. You have everything you could want, and your
own hands have done this." How
shocked he will be to hear his master say: "You fool! This very night your
soul is required of you. Now whose will
these things be?"
I'd give him attachments ...
without true worship
I'd make him a slave to secret passions. I'd erase 1 Corinthians 13 from his memory so
that he had no real concept of godly love.
I'd have him compromised, confused and so filled with shame that he
would be essentially unwilling to serve God and his family and church. I'd work to ensure that he kept his sexual
ethic and identity completely segregated from his ideas about discipleship. I would keep him up after his family was in
bed, channel surfing or surfing the web.
I would cause his passions to shout so loud that all other voices, the
voices of reason and self-control were muted altogether. I'd make him an addict and an idolater. I would ease him into some ungodly attachment
and then hammer him with the voice of hopelessness. I would have him so stuck, that under no
conditions could he believe that grace could reverse his situation. I would hide from his eyes the example that
might easily be gleaned from the failure of multitudes of good men who fell and
fell hard. I would cause him to dismiss
the scripture that says, "Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he
fall."
I'd give him
authority ...
without accountability
I'd fill him with an American concept of manhood, instead of
a biblical one. I'd make him think that
meekness is weakness. I'd take
confession and accountability out of his mental processes and vocabulary and
certainly from his practice, because real men aren't vulnerable. Real men don't cry and real men don't talk
about what really matters, no matter if it's killing them.
Now if I could step
out of character for a moment:
Guard your heart
(Proverbs 4:23) - It pains me to tell you how many friends I have listened
to as they described the tragic consequences of personal failure and the toll
that it has taken, and the unbelievable cost for them personally and the
uncertainty of the road ahead as they try and process what often amounts to
great loss professionally and more importantly, relationally. And I've listened
and prayed and counseled knowing that it could be me--knowing that my adversary
the devil walks about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. Guard your heart!
Live by unshakeable, uncompromising, bedrock biblical convictions (Matthew 7:24). Build your life around the truth of God's
Word. To do that you have to know it. It has to become your default setting. The Bible has to become the final word for
you. It has to trump your feelings and
friends' advice. It has to keep you
anchored when life is throwing all the hard things at you. It has to speak louder than the siren voices
that try and seduce you. It has to speak
louder than your frustrations. It has to
speak louder than commercials and media.
It has to counsel you when you are confused. The Word of God has to inform your whole view
of the world. It has to outline your
definition of success in that it reveals God's person and purposes to you.
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