Giving Satan A Day Off
[Editor’s note: this post, as you will see, is a bit dated, but the message is timeless, so we shared it anyway. –Adam]
I am typing these words just a few days after our most recent national election. As I type them, I have absolutely no idea who the occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C. will be after January 20th of next year. The race for the highest office in our land and other contests are still undecided.
By the time you read this, the decision(s) may already be made. However, also by the time you read this, there may still be some repercussions from all of this. Some of those repercussions may, in fact, have eternal consequences.
A lot of unkind things are being said by some politicians and those who work for them. Some “political commentators” seem to try to outdo one another with hateful and hurtful speech. “Negative” is a word that is probably much too kind to describe some of the signs, posters, and other things that I’ve seen displayed (or seen pictures of).
While all of this causes me concern, I am most deeply concerned about some of the things I see (or hear about) being posted on various social media. Two things cause that deep concern. First, I am very concerned about the “back and forth” that takes place. Verbal “shots” are taken at people.
Some of those shots probably inflict wounds that may never heal. Some of those wounds are personal. Some of them wound a relationship so seriously that it may never be the same again or may never be what it could have been.
The fact that the shots are taken do not cause me as much distress as does the identity of some who are taking the shots. Some of the very hurtful and hateful things are “shot” back and forth between and among people who wear the name “Christian.” In fact, some of that interaction takes place between and among members of the same congregation.What makes this even more disturbing is that this ugly dialogue is “out there” for all the world to see.
Jesus said that His followers would be known for their mutual love for one another.
By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another (John 13:35).
I’m thinking that some of the behavior I’ve been describing may do more harm than merely failing to live up to that statement by our Lord. I’m thinking that this type of behavior will, in fact, assist the devil.
Please think with me about the following passages:
Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8).
For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another (Gal. 5:15).
People who are serious about their relationship with Jesus would be offended if anybody questioned their devotion to Him. They certainly would object if they would be accused of helping Satan in any way. However, if we “bite and devour one another,” are we not doing his work for him?
Would a Christian really want to make Satan’s work easier? Would he/she really want to give him a day off? Do you know anybody who might need to do some thinking about what is said, written, or shared on social media?
Have you ever heard the following advice (or some version of it)? “Don’t hang your dirty laundry out for all the world to see.”
If a physical family follows that advice, they lessen the possibility of causing embarrassment. If God’s people follow that advice, they lessen the possibility of souls being lost eternally.
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AUTHOR: Jim Faughn
