Flirting with the Devil

Sue and Jim were walking arm in arm. They had been engaged for 6 months and they were in love. As they were ambling along, Nick came strolling towards them. Sue had heard about Nick. He was a playboy with a wild reputation, but she had not had anything to do with him.

As he went by Sue sneaked a glance to see if Nick noticed her. To her embarrassment she caught his eye. He smiled, satisfied the she was looking back. From then on, whenever he saw her he greeted her. Eventually Sue began to smile and greet Nick back.

Jim left on a business trip. As time went on Sue was “accidentally” running into Nic, and she became uncomfortably aware that sometimes she was arranging the “accident”. She began to feel troubled. She knew that Jim didn’t want her to even look at Nick, much less encourage his attention. She knew Jim would be a good husband. He had his own business and owned a home already. But Jim was not a particularly colourful companion. They went for walks, they ate out, went to occasional ‘acceptable’ movies, and generally had fun as a couple but their times together were not glamorous.

Sue heard that when Nick takes a girl out he really showed her a good time. The best restaurants, dancing and sometimes afterwards he would take them to his flat (though Sue herself woud not go there. He had truckloads of money, dressed like a millionaire, knew all te right people and was invited to all the right parties.

One day Sue stopped to talk to Nick. He was charming and flattered her unmercifully and then asked for her mobile phone number. Somehow Sue did not find the same joy with Jim as she used to. Talking about the same old things, walking the same old paths, just didn’t seem as pleasurable. She still loved him and didn’t want to break off the engagement, but she did not delight as much in his company since she noticed Nick.

Has anything happened to your Christian joy? Jesus is our fiancé. He is the one we should be in love with. Just as Sue began to allow Nick to interfere with her relationship with her fiancé Jim, the modern church is allowing satan to throw cold water on our joy and delight in Jesus. We are not exactly seduced, but we are flirting.  Like Sue we do not see below old Nick’s charming mask to his repulsive and rotten core. We often allow ourselves to be distracted from our original mission. Even though we have been warned that he is a schemer. The result is flat footed Christianity without any power to change and leaven society.

James, in his letter to the church, puts it like this, “You adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God.  Do you think the Scriptures have no meaning? They say that God is passionate that the spirit he has placed within us should be faithful to him.  And he gives grace generously. As the Scriptures say, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” James 4:4-7 NLT

Flirting with the devil is like standing with one foot in a boat and the other one on the wharf. The solid rock of the gospel is the wharf, the boat is the world. If the world’s values and the Christians are the same the boat will stay next to the wharf. However, people do not notice the perilous nature of their condition. The boat begins to move away, and the straddlers get uneasy.

We are aware of how satan’s schemes began in Eden. If we allow satan to sneak around the church whispering sour notes into our ears, striking notes of discord, could it be that we have been fooled like our first parents? Are we letting the devil rob the church of its joy and relationship with our fiancé. Are we a faithful bride? Are you a faithful fiancée? Or have we fallen for the same pitch that satan gave our original parents in the garden.

Like any rabble-rouser satan gets formerly contented followers grumbling against authorities and leaders, or sheep against shepherds, or sheep against sheep, Christians against God, mothers against daughters etc.

By putting  a bruise in a sound apple he can get us to despise the whole fruit. Once Eve allowed the devil to tell her what her needs were she was in trouble. He then tempted her with a false need. That is what peer pressure is all about. Whether it applies to music, clothing or whatever.

I once had a friend who bought their son some GI Joes back in the 80’s when they first came out in America. He took them to school thinking he would be cool, but his friends said, “They are just dolls!” Tim was horrified and never took them again. However, he was just ahead of the times – they soon became fashionable in Australia as well.

Peer pressure perches in the churches as well. Look what’s happened to hats and ties and coats. There is a herd mentality in church. We are constantly bombarded with the desire to fit in and conform to the world and look like everyone else. We don’t want to be seen as oddballs. But who are the oddballs from God’s perspective. If this is God’s world, then ultimately those who fail to conform to His decrees are the oddballs, not us.

But in the meantime, is it OK to fit in? John the Baptist didn’t fit in, neither did Elijah, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Amos or Daniel. Jesus Himself didn’t fit in! You have to decide who you want to fit in with – Elijah, John, Paul, Jesus or the world. 

Satan manipulated Eve into joining “the crowd” by using the same principle as peer pressure. He used innuendo, gossip, and lightly veiled scorn to separate her from God. He invited her to enter a God like club. Why should they be the only ones in all creation that didn’t have a membership. He used pseudo-science to rationalise disobedience over the rule of God’s revelation. It looked good, and it would make her wiser.

The JB Philips paraphrase of Romans 12:2 is “don’t let the world squeeze you into its mold.”