French poet Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867) wrote, “The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he doesn’t exist.” If that’s true, I think maybe the second greatest trick Satan ever pulled was convincing the world that he is simply a joke.
I fear that many people in our nation believe Satan to be either a hoax or not to exist at all. But the Bible describes Satan as a genuine “adversary” who is as “a roaring lion” who walks about “seeking whom he may devour” (I Peter 5:8).
This hardly casts him as a source for laughs.
However, that is the new image of Satan we are often seeing.
In fact, on Tuesday night, the CW Television Network unveiled a new series titled, “Reaper,” in which a young man on his 21st birthday learns that his parents sold him to the devil at his birth. And now, as a form of reimbursement, he must work for Satan.
His job? To be Satan’s “bounty hunter,” capturing souls that have “escaped from hell” and returning them there. To complete his missions, Satan gives the young man a “vessel hand-crafted in the bowels of Perdition by the iniquitous and vile.”
Described as a “charmingly offbeat” comedy by TV Guide, the show certainly departs from the biblical depiction of Satan.
I find it troubling that many in our nation are being duped into believing that Satan is a source of comedy. The problem is if we believe Satan to be a mere punch line, then the Bible cannot be true and Jesus Christ must be a liar.
So we, as Christians, must determine how to confront and address issues that cast aspersions on the very core of our faith.
After watching an online preview of “Reaper,” I began to contemplate a great Bible passage in which the Apostle Paul appears before King Agrippa. It takes place in Acts chapter 26.
In the passage, Paul, who has been arrested for declaring the Gospel, tells the king about his dramatic salvation experience on the road to Damascus. Paul then quotes Jesus, and the words are so pertinent for today, as many in our nation do not understand the reality of Satan – or of Jesus Christ.
In verse 18, Jesus’ words declare how Christians are to represent Christ to the world. We are to attempt to “open their eyes, and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me (Jesus).”
This beautiful verse is our mission in a nutshell.
Christians, we will certainly be laughed at and mocked for not falling into lockstep with the mainstream, but that is often the price we pay for being apologists for Jesus Christ.
We must continue to reach out compassionately to people who do not know Jesus Christ and convince them of His reality and His desire to save their souls. We must also let them know that Satan is real and wants to destroy them.
While shows like “Reaper” will numb the souls of many against such teaching, we must be prepared to offer intrepid defenses of the faith so that hungry hearts can come to know the peace that passes all understanding through knowing Jesus Christ as Savior.
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Larry Elder