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What if...?

             For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. (I John 2:16)

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (Ephesians 6:12)

For decades, I've been irritated when I’ve heard someone talk about being tempted by the devil (or a devil). These people weren’t Billy Graham or some world leader. And every time something went wrong or they felt tempted, it was the devil’s work, as if they’d be perfect examples of every virtue if left to themselves. It’s only because of some malevolent spiritual entity that their sublime existence was imperiled.

The passages above make it clear that spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms can certainly cause problems for us. We are to struggle against them, but I still believed -and am still tempted to believe that - at most - this is the least frequent of our sources of temptation, sin, and failure. Far more prevalent are the problems of the world and the flesh (which includes our lusts.)

A couple of nights ago, I opened FerVent, a book about prayer by Priscilla Shirer. She pointed out that one of Satan’s strategies is to convince people that he doesn’t exist or is not involved. Before turning out the light, I wrote a simple question in a small notebook: “What if I am wrong?”

What if I’m not as insignificant as I assume I am? What if at least one minor, “just out of boot camp” spiritual force of evil - or even some junior lieutenant - is assigned to me, like Wormwood in the Screwtape Letters?

I’m still thoroughly convinced that none of us need the temptations provided by such a being to thoroughly ruin our lives and the lives of those around us. The world and the flesh, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life are more than capable and at least as culpable. But what if..?

I don’t have the answers. That’s part of why I’m reading the book. I know quite a few people disagree with me and see spiritual forces of evil everywhere and the top echelons considering them appropriate targets. And maybe the real point isn’t “Oh, they’re everywhere, the devils are everywhere,” so much so that I need to take the devil, the world, and the flesh far more seriously as purveyors of evil. At the moment, I’m really no farther than “What if I’m wrong?”

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