Weirdos

As I reflect on it, even the spelling of the word weird is weird. Remember the little ditty "I before e except after c or when it sounds like a in neighbor and weigh"? The ditty doesn't work for weird, does it!

It seems like they have been coming out of the woodwork lately, Phelpians threatening to disrupt memorial services, authors writing books on discernment that require discernment to read safely. I was given one of the latter to read and see what I thought; you can check out the book here, the author here. It's scary stuff 'cause people read and believe this sort of thing.

The author has tried to build a barely plausible defense for transforming sin into a demon to be challenged using all the tools of spiritual warfare. Preoccupation with pornography, homosexuality, immoral behavior, lack of spiritual leadership are all symptoms of a demon having built up a stronghold that must be torn down to release the individual from its control.

I have to believe Satan is lol as they say (laughing out loud) over this one. It puts me in mind of Don Quixote and his crusade to defeat the windmills; while he was using up all his strength and energy on a useless target, the real enemy if there were one had nothing to fear. I believe it is the same with Satan - if we are focusing all our energy and attention on some supposed demon instead of the real issue, sin, he will have succeeded in his deception.

The more I think about it, the more it resembles a sophisticated "the devil made me do it" argument. Oh yay, that means I don't have to take responsibility for my bad behavior, I don't even have to call it sin. I'm just the victim here, oppressed and enslaved by a demon, and if I can just boot that demon out I'll be free. But when I read what Scripture has to say on the subject, it calls each one of those behaviors and desires sin, exhorting me to repentance if I am guilty of practicing them.

Don't be taken in by Satan's deception - sin is sin and we need to call it just that since God calls it sin. That is what confess (homologeo in the Greek) means - say the same as; call our behavior what God calls it. To minimize it or call it something else or give someone else the credit for it is clearly contrary to Biblical teaching. In order for us to experience God's forgiveness we need to view ourselves and our sinful behavior from God's perspective and treat it the way He commands us to.

By His grace,
Sundoulos