Fear of Faith August 31, 2010
Posted by Dan R. Dick in Core Values, Devotional Reflection, Religion in the U.S..Tags: Theology, Trust, Values
3 comments
In my youth, I had a friend who was obsessed with the devil. A Christian, but obsessed with the devil. Satan haunted his every waking moment. He was constantly warning all of us of the power of the Deceiver — waiting around every corner to trick us, trap us, tempt us and undermine our faith. He harped on sin and sinful behavior and never let any opportunity pass by to tell us how tenuous our faith really was. I always found such a belief system tiresome, immature, and frankly lacking any real faith. I mean, come on, who is more powerful? God or Satan? I believe in God, and to the extent that there is an evil incarnation at work in the world, I simply don’t give him more power than I believe God has. I worship God. I place my faith in God. I do not live in fear of the Adversary.
It constantly surprises me when “Bible-believing Christians” go all hooky over the devil. The devil can have absolutely no power over us that we don’t give him/her/it. Not if we truly believe that God is God and that Jesus the Christ is God made flesh (and that we are still recipients of God’s grace and power through the Holy Spirit). Guess what? I don’t think reading a Harry Potter book is going to undermine the faith of real Christians, and I don’t think it has more power to influence non-Christians than anything else. I see more harm in one hour of American Idol than I do in the entire Harry Potter series. Talk about corrupted values!
