Does the devil want me to be bad?
There is an interesting quirk in Christian theology that is easily missed. The average man on the street, even the average believer in the pew, has a view of Satan and temptation that doesn't quite take in the whole picture. Let's poke at it a bit and see if we can get a more nuanced understanding.
The flannel board theology we were all taught is simple: The devil is bad. The devil wants people to go to hell. Sin makes people go to hell. Therefore the devil wants people to sin. I'm going to argue that this view is ... incomplete.
What do you do when you've wronged someone?
Stereotypically, men who get themselves into trouble buy their wives flowers or, if they really messed up, a car. A wife may make her husband's favorite meal or buy him that fishing pole he's been eyeing. But what do we do when we really, really mess up?
Why is faith necessary to be saved? Even if faith isn't "blind faith", why should it be necessary for God to save people? Why can't God just save everyone?
There is an element in salvation that doesn't get a lot of air-time these days, so a lot of American Christians get the gospel wrong. This results in many raised in the church not understanding salvation. It also aids those outside the church in misunderstanding or misrepresenting the gospel and Christian teaching.
Is faith opposed to reason? Does faith mean you don't have evidence? Is faith "believing what you know ain't so"?
Many people have trouble with the idea of "believing in Jesus" because the very notion of faith seems irrational. How can you expect people to check their brains at the door? And why should you have to?
But what if that's not what faith is at all?
I recently had a conversation with someone who sees himself as a sort of evangelist for moral relativism. His mission is to "teach people" (his words) that the world would be a better place if we all realize no one's right, no one's wrong, no-thing is wrong, and all our values are merely beliefs that are no more than our opinion. Is he a liberal philosophy professor? Nope. Kooky hippy hanging out in the park? Hardly. He's a trainer at a local gym. He chats with people about these things while he trains them.
And he's an example of the minefield the world has become. It's not everywhere you go, but it can be anywhere. The world is now full of people who think Christianity is not the solution but the problem. And they're coming for the children.
