Encounter with Demons - 1

"A man possessed by an evil spirit was in the synagogue, and he began shouting, 'Why are you bothering us, Jesus of Nazareth?  Have you come to destroy us?  I know who you are the Holy One sent from God!'"  Mark 1:23-24.

We sometimes mistakenly believe that Satan is only "out there" somewhere working to destroy people, when, in fact, he is most often in our churches.  We think of him as being involved with drugs, crime, corruption, and criminals.  And truly, he is. 

However, Satan goes to church.  He seeks to divide and conquer.  He knows that a house divided against itself cannot stand.  Similarly, he will work to divide any Christian organization in order to render it ineffective and useless to God.

What is the number one way he does this?

Well, to answer this, we need to notice what the demon said when it confronted Jesus.  Its comments were completely self-centered.  He wanted to know if Jesus had come to destroy him.  He knew who Jesus was, but didn't show one ounce of remorse or guilt for his evil activities.  He didn't beg for forgiveness or a second chance.  Instead, he only cared whether or not Jesus was going to put an end to him.

This is supremely how Satan is.  He is absolutely self-centered.  From the beginning he has only sought his own gratification and glorification.  He wanted and wants to be recognized as God.  This is why he was cast from heaven.  He is totally, ruthlessly, remorselessly self-centered. 

This is how he works to divide and conquer churches.  He promotes the same ruthless self-centeredness in Christians in order to destroy them and their churches.  He wants us to have the "what's in it for me?" attitude.  He tempts us to see only what is good for us.  He urges us to promote only our own interests, not those of others.  He tries to steer us toward the pursuit of personal pleasure, propagation of personal opinion, and gratification of personal desires at the expense of others.  And, in so doing, he promotes evil beyond belief. 

Compare this attitude with the words of Paul, "Don't be selfish; don't live to make a good impression on others.  Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourself.  Don't think only about your own affairs, but be interested in others, too, and what they are doing.  Your attitude should be the same that Christ Jesus had.  Though he was God, he did not demand and cling to his rights as God.  He made himself nothing; he took the humble position of a slave and appeared in human form.  And in human form he obediently humbled himself even further by dying a criminal's death on a cross.'" Philippians 2:3-8 (NLT).

What a difference!  Satan is self-centered, Christ is centered on others.  Satan serves no one but himself, Christ served everyone BUT himself.  Satan is proud, Christ is humble.

One of our greatest weapons for fighting demons and evil in this world is humility.  It is the seeking of the highest good of others even when it costs us to do so.  It is the pursuit of the salvation of lost souls, even if that means dying.  It is crucifying the "snotty-little-self-centered" person that lives in all of us - - daily.

I have failed miserably in this area - - more than once.  I thank God that he is patient with me, and allows me second chances.  I am glad he is merciful to sinners like me.  Aren't you?

Perhaps, if all else fails, knowing one bit of truth can help us crucify the self-centered monster that lives in all of us.  The next time we are tempted to be self-centered, we just need to remember that demons do the same thing.

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