Clerow Wilson Jr. (aka "Flip" Wilson, 1933-1998) came to fame in the early 1970s as one of America's most beloved comedians while hosting the hit television program, The Flip Wilson Show. Flip earned a Golden Globe and two Emmy Awards for his performances in that series. Whatever your taste in comedy during those early years of comedic or family-variety television programming, it is at least hard to deny the cultural impact and the iconic prominence and longevity of Flip's famous line, "The devil made me do it," which became his rather odd trademark throughout his life.
Flip's line was also used by Mr. Marvin Williams as the title of his teaching for the August 5th, 2010 issue of the beloved devotional, Our Daily Bread. In that commentary, Mr. Williams makes anecdotal reference to a news item covering the story of a woman who apparently stole money from a church and later explained that "Satan had a big part in the theft." It makes one wonder if the woman had been inspired by the late comedian's slogan, and/or whether she actually believed that a demonic force had taken control of her actions in this instance.
Sadly, there are those who live in fear that the spiritual warfare and the celestial battles seemingly encircling us are also drawing us unwittingly into calamity, requiring that we engage and thus arm ourselves to do battle according to our own human capacity. Perhaps we are also being led astray by the enemy's bold lie that the outcome of the battle in some way is dependent upon our own attributes and strength. Perhaps we need to examine Deuteronomy 13:4 to determine who it is that we should "fear."
"You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear Him,
and keep His commandments and obey His voice...."
I've met many people in my life who tend to see "the glass as half empty." Some dwell on the presence of "evil" in their lives, attributing everyday occurrences to "the devil." Others conjure up conspiracies, seeing dark patterns in the reflections of life. As believers, we know that there is a spiritual war raging around us and also an instigator and perpetrator of evil in the world. Clearly, these satanic forces mentioned in Ephesians 6:12 are behind the horrific persecution that is increasingly coming against the global body of Christ today. Yet it is not a war, the outcome of which we, in and of ourselves, can impact. Thankfully, the victory has already been won by Christ Jesus, as declared by His pronouncement on the Cross: "It is finished." This victory was won by Christ on our behalf and for our salvation, and we can abide in it by abiding in Him. It would hopefully follow that we acknowledge the victory He has provided in every area of our lives and, thereby, see God's goodness as opposed to the dark apparitions of the enemy.
I believe that these seemingly complex issues are simplified by the "refining fires" of persecution, particularly for those who have no hope in any temporal thing but whose hope is solely in Jesus. I can only imagine that their view to life would very much be that the glass is not only "half full," but actually "full-to-overflowing" with the presence of the glory of Christ ”“ whether in their prison cells, safehouses or "underground" places of worship. They are confronted with harder choices than us, sometimes staring down the barrel of a gun. I have coined and applied the phrases, "victimology" and "victorology," to describe these opposing points of view and attitude. We, by Christ's sacrifice, are no longer "victims" of the death that arose from our sin. Rather, we are "victors" who have inherited eternal life by way of Christ's unimaginable accomplishments on behalf of His church.
The devil can only lie to us and steal our joy, but never our victory. Christ's power is infinitely "greater than he that is in the world." In fact, our Lord's name alone has the power to shake, and cause to crumble into dust, the very foundations of evil that abound in the world. We must fear only God; for if we fear Satan, we are only ascribing power to him that he does not rightfully have and certainly does not deserve.
Doug J. McKenzie
Chief Executive Officer
The Voice of the Martyrs Canada