Let’s show Satan a little respect

I don’t know what happened at Gauntlet in Florida last week, but Brad Cooper’s Twitter seems fuller than usual of retweets from his tweet peeps who are eager to stomp the Devil as if he were the designated villain in a WWF production. If you follow any NS tweets or blogs, you’re familiar with the anti-Devil braggadocio, but this particular tweet was more over the top than usual:

Not to sound bragish but the small group im in is about to skubala all over satans face when we get home, real talk.

This small group planned to use Satan’s face as their lavatory. (For an earlier discussion of skubala-related things, check this post on scatological theology.)

Think about that. Do they suppose that Satan would really mind that kind of treatment? That’s like saying I’m going to punish my dog by rubbing his tummy.

Besides the illogic of the statement, we should be careful about blaspheming the Devil. Here’s why:

1. God tells us to respect him. 2 Peter 2:10-12 tells us that not even the angels talk trash about Lucifer and other fallen angels.
   

   Bold and arrogant, these men are not afraid to slander celestial beings; yet even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful, do not bring slanderous accusations against such beings in the presence of the Lord. But these men blaspheme in matters they do not understand.

   This is not to say that the Devil is good or deserves respect. He is God’s magnificent and powerful creation, and warrants our respect on that basis. It’s such an important point that God warns us twice to be careful about how we speak of Satan. Jude 8 uses almost identical language to describe similar disrespect:

   These dreamers pollute their own bodies, reject authority and slander celestial beings.

   We must treat the Devil cautiously, not because of any value inherent in him, but because God told us to.

2. Our fight is defensive, not offensive. Look at the language describing spiritual warefare in Ephesians 6. We don’t charge the Devil’s lines. We are to quench his attacks and stand our ground. Having stood our ground we … stand. The armor of God is not designed to defeat the Devil (in the sense of offensive victory), but to prevent the Devil from defeating us.
3. Bad people like to beat up on the Devil. Not only does Peter warn us against slandering Satan, he tells us something about the character of people who tend to do this. In 2 Peter these men are false prophets and teachers. In Jude, they are secret deceivers. Peter is giving us a clue. If you can’t discern anything else wrong with their visions and revelations from God, watch what they say about the Devil. It seems counterintuitive, but it’s what Peter said.