19 Oct The Masks of Satan, Part III

The past two weeks, we have been looking at the temptation of Jesus in Luke 4:1-13, as utilized by author Peter Scazzero in his book “Emotionally Healthy Spirituality.” Scazzero sees “three false identities or masks that Satan offers each one of us.” I never identified the categories these temptations create. The first two are:

‘Temptation One: “I am what I do” (performance)- “if you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become a loaf of bread.” (Luke 4:3)‘

Temptation Two: “I am what I have” (possessions)- ““I will give you the glory of these kingdoms and authority over them.” (Luke 4:6)

In this post, we examine Temptation Three:” I am what others think” (popularity):

9 Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! 10 For the Scriptures say, He will order his angels to protect and guard you. 11 And they will hold you up with their hands, so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone. 12 Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God.” Luke 4:9-13 (NLT)

I don’t know about you, but I can’t count how many times in my life I embarrassed myself by doing something stupid to impress others. For many of us, this mask goes all the way back to childhood and playground chants of “I dare you!” or “You’re chicken!” This is exactly what Satan is trying to do to Jesus in this passage. He continues to taunt us today.

The first temptation we explored was the mask of performance. The third temptation is similar to the first, but there is a significant difference. In performance, we’re tempted into thinking we have to be good enough for God. Here, Satan is trying to convince us that what other people think of us is more important than what God thinks of us. We put a premium on the opinion others hold of us. When we’re serving the god of earthly popularity, it puts distance between us and the one true God.

I fell victim to all three of these temptations/masks before I was saved. Truthfully, Satan successfully attached these masks to me for most of my life. The third one, however, did the most damage in my life.

Being accepted by others, being liked by others and being acknowledged by others virtually defined who I was. Even after I was saved, I didn’t immediately realize the folly of this mask. As I grew closer to Christ, He gently removed all three masks. That said, we are naïve to the ongoing threat of these masks at our own peril.

In the wink of an eye, Satan can fool us into putting the masks back on. Jesus showed us how to be prepared. He responded to each temptation with “it is written.” Jesus teaches us that the key to keeping these masks off is to go to God’s Word. When we wield the Word of God as the “sword of the Spirit” (Eph. 6:17), no mask Satan tries to put on us will fit!

Pastor Jerry Bader