The Sin that Turned Angels into Demons: And How to Protect Yourself From It
by Tim Zello
Chapter 1
There is a War Waging
Many people say that there is a distinct difference in attitude between a dog and a cat. A dog will look up at his owner and think, You feed me all this wonderful food. You give me this great house to live in. You treat me with love and respect. You must be a god!
A cat will look up at his owner and think, You feed me all this wonderful food. You give me this great house to live in. You treat me with love and respect. I must be a god.*
This humorous difference in attitude aptly describes a very serious war that is waging in all of us, a war between what our human nature desires--self-exaltation, and what God wants--His exaltation.
God’s archenemy is busy trying to convince us that this war does not exist, and many people, indeed, deny that it is taking place. Yet, proof of it is everywhere. A grocery store advertises: “Marinated Meat: We do all the work and you get the credit.” An airline company uses the slogan: “When you got it, flaunt it.” A well-known fast food chain claims: “You deserve a break today.”
A professional American football player runs towards the end zone for a touchdown. On the 10-yard line he decides to show off and celebrate early only to be tackled and fumble the ball. The other team recovers the ball and wins the game.
A comedy sketch shows a young man trying to win the favor of village elders in order to marry a beautiful young woman. He has to prove that he is worthy to marry her by completing three tests: crossing a plank over a leech-infested pool of water, walking on a hot bed of coals, and running blindfolded through a field filled with yard rakes. The young man does pirouettes while crossing the plank. He cartwheels over the hot coals. He struggles across the field, but makes it. Immediately, he throws off the blindfold, lifts his hands, smiles, runs towards his bride-to-be and boasts, “I did it, I did it!” only to step on the teeth of a rake which in turn causes the pole to smack him in the face and knock him out cold.
The beauty industry’s sales in make-up, skin and hair care, fragrances, cosmetic surgery, health club memberships, and diet pills grosses more than $160 billion US dollars a year globally.[i] This exceeds the total combined gross domestic income of more than half of the countries in the world.[ii]
A world champion boxer says, “I am the greatest; I said that even before I knew I was. When you are as great as I am it is hard to be humble.”
A classical song that hit #1 on the billboard charts is entitled I did it My Way.
And, we all know of good people gone bad after a promotion. Seemingly overnight and out of character, they began to withhold necessary information, micromanage, spread negative rumors, use derogatory names, ridicule co-workers in front of others, have explosive outbursts of anger, harshly reprimand over minor things, withhold favor without basis, show favoritism, yell or scream, give the silent treatment, or intimidate through eye contact. It is as if they immediately forget that their former peers, whom they are now stepping on, were often, in some or large part, responsible for their success.
For further proof of this war between flesh and spirit, count how many times in one day you hear yourself and others use the word “I” to begin a sentence.
The war is between our human nature and the nature of God is real and ideology between the two factions could not be more different.
Our human nature wants to believe that every person determines his or her own truth and morality. Truth doesn’t determine who we are. We determine what truth is. We declare, “Since I don’t tell others when they are wrong, no one has the right to tell me when I am wrong. I don’t care about your example and don’t want you to look at me as an example. As long as I don’t hurt anybody what I do is none of your business.”
God, our ally, says differently. He says that we don’t determine what truth is. Truth determines who we are. Our Ally declares, “Since the origin of sin, human nature is so error prone that you need to help others by letting them know when they are wrong. You should be a good example for each other. Do not hurt others and help them so they do not hurt others or themselves.”
Many people say that there is a distinct difference in attitude between a dog and a cat. A dog will look up at his owner and think, You feed me all this wonderful food. You give me this great house to live in. You treat me with love and respect. You must be a god!
A cat will look up at his owner and think, You feed me all this wonderful food. You give me this great house to live in. You treat me with love and respect. I must be a god.*
This humorous difference in attitude aptly describes a very serious war that is waging in all of us, a war between what our human nature desires--self-exaltation, and what God wants--His exaltation.
God’s archenemy is busy trying to convince us that this war does not exist, and many people, indeed, deny that it is taking place. Yet, proof of it is everywhere. A grocery store advertises: “Marinated Meat: We do all the work and you get the credit.” An airline company uses the slogan: “When you got it, flaunt it.” A well-known fast food chain claims: “You deserve a break today.”
A professional American football player runs towards the end zone for a touchdown. On the 10-yard line he decides to show off and celebrate early only to be tackled and fumble the ball. The other team recovers the ball and wins the game.
A comedy sketch shows a young man trying to win the favor of village elders in order to marry a beautiful young woman. He has to prove that he is worthy to marry her by completing three tests: crossing a plank over a leech-infested pool of water, walking on a hot bed of coals, and running blindfolded through a field filled with yard rakes. The young man does pirouettes while crossing the plank. He cartwheels over the hot coals. He struggles across the field, but makes it. Immediately, he throws off the blindfold, lifts his hands, smiles, runs towards his bride-to-be and boasts, “I did it, I did it!” only to step on the teeth of a rake which in turn causes the pole to smack him in the face and knock him out cold.
The beauty industry’s sales in make-up, skin and hair care, fragrances, cosmetic surgery, health club memberships, and diet pills grosses more than $160 billion US dollars a year globally.[i] This exceeds the total combined gross domestic income of more than half of the countries in the world.[ii]
A world champion boxer says, “I am the greatest; I said that even before I knew I was. When you are as great as I am it is hard to be humble.”
A classical song that hit #1 on the billboard charts is entitled I did it My Way.
And, we all know of good people gone bad after a promotion. Seemingly overnight and out of character, they began to withhold necessary information, micromanage, spread negative rumors, use derogatory names, ridicule co-workers in front of others, have explosive outbursts of anger, harshly reprimand over minor things, withhold favor without basis, show favoritism, yell or scream, give the silent treatment, or intimidate through eye contact. It is as if they immediately forget that their former peers, whom they are now stepping on, were often, in some or large part, responsible for their success.
For further proof of this war between flesh and spirit, count how many times in one day you hear yourself and others use the word “I” to begin a sentence.
The war is between our human nature and the nature of God is real and ideology between the two factions could not be more different.
Our human nature wants to believe that every person determines his or her own truth and morality. Truth doesn’t determine who we are. We determine what truth is. We declare, “Since I don’t tell others when they are wrong, no one has the right to tell me when I am wrong. I don’t care about your example and don’t want you to look at me as an example. As long as I don’t hurt anybody what I do is none of your business.”
God, our ally, says differently. He says that we don’t determine what truth is. Truth determines who we are. Our Ally declares, “Since the origin of sin, human nature is so error prone that you need to help others by letting them know when they are wrong. You should be a good example for each other. Do not hurt others and help them so they do not hurt others or themselves.”
*Original research was done and sent to me in an email on October 5, 2006, by Rev. David Arnold, pastor and author, and used by his permission. Some changes were made and additional research done.
[i] Source obtained from the Internet at http://www.economist.com/printedition/displayStory.cfm?Story_ID=1795852 (accessed on December 11, 2006)
[ii] Source obtained from the Internet at http://siteresources.worldbank.org/DATASTATISTICS/Resources/GNI.pdf (accessed on December 11, 2006)