Dialogue between 2 devils

Adapted from the Youth Communion, August 1993

Scene I

Nephew devil:          Tell me about our work against True Jesus Church members.

 

Uncle devil:               Well, in the early days of the true church, our work was very difficult. We had to frighten their members; we had to make them ill, and even cause insanity sometimes. In fact, I remember once, a group of us had to appear in all kinds of scary forms before one of their elders who was writing a book. Even then, we were not successful. Then, on another occasion, I tried to frighten one of their members by appearing beside him while he was cycling. But, despite my efforts, there was no response. He just ignored me! Gosh! That was really exhausting. In the end, I had to hop onto the back seat of his bike to recover. You see, the trouble was, all these members knew how to rely on God wholeheartedly. They also supported one another in prayer. That is why most of the time, it was virtually impossible to make any progress with them.

 

Nephew devil:          What about now?

 

Uncle devil:               Now, things have changed. Many of their members have lost that initial zeal to spread their gospel. They are more concerned with their own lives. Religion is no longer the most important thing to them. Also it is easier now to stir up trouble within their midst. All we have to do is to sow some seeds of arrogance in their hearts

 

Nephew devil:          How does this work?

 

Uncle devil:               All we have to do is to make them think that they are better than others, that their opinions are superior regardless of whether they are biblical. We try to lead them away from the Bible. Then there will always be disagreements and infighting amongst them. It is great fun to sit back and watch them.

 

Nephew devil:          But this method is so obvious. Surely they will see through our ploy.

 

Uncle devil:               Don’t you worry. They may know what the Bible teaches, and understand that they have to overcome this “law of sin” as their apostle Paul calls it, but it isn’t easy these days to overcome it. We shouldn’t have much problems with this method.

Scene II

 

Nephew devil:          How did you get these wounds?

 

Uncle devil:               They’re from a Christian.

 

Nephew devil:          How did he wound you?

 

Uncle devil:               This Christian initially doubted God and did not really believe we existed. He did not put up any defence against us and indulged in his desires. I could make him think and act the way I wanted him to But lately he repented and now no longer indulges in his desires. He continually examines his thoughts and actions to see if they conform with the Bible.

 

Nephew devil:          But how do confession, repentance and self-examination harm you?

 

Uncle devil:               True, these behaviours only preserve him and do not inflict any injury on me. What causes me harm is that when I try to instill my thoughts into him, and create situations to stumble him he fires me with God’s words! Not succumbing to my temptations is what injures me so much.

 

Without bidding farewell, Uncle devil walked away, head dropping, muttering to himself, “It shouldn’t be like that. It used to be him who’s hurt, not me…”