Part 5 in the U2 Unplugged Series

Temptation has an ultimate source: the Bible calls him Satan or the devil. In the postmodern world, however, we usually downplay or dismiss the role of Satan in our lives. After all, in a world of rugged individualists, we rather like the idea that we are masters of our own fate.

We may be free creatures, but we fool ourselves if we believe Satan has no influence in our lives. The Apostle Paul speaks in Romans of a spiritual battle taking place all around us. He stressed that our fights with temptation aren’t against what is going on in front of our eyes, but against spiritual forces that we cannot see or touch.

There are two dangers when you think about Satan, observed author C.S. Lewis. One is not taking him seriously enough and the other is taking him too seriously. With that in mind, Lewis penned his classic book The Screwtape Letters, a fictional account of a senior devil named Screwtape giving advice to the junior devil named Wormwood on the art of temptation. The age-old popularity of The Screwtape Letters stems from the fact that the book reads much like a sneak peek inside the playbook of the opposing team, a rare window into a nasty world in which Satan is called “Our Father”, people are “patients”, and God is considered “the Enemy”. Lewis believed that when you better understand the tricks of the opposition, you can better equip yourself as you head into spiritual battle on a day-in, day-out basis.

The song “Vertigo” [Lyrics] [iTunes] speaks about the kind of influence that Satan has over us and how temptation creeps into our lives when we don’t run from it. However, the song also offers insight into how we can overcome temptation – looking for the love of God in the midst of our sin and surrendering our wills to Jesus Christ.

With a nod of the cap to C.S. Lewis, consider a look at the major ideas expressed in “Vertigo” in the spirit of The Screwtape Letters. (Before reading below, you may wish to glance over the lyrics briefly to better understand the overall flow of the discussion.)

Dear Uncle Screwtape,

I was quite surprised to hear of your recent demotion and reassignment as an entry-level tempter within my department. How the mighty have fallen! Maybe now you will realize that senile, old timers like you must make way for the up-&-comers from my generation. It’s all in the name of progress, my dearest uncle. Progress.

Temptation has come a long way since you were responsible for your own patient on the front lines. I wanted to write you some words of advice to help on your first assignment. Consider it “payment-in-kind” for the series of letters you penned early in my career.

Your first order of business when you begin to tempt your patient is to lead him into darkness and confusion. Turn his head into a jungle, so to speak. The human mind is “ground zero” for waging attacks on the soul. I know a research report was recently circulated in other departments that claimed our efforts should target a patient’s emotions and feelings. I won’t argue with two points of the paper: Humans can’t rule their heart, and their feelings are much stronger than their thoughts. But the rest of the research is total nonsense. The so-called experts fail to realize that if you are going to win any battle for emotions, you must first initiate your attack on the patient’s mind.

Many fashionable theories being floated around Hell these days recommend staying away from the mind altogether, claiming that the Enemy has an unfair advantage on that front. After all, he can read human thoughts, while we are left guessing what the patient really thinks. My belief, however, is that the Enemy’s advantage is overrated. As best we can tell, he never seems to exploit these mind-reading abilities like he could. Instead of using this inside information to coerce and manipulate, the Enemy continues to give the human scum the freedom to make their own decisions.

Yet, here lies our opportunity, my uncle, since most humans live a life of no restraints, doing what they want to do when they want to do it. Granted, a few profess allegiance to the Enemy and give token opposition to our attacks. But, when you turn up the pressure, you can get the majority of religious patients to compromise their faith well before they will let go of their self-interest.

Christians, for example, love to talk about grace and forgiveness – that is until they are the ones called upon to forgive someone who has hurt them. Once they are confronted with this cold dose of reality, they inevitably realize that Our Father Below was right all along – that the world really is a zero-sum game made up of winners and losers. I recall your words to me from long ago: “‘To be’ means ‘to be in competition.’” The Enemy’s flawed idea of grace makes it clear that he has no grip on how the universe actually works.

The human mind is our battlefield, Uncle Screwtape. Bombard your patient’s head with temptations. Many of your arrows will not stick. But if you can get just get a couple to take root, then you’ve accomplished your goal. With a firm foothold in a patient’s mind, you can launch a full force invasion on his emotions. He’ll never know what hit him.

Your endearing teacher and nephew,

Wormwood

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