Who's the Bad Guy? (Friday Devotional)

 

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

- John 10:10

There’s a question my daughter has been fixated on lately whenever she’s taking in a new story. It could be a cartoon on TV, a movie on Netflix, or a picture book—no matter the media, she’s guaranteed to point at a character and ask, “Is that the bad guy?”

Thankfully in kids’ storytelling, it’s not hard to figure out that answer. The bad guy is usually pretty scary-looking and he lurks around the main character menacingly and his entrance is marked by foreboding music. Often the bad guy dresses in all black and lives in a cave or a dark castle. He usually has henchmen of some sort, and while they sometimes serve as comic relief, his bullying of them serves to remind you of his status as the Big Bad.

Despite all these visual cues, whenever we answer Katherine’s question, we try to answer based on what the antagonist is doing. Ursula isn’t the villain of The Little Mermaid because she has slimy tentacles, but because she steals Ariel’s voice. Scar isn’t the bad guy in The Lion King because he has darker, mangier fur than Mufasa, but because he kills his brother. We know who’s good and bad in these stories based on what they do.

The Bible makes clear that as believers, we face an enemy of our own, the same devil who caused Adam and Eve to fall in Eden and who unsuccessfully sought to make Jesus do the same in the wilderness. The Bible depicts him at various times as a serpent in a garden, a prowling lion looking for someone to devour, and a fierce dragon making war on God’s people. Based on those metaphors, you might think it’s as easy to spot him as it is to find the bad guy in a children’s book.

But truthfully, the way we distinguish between the devil’s lies and the Lord’s truth is not by looks, but actions. Our enemy is destructive, coming to steal and kill and destroy. Jesus, on the other hand, comes to build up and to bring growth. While the devil is an agent of destruction, Jesus is the resurrection and the life.

So as you discern every day what is of the Lord and what is of the world, don’t make your judgment too quickly based on what you see. Looks can be deceiving, and flash can mask a lack of substance. Even the devil, 2 Corinthians 11:14 says, disguises himself as an angel of light. Look instead to the impact made on the world—either for good or ill, to create or destroy, to help or to hurt.

The bad guys don’t always have horns, and the good guys don’t always wear white. So look to their fruits instead—and in all things, be an agent of life and love.