Satan. At one time, a majority of Christians believed in the existence of a literal spiritual enemy called Satan. My, how times have changed! According to a 2009 Barna Research poll,
“Four out of ten Christians (40%) strongly agreed that Satan “is not a living being but is a symbol of evil.” An additional two out of ten Christians (19%) said they “agree somewhat” with that perspective. Only a minority of Christians (26%) indicated that they believe Satan is real.
Here is the problem: If only 26% of Christians believe that Satan is a literal being, then the Church, the Body of Christ, is more vulnerable today than ever before. I also wonder, of the 26% that claim to believe in a living being called Satan, how many truly believe he is working against them in their life? I’m guessing that is an even smaller percentage.
What about you? Do you believe there is a literal spiritual enemy at work right now in our world? Do you believe he is at work against you? How would you know if he were? We will look to answer these questions and others this Sunday as we look at 1 Peter 5:8 and see how Danger is Lurking, whether we believe it or not.