Temptation # 6

Being trapped in an earthly perspective on life is a significant temptation. It seems to underlie some of the other temptations already mentioned. We may have committed ourselves to God, be attentive to the practical things that need to be done, and seek God every single day. And we may also view life only from the lens of one looking up, rather than the One looking down. Unfortunately, because of the way this world is run, we often stop looking up altogether. After awhile, it's nearly impossible to consider anything as reality except what is directly in front of us.

I believe that there is an evil force--Satan, the devil--who actively keeps us focused on the minutiae of life so that we cannot look up to God, much less, view the world and its happenings as God might. Ever since he tricked Eve into looking at him and considering the fruit on the Tree of Good and Evil, he has been drawing attention away from God and the power that is in Jesus Christ. As the father of all evil, he also has been part of every effort to limit perspectives to his domain: this world and the evil in it.

Amnesty International once became quite concerned with the issue of how captors broke down their prisoners. The strongest, most belligerant, powerful men and women could be reduced to helpless, powerless individuals whose perspective became so skewed that they even formed strong bonds with their prison guards. How could this happen? If this phenomenon could be understood, some preventative measure could be instituted for those whose work took them into such places.
Researchers interviewed people who had been political prisoners in South America to find out what had happened to change them from strong, clear-thinking people to cringing, brainwashed victims. A list of prison tactics were drawn up. It is called Biderman's Chart of Coercion. Sadly, this is the mechanism that abused intimates endure in domestic violence:

1. Isolation. Separation from those who could point out that this relationship is problematic, and who would urge the victim to get out quickly.

2. Monopolization of perception. The abuser continually accuses or makes mean comments, often calling a woman sexual names. This leads to introspection and preoccupation about why this is happening and what behaviors s/he has had that warrants these judgments. Tunnel vision develops.

3. Induced debility and exhaustion. One of my friends used to be married to a man who, upon coming home from work, began a tirade about her supposed infidelity, that usually lasted until 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning. She then had to get up at 6:00 to get their children ready for school. In this sleep deprived state, the idea of getting away was light years away from her pressing need just to survive that day.

4. Threats. Many victimized intimates face daily threats of losing their children, threats of harm will come to family members, or threats of physical harm or death--if they don't comply with the abuser's demands. All efforts in life are focused on avoiding anything that could be considered worthy of punishment.

5. Occasional indulgences. Research shows us that the most difficult behavior to extinguish, or get rid of, is the one that sometimes gets a reward: intermittant reinforcement. This is what gambling is all about. People keep playing the slots because sometimes they win. I remember reading about the treatment of the POWs in Vietnam. On Christmas, they were allowed out of their cage-cells and given a traditional American Christmas dinner. There was music and everyone was pleasant. At other times, a guard would suddenly give a prisoner a packet of letters from home that had been withheld. The captives began to think that perhaps the guards weren't as mean as they had supposed. After all, they provided this wonderful experience. This kind of thinking leads to compliance and diminishes the possibility of getting away.

6. Demonstration of 'Omnipotence.' One woman I worked with used to tell me about the video cameras her husband claimed to have placed throughout their home, and the telephone-computer connections that recorded her every conversation. I asked where they were and she didn't know. I asked how did her husband have the technological skill to do this (I knew he didn't know how to do these things, nor did he have the resources to do them), but she maintained that the cameras and microphones were all there. She was not delusional--she had been brainwashed by this man whose fearful outbursts convinced her that he could and would do anything to keep track of her. He was omnipotent in her eyes, and she gave up resistance of any kind.

7. Enforcing trivial demands. In the movie, Sleeping with the Enemy, the wife is punished and brutalized for not keeping the cupboard products in alphabetized order, or of other minor "rules" that have been broken. Such ridiculous demands leads to tunnel vision so that the victim is focused on the avoidance of doing anything that will produce a blowup.

8. Degradation. Some abused individuals are forced to eat their food on the floor like a dog. Others are forced to wear either unbecoming, baggy clothes, or provocative, seductive clothing. A high percentage of women in these abusive relationships are sexually assaulted, yet few victims report these things. It is simply too shameful. Secrecy rules the day, and the victimizer feels s/he can do anything because the victim is completely broken.

As I think over this list of controlling behaviors, I recognize the great deceiver's handprints in every single item:

Isolation--being upset with someone at church to the point of not going, and avoiding the Christian community entirely. Who attends prayer meeting any more? Who prays with colleagues or friends? We live lives of spiritual isolation more often than not.

Monopolization of perception--Called the "opiate of the masses," television actually slows down our brain waves until we are nearly comatose. While we are in this altered state, images, ideas, and messages are delivered to us that limit or challenge the heavenly perspective.

Induced debility--just live the "earthly" way and see what happens: drug and alcohol abuse, STDs, obesity, broken relationships without end, violence of all kinds, illness and death.

Threats--the devil threatens us constantly that if we live according to the guidelines God has laid out, we will be financially ruined, never have a satisfying relationship, will be hungry all the time, will miss out on all sorts of status-improving oppportunities, ad infinitum.

Occasional indulgences--it is fun to sin, most of the time. It feels so good and we slide into it without feeling pain, that many of us have fond memories of sinful things we've done. We know firsthand, that some of the things the devil promises are nice and feel good: social status, wealth, belongings, good sensations. After all, we don't exactly die immediately when we do what he says.
Demonstration of omnipotence--one of my friends told me about a couple who struggled with infertility for a number of years and who finally gave birth to a child. She had Down Syndrome. Soon thereafter, as they were driving behind a logging truck, the logs suddenly came loose and one crashed through their windshield, just missing them. A couple years later, their house burned to the ground and they barely got their child out of the house in time. They've just had a second accident with a logging truck, and for a second time a log has crashed through their windshield, just missing them. They are exhausted and overwhelmed. It appears as though evil has triumphed--as though no matter how they seek God, horrible things happen to them.

Enforcing trivial demands--there are certain things that we just have to do in life: have a new car, wear certain clothing, have certain friends, portray ourselves in a particular, flattering way to others. These are all trivial demands. From God's perspective, these things don't even register on the radar screen.

Degradation--we are becoming a society that will do anything for money or status. Just watch the sitcom, Fear Factor. After seeing people retching their way through a glass of cow bile, swimming through manure, or chewing a plateful of glistening giant slugs, one wonders what has become of the dignity of being created in the image of God.

We live in a world in which it is very easy to look elsewhere rather than at God. Being immersed in the swamp of human misery and degradation, and beset on all sides with the images and pathetic circumstances of people over whom Satan has power, often limits our ability to see the world and life as God sees it.

Corrie ten Boom used to recite the poem of Grant Colfax Tullar, about the piece of embroidery that looked like a mess: knots, darting threads--an incomprehensible amalgamation of mistakes. Or so it looked. But as the poem states, "I in foolish pride, forget He sees the upper, and I, the underside."

There are two major perspectives to life: the way it looks from down here, and the way it looks to God with His perfect knowledge and plans. Satan would keep us from ever seeing it as God does, because if we could get a glimpse of the goodness of God and of the things that He has prepared for us, we would never view this earth in the same way again.

Oh Lord, may I not succumb to the earthliness of life on this planet. But by looking at the glory in your face, may I look into eternity and measure the value of every earthly thing in comparison to who You are and what You have done for me.