The Devil’s Advocate (Conclusion)
Here is part 3 in a series by Olatunde Howard on the topic of angels, demons, God and Satan as portrayed in pop-culture, particularly in movies. Click HERE for part 1 and HERE for part 2!
This conversation started as an email discussion Olatunde and I were having about the reality of the spiritual and what some of the best depictions of spiritual realities are in Hollywood.
Please share your thoughts, questions or feedback in the comments section below! And if you would like to read more from Olatunde on this or similar subjects be sure to check out his book “The Mind of Christ” …which sports an excellent cover designed by yours truly! 
JM
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The 3 things the film “The Devil’s Advocate” gets right when it comes to portraying satan. Continued from PART 2…
3. “They never see me coming!” – The third essential truth about Satan depicted so well in Devil’s Advocate is when Satan/Milton tells Lomax that people never see him coming.
As we saw in the previous dialogues, there is a masterful blend of deception, temptation, and accusation that we never see coming. Satan never revealed his role in all of Kevin’s previous successes when he approaches Kevin about joining his firm. Instead, he shows Kevin the life of prestige and power (aka. 1John 2: 15-17—the lusts of the flesh [women in the elevator, his “sister” played by Connie Nielsen], the lusts of the eyes [the law office in all of it’s splendor], the pride of life [“I’m a lawyer, I win, that’s what I do!).
Milton revealed liars as witnesses, as well as the guilty people Kevin would go on to defend. After these revelations from Milton there would be moments of decision with Kevin…with always enough of a pause for Kevin to consult his conscience. The viewer has to watch the movie carefully for these moments of pause in which Milton gives Kevin the choice to make decisions:
- The scene where Milton tells Kevin to take care of Mary Ann
- The train scene about defeat,
- The moment in court where Kevin decides to allow a liar to take the stand.
The key scene of transition into Satanic decisions for Kevin is the bathroom scene. If you remember, the devil comes into the bathroom as a very unassuming reporter and says, “You can’t win them all,” and winks the same flashy wink Kevin does.
The guise of an unassuming reporter corrected a view I had of Satan.
I used to think Satan would be flashy.
I thought that because of his pride, he would want all eyes on him as he entered the room…like supermodels in movies who enter in slow motion with their hair blowing in the wind and body swaying rhythmically.
Or like rappers in videos who enter scenes in slow motion with a woman on each arm, gold around their necks and in their mouths, and money floating in the air.
Or the CEO of a Fortune 500 company coming into a business meeting (in slow motion) and all who surround the table becoming silent in reverence.
What I’ve come to see is that he offers some people this, if it will cause them to follow him. But, as the movie shows (quite wisely), he desires to be like God, who is not always flashy.
Satan takes pride in being the power behind the scenes, as God is behind all of life, even if it means being mostly invisible.
He is prideful, but comes across as humble.
He is a liar, but a very convincing liar.
In the end, of course, and when it comes down to it, he very much wants direct worship and praise, as we see in the temptation of the Lord Jesus. In fact, Satan was willing to give all that he had for the worship of Jesus, which shows the value of worship to Satan.
But he wants it like God receives it.
He wants to be the King Eternal Immortal Invisible. The key to his invisibility is self centered assumptions and imaginations.
This is how he has gotten me in the past, and how I have resisted him in the past as well. It usually starts with my mind being unfocused, with mental laziness, in moments where I am not deliberately setting my mind on a spiritual goal being accomplished at the moment. I start to imagine myself in some scenario where I am revered by men and adored by women.
A WORSHIP LEADER! Here I am, in my mind, singing beautiful praises to God, and all hands are raised in adoration to God!
But I feel beneath the surface of my fantasy self-glory. I know it is there.
But the idea of imagining myself as a worship leader makes it easy for the devil to deceive and tempt me. Then I feel guilty. “I should be focused on God, but I know I really want the admiration of men and women.” Now there is a dilemma.
On one hand, I want to be respected for my ability. On the other I want humility. In none of this does the devil help me. He only condemns me hopelessly. When the devil defeats me, I only feel guilty, and spiritually shoot myself in the head (as Kevin does literally in the climactic scene of the film). I try over and over to “die to myself,” but to no avail.
However, I am victorious when I focus on the truth–God’s word being truth.
When I focus on the word of God given to Samuel, “He who honors me I will honor, but he who despises me will be lightly esteemed,” or the words of wisdom from the proverbs, “Let another man praise you, but not your own mouth, someone else, but not your own lips,” I see the truth: that God wants me to have favor in his sight and in the sight of godly people.
I see what true humility is according to scripture. It is honoring God supremely, honoring people impartially, and being the best me I can be for God’s glory. In other words, to sing beautifully for God’s glory will bring me a certain amount of glory. As long as I am not seeking the glory that only belongs to God, I am fine.
The devil’s deception is that he will give me glory–but more glory than I am worthy of. And he would give this through godly service, so that I would never see him coming!
Of course he wouldn’t tempt me to walk down the street (in slow motion!) with a woman on both arms and gold around my neck. I would see that!
But imagining myself a godly minister would make it easy for my enemy to deceive me.
The solution to this deception? Focus on God and others, and not myself. Also, I should be honest with myself and God concerning my desire to be great, just as James and John came to Jesus wanting to sit on his left and right hand in the kingdom. Jesus did not rebuke them for this, but showed them how to achieve greatness.
In other words, we go to God for greatness, instead of seeking to make ourselves great!
Self exaltation leads to self-deception, making us vulnerable to Satan. This was poignantly illustrated with Kevin’s dealings with Milton throughout the film. And after watching it, I gained a clearer appreciation for why Peter would say, “Be self-controlled, be watchful, for your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” (I Peter 5:8)
If we fail to maintain honest awareness through the Spirit of truth who is truth, we will never see the deceiver coming.
Olatunde Howard
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Stay tuned next week for Olatunde’s continued look at Satan’s depictions in H0llywood. Next up, the weird, androgynous Satan who appears in “The Passion of the Christ”!
Categories: Arts and Culture, Biblical Theology, Blog