Don't Negotiate with the Devil
That never ends well... what you should do instead when you get tempted
Last Sunday, our own Father D. gave a wonderful homily on that day’s Mass readings, the fall of Adam and Eve (Genesis 2:7–9, 3:1–7) and Jesus’s temptation in the desert (Romans 5:12–19).
He talked about how many years ago, in a financial pinch, he took the position of a car salesman… only to find, to his dismay, that he was being asked to do all manners of mildly underhanded stuff—like asking leading questions to get the customer to divulge certain information—in order to “close the sale.”
Then he linked this to the readings:
What we see in the garden is that Eve enters into negotiation with the enemy, and he’s asking her leading questions to get her to divulge information or arrive at conclusions that she would not have arrived at if he had just asked her a direct question. If he had started by saying, “Would you like to reject God today?” she would have said, “No!”
That’s rarely how the enemy works with us. So we have these two accounts: We have Jesus in the desert, Adam and Eve in the garden—these kind of contrasting images. In the garden, this place of perfection where sin comes, and then we have the desert, this lifeless place through which the remedy for sin is coming.
Now, there is the first thing I don’t want us to miss: Both Adam and Eve and Jesus have this encounter with Satan, this temptation… and neither of them arrive at this place because of sin. It’s not because of sin that they encounter this temptation. It’s not because of a personal moral failing, or they find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time.
No, in fact, they’re living obedient lives. They’re in perfect relationship with God. And this should be a reminder to us that it’s at those times when we feel like we’re doing well, we do all the things we should be doing, and we are saying yes to God and no to sin—that’s precisely the time when we should keep our eyes open for the temptation of the enemy to make his way around. Because he’s not too worried about bothering you extra when you’re already given to sin. But it’s the moment when we are living in obedience to God; that’s when temptation comes.
Sometimes people get frustrated: “I’m doing everything I should; why am I being attacked?”
Well, because you’re doing everything you should. Therefore, the enemy is going to bring that hostility.
So, what happens? The enemy comes to Eve, and he begins this dialogue with her. He starts by doubting the word of God: “Did God really say…?” And instead of her just rebuffing him and saying, “Get away,” she entertains the question and begins to give a justifying answer, “Well, no, God really said this, this, and this.”
She entered into that negotiation. She treated the question as if it was legitimate and needed a legitimate response, which it did not.
What does Jesus do? When the enemy comes and questions him, “Jesus, you’re hungry, you’ve been fasting; turn these stones to bread,” Jesus doesn’t enter into a dialogue with Satan. He doesn’t into a rationale and an apologetic “this is why”…
What does he say? “Man doesn’t live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Shuts it down, doesn’t enter into the conversation.
Exorcists always say not to talk to the devil. Even they themselves will only talk to the demons for as much information as they need to know for the liberation of the possessed individual. As tempting as it may be for them to learn about the secrets of Heaven and Hell, there’s no story time with Satan. Not just because we know he is the Father of Lies, but because it gives him an “in.”
Curiosity kills the cat, especially in dealings with demons, and humans are no match for a fallen angel’s wit. He will win the argument every time and put doubts into your mind.
So what do you do? Refuse to play.
It’s no coincidence that many demonic attachments—from the infestation of a space, to people’s oppression, obsession, or outright possession—start with curious contact, usually initiated by the person, not the demon. (I’ve had my own diabolical encounter(s), starting with a foolish Ouija board game in my early twenties.)
In a recent video with Fr. Chad Ripperger, he told an anecdote of entering a “haunted house” he’d been called to and encountering two paranormal investigators. He sternly warned them to give up their dangerous pursuits, but of course they didn’t listen. Sadly, Fr. Ripperger said, “I could tell one of them was already possessed.”
Now, real possession is still a rare phenomenon. But according to the good Father, he and his exorcist peers agree that about 20–25% of all Americans now suffer from demonic oppression or obsession.
But, and this is also something I heard from Fr. Ripperger (and other exorcists), many people underestimate the enemy’s trickery. You may say, “Well, I never played with Ouija boards or went to haunted houses, so this doesn’t apply to me.” People forget, says Fr. Ripperger, that the most common way of the enemy getting to us is ordinary temptation.
“Just that one drink/cigarette/joint. Now that you’ve been sober for X weeks/months/years, you can just have one.” (That, by the way, was how I kept falling back into my tobacco habit again and again and again for many years.)
“You don't have to get up for Mass. Just sleep in today. You deserve to pamper yourself a little.” (From personal experience, once you give in that one time, giving in the next time will be a lot easier. Fr. Ripperger recommends to stave off temptation by nipping it in the bud because saying no that very first time is the easiest. Once you succumb, it gets harder and harder to say no.)
“You have time.” (The devil’s greatest deception: “You don’t have to stop that [enter bad habit] today. You don't have to go to confession today. You don’t have to forgive/apologize to that person today. Next week will be fine.”)
EDIT: One major temptation I forgot to mention earlier is “You are powerful.” This is what the devil tells spiritual seekers (aka New Agers) who aim to “raise their consciousness/vibration,” reach enlightenment, develop their innate psychic powers, and/or manifest their own reality.
The past few days, I had an argument with such a “spiritual but not religious” person, who proceeded to tell me why Christians get Jesus totally wrong.
“When you reach Christ consciousness or cosmic consciousness,” she wrote, “which I have for about 2 hours, you realize the ‘crucifixion’ happens in your chakra system. For me, my life flashed before my eyes, my nervous system was flashing at the same time like synapses connecting, and then my body filled with light, my heart was glowing, my spine was filled with electrical activity, and all I felt was love, literally after reliving my life crying and ‘repenting’. It’s the same thing. The shift has happened for other people, I will tell you I’m back in 3D, but I’ve touched it. It’s a very hard vibration to maintain. I was literally affected by negative vibes as if they were physically hurting me. I think if anyone maintained a higher vibration right now, they would have to isolate. I believe in Christ, but he had his secret teachings, and I believe he was a high vibrational soul. Will the soul reincarnate, I f***ing hope.”
Take note, to her Jesus is “a high vibrational soul,” not the Son of God. And reincarnation is real too. It’s all satanic gobbledygook. It’s hard to imagine now that I used to believe this nonsense too.
But that’s how clever and devious Satan is. He gives you glimpses of something true but surrounds it with lies. He makes you feel like it all makes sense when it doesn’t. He makes you feel like you know mysteries those ignorant Christians don’t. And as the cherry on top, he convinces you he doesn’t exist.
To recognize this insidious brainwashing for what it is requires such a radical U-turn in your beliefs that it can feel like your brain is exploding. That’s why New Agers so desperately need our prayers.
“Far too often,” said Father D., “we find ourselves passively responding to the enemy instead of forcefully pushing back.”
After the devil tempted Jesus three times, unsuccessfully, and was rebuked, the Bible says, “The Devil left him.” James 4:7 says, “Resist the devil and he will flee.” Far too often, we don’t put up the resistance. The temptation comes, and I just give in.
Or we put up the first resistance… Jesus rebuffs, and what does Satan do? He comes back for a second round. Jesus rebuffs, he comes back for a third round. The enemy will keep coming. Don’t be surprised if you receive temptation after temptation after temptation—but don’t meet the enemy on his ground. Don’t enter into discussion with him as if his question is a legitimate question. Stand on the Word of God.
Father D. said years ago, when he confessed a particular issue he was struggling with, the priest told him, “Sometimes, you just have to say, ‘By the Crucified and Risen Lord, get behind me, Satan.’”
It’s not our authority; we don’t have the strength. We know who has the authority; we know who has the strength. Though we have to initiate the resistance.
For the next several weeks, he kept praying this one sentence. “It was about all I could muster… and it was all I needed. It reminded me of who’s in charge: Jesus." […] Standing on the Word of God, walking in obedience to the Word of God, is the only way forward for the Christian. And when we resist the devil, he will flee.”
If you want to watch Father D.’s excellent homily yourself, below is a video of the Mass (yours truly is the Lector at this one, by the way). The homily starts at 19:20.
God bless you!