The Enemy’s Playbook
Imagine you are the quarterback for your favorite football team preparing for the championship game. You are the leader, the team captain, the main man, the point person. Everyone is looking to you to win the game. Your opponent is a team that you have faced before. They are the only team to spoil your perfect winning record the entire year. The opponent’s head coach has plays and schemes that are clever. His offense runs trick plays that are difficult to defend. His defense knows your offense’s weaknesses and knows how to stop a running game. He has been coaching longer than you have been alive. This man is notorious for serving up losses leading to shame and embarrassment. He has gotten pretty good at the game.
As the media covers this game, they repeatedly count your team out. They say that you should be fearful walking into the stadium, that your head should already be hanging low because defeat is inevitable. In listening to this chatter surrounding you, doubt creeps in and you begin to believe the lies.
I’m not good enough for this. My leadership ability is lacking. Someone else would be better for this game. My opponent is too strong.
During practice one day, your coach comes to you and reminds you why you began playing football. You love this game. You know this game. You are good at this game. He tells you that you are equipped, for he has taught you everything you need to know. He reminds you that you have prepared for this championship game your whole life. He encourages you and tells you that your team will prevail.
You ask him how he can be so confident in the win. Your coach tells you that he has reviewed game stats and film regarding this opponent, and he has noticed a pattern in the coach’s play calling. This opponent who seems to ambush every team with clever plays actually re-runs the same few plays over and over and over again. This would be easy to miss at first because the same few plays actually look slightly different each time they are run. This knowledge is a game changer. You know now exactly what the opponent will call, what he will run, and based on this knowledge, your coach formulates plays that combat the opponent’s playbook.
In this same way, we face an opponent every single day that repeatedly calls the same plays. The enemy has a very limited playbook of temptation that seems complex to the untrained eye. He offers three kinds of temptation that, if not defended, lead to ample amounts of sin.
Before Eve took a bite of the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, the serpent convinced her that the fruit was, “good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom” (Genesis 3:6), and so ensues the fall of man. When Jesus was led into the wilderness for forty days, the devil also tempted him with three things – lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and pride (Luke 4:3-11); Jesus resisted, and so ensues His ministry while here on earth.
1 John 2:16 tells us that, “Everything in the world – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life – comes not from the Father but from the world.”
Uncovering the Three Plays of Temptation
The lust of the flesh –
Eve saw that the fruit was good for food; Jesus was tempted to turn a stone to bread after forty days of fasting. The enemy will tempt you with this hunger of the flesh that both of them felt. When we are hungry, we often reach for whatever may be in sight to fill us – even if it is junk that should never enter our bodies or souls. This temptation of worldly food is a tricky reverse play called by the enemy. He tells you __________ (insert whatever worldly food are you are inclined to reach for – pornography, alcohol, drugs, food, sex, money) is ‘good for food’. You then consume it only for him to reverse the script. After consumption, he tells you that you should be ashamed of yourself, that you are a bad person, and that you are never going to change. This temptation is a breeding ground for sin such as addiction, sexual immorality, gluttony, and adultery.
So how can we defend this play call? It is a simple solution: let God’s Word fill you. If you wake up hungry in the morning and fill yourself with God-breathed truth from the Bible, there will be no need to reach for something cheap or phony throughout the day. “Jesus answered, ‘it is written: Man shall not live on bread alone’” (Luke 4:4).
The lust of the eyes –
Eve saw that the fruit was pleasing to the eye; Jesus was tempted with gaining all the kingdoms of the world. The enemy will tempt you with many different types of distractions that may initially look pleasing to the eye. Short cuts or quick fixes are some of many different methods of distraction that the enemy uses to carry out his play. When the devil tempted Jesus with the kingdoms of earth, Jesus knew that they would be His eventually because of His Heavenly Father’s promise. He could have chosen to take the cheap, imitation version that the devil offered Him, but he knew that God had a better way.
The enemy may also offer the temptation of other distractions like social media, relationships, television, power, possessions, your health, etc. to cause you to lose sight of God, therefore, placing someone or something else on the throne of your heart. This temptation is a breeding ground for sin pertaining to false idols. This play called by the enemy is good for producing a seemingly well thought out Hail Mary, but it always ends in an incomplete pass. The pass looks good while in the air until it falls ten yards out of bounds, resulting in an off-course incompletion.
To counter this play, you run the short offensive game. You sit in The Lord’s presence. You allow Him to walk with you, to guide you, to help you differentiate between a knock-off and the real thing. You set your gaze on Him and on Him alone. You wait patiently, worshipping and serving the one true God while he writes your story. “Jesus answered, ‘it is written: Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only’” (Luke 4:8).
The pride of life –
Eve saw that the fruit was desirable for gaining wisdom; Jesus was tempted to prove himself as Son of God. The enemy will tempt you with the need for validation based on your achievements, your wisdom, your possessions, etc. This can also commonly be called your pride.
The enemy offered Eve wisdom saying, “When you eat from [the tree of knowledge of good and evil] your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God” (Genesis 2:5). This temptation of pride was one that the enemy himself fell into before he was exiled from Heaven. The wisdom Eve desired due to her pride could have easily been given to her from God himself, but she chose to gain it on her own. She had a false sense of independence that pride often produces. Jesus was tempted to prove himself by falling off of the highest point of the temple in Jerusalem. If he would have fallen into the temptation of pride, the angels surely would have saved Him, and He would have drawn public attention to Himself rather than to His Heavenly Father.
The temptation of pride is a dangerous one if not combatted with humility. The enemy calls this play that often breeds a false sense of security, the need for validation, the diminishing of your true value, and a lack of trust in God’s faithfulness. Pride says to call your own plays rather than listen to the plays of your coach. Pride says that your identity is set in how well you run the plays. Pride says that you only have to trust your own ability.
God says that His Word is the way, the truth, and the light. God says the issue of your value was settled at the cross. God says that you are loved, you are valued, and you are His. God says to trust in His ability. God says that He is faithful, so believe that without needing the worldly standard of validation. “Jesus answered, ‘It is written, ‘do not put the Lord your God to the test’’” (Luke 4:12).
The enemy has come to steal, kill, and destroy but Jesus lives to rebuild, revive, and restore. Treat each day as if you are walking into battle, because ultimately – you are. We are at war, and there are souls at stake. Take up your armor (Ephesians 6:10-18) and do not let the enemy push you around. Listen to your coach who knows how to defeat, defend, and counter the enemy’s playbook.
**This month, my team and I are in Vietnam (which is a closed country to missionaries). Please pray for us as we share the love of Christ with a country desperately searching for something more**
