Fascinating traps

The three Satanic temptations in today’s Gospel reading are fascinating traps indeed! (Mt. 4: 1-11). Worldly riches, worldly pride, and worldly power.

Riches per se are God’s gifts to mankind. The beauty and the bounty of creation. So is our status as sons and daughters of God, as well as our personal power to unconditionally love God and neighbor.

These singular hallmarks of our belonging to God are the very means that Satan twists around to lure us away from Him. In fact, Satan even had the gall to tempt no less than Christ himself. And like the compassionate servant-leader that he was, Christ showed us the way. No! No! No! No buts, no ifs, no maybes. How can you compromise with Satan and expect to be a child of God? No way!

Worldly Riches. Easy bread, whispers Satan. Easy money through foul means. Illegal logging. Massive bribing in the name of "gifts." Overpricing. Underpaying laborers and employees. And all other ungodly ways of accumulating easy money under the guise of good. "If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become loaves of bread" (Mt. 4: 3).

Yes, bread is God’s gift to man, and all of creation as well. But these are to be brought to fruition through honest and hard work for the benefit of all, in the name of love and justice. This is God’s way, as taught and lived by Christ. In the early church, as we read in the Acts of the Apostles, the Christian community held their possessions and properties in common, and the needs of all were responded to. As a consequence, no family had too much, and no family had too little.

Today, this spirit of sharing lives on, through a growing number of God-inspired families, communities, and organizations, including renewed efforts of our government. A most laudable example from the private sector is the program of Gawad Kalinga. Right now, they are committed to build 40,000 homes for our recent storm victims, side by side with their other on-going programs for the poor.

Worldly Pride. Man’s deadliest enemy is his own Ego – and this is what Satan capitalizes on. The thin line between humility and pride. "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. Scripture has it: ‘He will bid his angels take care of you; with their hands they will support you that you may never stumble on a stone’" (Mt. 4: 6).

This young man is the son of a prominent and respected leader in their community. Every time he violates the law and gets apprehended by the authorities, he arrogantly proclaims, "Don’t you know, I am the son of so-and-so," and gets away with it.

The leader of a spiritual organization makes radical, unilateral decisions without due consultation. When the affected members make representations for reconsideration, he simply says: "I always cut the Bible before I make a decision," and gets away with it. Whatever happened to the humble, compassionate Christ whom he claims to follow?

Worldly Power. This is the height of Satanic seduction. To make demigods of our own selves and use God’s power as our own, to our advantage, at the sacrifice of others. Power over others. Be it economic, political, or military power. Economic monopolies, all the way to globalization. Political oligarchies, all the way to massive corruption. Military control, all the way to terrorism.

Christ’s way to God is the power of powerlessness. The empowerment of others to love and serve God and His people, especially the poor. At the Last Supper, Christ washed the feet of his disciples – a menial task done only by slaves during those times. And what did he say to his astonished, dumbfounded disciples? "If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet… so that as I have done for you, you should also do" (Jn. 13: 3-17).

Yes. Servant-leadership. Power for others. The only way to God.