Let me get this out of the way: I believe in the devil. I believe in unclean spirits. If you don't, this post is not for you, I guess? But I would ask that you do a Bible search on it and examine why you believe what you do.
Our culture certainly has a fascination with evil -- who could deny that? -- but it is the particular way that the devil, Lucifer, is depicted, that I want to address. Listen, I'd prefer to call the devil "it" to shy completely away from thinking this being is man-like, but I know that is off-putting, so I will use "him."
The devil is crafty, sure. Satan wants to harm us, sure. But the two things that make me want to shout at cars are this: that you can win the devil's respect by outsmarting him, and that the dangerous nature of the devil is seductive and therefore sexy.
To the first: the devil's war is not with us; it is with the God who made us and loves us. We are tools of warfare to him. If a lobster crawled off the counter while you were busy boiling another one, would you respect that lobster? Of course not; that's absurd. It is absurd to think the devil would ever have that kind of begrudging admiration that is often depicted.
Now hear me, Jesus was both man and God, and the Holy Spirit (who dwells within us) is no less powerful as the one who had demons begging him for mercy. We do not need to fear the devil; we know how this story plays out. So does he. But if you look at the story of Satan v Yahweh, humans are supporting characters. I think having an accurate understanding of how the devil views us can help us realign ourselves with orthodoxy and out of our (relatively) recent cultural views.
Ugh, this "evil is sexy" thing. I mean, part of me gets it; danger is thrilling. Or perhaps I should say some danger is thrilling to me. But the devil isn't a rebel or a lone wolf or even only a tempter.
What Satan would like most of all to do with you is to imprison you, in front of the people you love and who love you the most, and especially in front of your children and those who look up to you, and torture you in the most painful ways in the most vulnerable areas until you die of something else.
He doesn't want to make a deal with you, he wants to drive you insane, to where you're destroying yourself and every relationship you have out of pain, over and over again for decades. Satan would love to take everything that makes you smile and turn it into a source of anguish.
That's not sexy.
