Mr. Irrelevant

 

The professional football world has bestowed a rather inglorious title upon the final person selected in the annual NFL draft. Since 1976 the last person drafted has been dubbed “Mr. Irrelevant” because, after seven rounds, there is almost no chance of the last player actually signing a contract and making any money. While being drafted is an honor, and being draft last has to beat not being drafted at all, there has to be a bit of embarrassment that goes with that moniker. Mr. Irrelevant is usually honored with a parade as an ironic statement of his new standing in the league. He will probably never be in a Super Bowl parade, so let’s let him have this one.  

 

South Carolina Gamecocks fans might remember the name Ryan Succop, the former place kicker for USC. As you might have guessed, he had the title of Mr. Irrelevant endowed upon him in 2009 when he was taken 256^thoverall by the Kansas City Chiefs. After four years with that franchise, and five with the Tennessee Titans, Succop made history this year when he won Super Bowl LV with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Yes, Succop is the first Mr. Irrelevant to play in and win a Super Bowl (1994 Mr. Irrelevant Marty Moore played in Super Bowl XXXI, but his New England Patriots lost to the Green Bay Packers).   

 

Succop didn’t just play in the big game, he was a major contributor. He made all four of his extra point attempts (12 of 13 in the playoffs) as well as his lone field goal attempt from fifty-two yards out (he was a perfect 9 for 9 in the playoffs). There is obviously nothing irrelevant about Succop’s talent. To add to the Cinderella story, he was playing with quarterback Tom Brady, who was famously drafted in the sixth round and has arguably become the greatest of all time at his position. 

 

There was a time when people may have snickered at Ryan Succop. “He’s irrelevant!” I even remember a few Clemson fans having a chuckle at his expense when he was branded with his new nickname. Succop drowned out the noise and made a nice twelve year career (and counting) for himself, which happens to include a Lombardi Trophy. Most of the people who called him irrelevant will never even see a Super Bowl trophy, let alone hoist one up in victory. The Bucs kicker is an example of why we should never let people define us. We have to drown out the naysayers and just keep working. 

 

Those hurtful names may come from other people, but they ultimately originate with the devil. His name literally means “the accuser,” and his favorite tactic is to tell us and God how bad we are. He reminds us of our shortcomings. We were drafted last. No one wants us. We will never contribute anything. 

 

We are sinful. We have let God down. Jesus could never love us. 

 

Satan may accuse us now, but we will have the last laugh. John was given a vision of a future day: “Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, ‘Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down (Revelation 12:10).’”

So don’t listen to him. When Satan says you are a failure, God says you are forgiven. 

When Satan says you are a loser, God says you are loved. 

When Satan says you are worthless, God says you are worth it. 

And when Satan says you are irrelevant, God says are significant.   

When Satan Quotes God

Often times our caricatures of the devil involve a pitchfork wielding red imp, or some scary monster from a horror film wreaking havoc on his prey. To be fair, he is characterized as a roaring lion seeking his next victim, but the lion is only one simile associated with the devil. It should not be overlooked that he is also depicted as a cunning serpent.

We might conjure up images of the devil hating God’s Word and seeking to destroy the Bible, but there are at least two instances in Scripture when he attempted to use it to his own advantage. Yes, Satan quoted God’s Word. These accounts are found in Genesis 3 and Matthew 4.

In the Genesis account, Satan, in the form of a serpent, tempts Eve to eat the forbidden fruit. We could rightly call this an example of misquoting rather than quoting because the snake changed God’s command. He turned “You shall surely die” into “You shall not surely die.” Adding a single word to God’s settled word has brought disastrous consequences for the last 6,000 years.

In the Matthew account Satan is tempting Jesus after His forty-day fast. In verse six Lucifer quotes Psalm 91:11-12 verbatim (“He shall give His angels charge over you…in their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.”). He doesn’t add or subtract a word; in fact, his use of the perfect Greek tense in “it is written” rightly indicates that God’s Word will stand forever. However, he took the verse out of context, using it to do something that God’s Word forbade, namely tempting the Lord (Matthew 4:7, Deuteronomy 6:16).

Satan no doubt hates the Bible, but he is not afraid to quote it. He will tweak it or take it out of context, but he will certainly use it. Just because someone may be quoting the Bible, their doctrine may still be corrupt. We must be careful to rightly divide the word of truth so that we can be on guard against Satan’s oldest trick.

Animal Traps

Have you ever seen one of those animal traps with the interlocking teeth? Not the homemade kind that boys in the backyard use to catch squirrels, but the nasty, professional ones. These traps are spring-loaded and are so bad that some animals will gnaw their own leg off and leave it behind just to escape the trap.

Unlike Diego, I don’t have the ability to speak to animals. But if I could communicate with them, and I could tell them which paths to go down to avoid the traps, they would probably take my advice. They would be able to walk with confidence without having to look out for snares along the way.

As Christians, we always need to be vigilant because our adversary is out to trap us. But at the same time, when we are following the Lord’s path, we can still walk with confidence. Proverbs 3:26 says, “For the Lord will be your confidence, and keep your foot from being caught.”

There are really just two paths in life: the right way and the wrong way. The wrong way is filled with snares, and if that is the way we choose to live life, then we can expect to be trapped and hurt.

But if we choose the right path then we can expect something different. Again, I am not saying that bad things will not happen, or that Satan will not trip us up. But what I am saying is that we can walk with confidence knowing that we are going God’s way. A proverb is not 1000% true, but is a good rule of thumb. This rule of thumb says that if we are where we should not be, with people we should not be with, doing something we should not be doing, then we can expect a bad outcome.

But if we are where we should be, with people we should be with, doing what we should be doing, then we can expect a good outcome. 

Know Your Enemy

Many people use the phrase “know your enemy” for different professions. A football coach likes to study game film of the team he is about to face. He will learn who the best players are and what plays the other coach likes to call at certain times. By knowing his “enemy” he can form his own game plan.

Generals also have to know their enemy. They need to know what type of weapons the enemy has, what type of terrain they will be sending soldiers into, and what the will and demeanor of the other soldiers may be.

As Christians we know that we are involved in spiritual warfare, and it is good for us to know our enemy as well. The word satan means adversary, and Lucifer is the chief adversary. The Bible twice talks about him in connection with animals: as a snake and a lion.

The snake was literal; Lucifer entered into a serpent in the Garden of Eden to deceive Eve. He didn’t come out screaming about how much he hated her and God. He was subtle and crafty. Snakes today are no different. With the exception of the rattlesnake, serpents are quiet and give no warning of their approach. They are low to the ground, they blend in, and they are quiet.

The lion reference is figurative; Lions roar. They are big and we see them from far off. The Bible says that Satan roars around like a lion looking for someone to devour. There are many times that we are tempted by the enemy in a very blatant way. Peer pressure to do drugs, a sensual image on a magazine aisle, or violent thoughts. We recognize these as tactics of the enemy, and we need to be prepared to fight against them.

But we have to remember that he is also quiet and subtle when he needs to be. Whispering second thoughts into your mind to question your pastor, convincing you that your parents are lame, and slowly turning your heart away from the Bible.

We need to be ready to always stand guard against our enemy. We know how he works; we just need to be prepared for the battle.

One final thought. Let’s not give the devil too much credit. After all, as Romans 1:31 reminds us in this rhetorical question: “If God be for us, who can be against us?” The point of the question is not the answer “Satan.” The point is that God is for us, so it doesn’t matter who is against us.

With God on our side, we can not only know our enemy, but defeat him too. 

Father of Lies

Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
John 8:44

My wife recently came across this poem written by Dr. Michael Brown:

God loves me and God loves you
Smile sinner, don't be sad,
God's not angry, he's not mad,
And even if you leave the path,
there's no hell and there's no wrath!
God sees your heart, and that's enough.
The judgment seat won't be that tough.
You can't sin away His grace,
Or take that smile from His face.
Trust me, sinner, to the end,
My name is Satan, I'm your friend".

There are so many “friends” in our lives that give us good sounding counsel. They may tell us things like, “God just wants you to be happy” or “It’s not that big of a deal; you can do it and God will still forgive you.”

I fully believe that any advice that makes God out to be soft on sin is advice that really comes from Satan himself. In John 8:44 Jesus says that Satan is the father of lies, and he has been practicing for 6,000 years. The first lie ever told in the Garden of Eden (“You shall not surely die”) is the same lie still being told today, just with minor differences. Satan wants us to think that we can do whatever we want and not pay a price for it.

Despite inflation, the wages of sin is still death.

Who are you listening to, your Heavenly Father, or the Father or Lies?

A Bird Net

Proverbs 1:17 says, “Surely in vain a net is set in the sight of any bird.” To rearrange that sentence into today’s language, it is saying that it is pointless to spread a net (or trap) in front of a bird. Why? Quite simply, because the bird doesn’t want to get caught!

When I was younger my brother and I and our friend were determined to catch a bird. I’m still not sure what are plans were for after we caught it, but we sure wanted a bird. So we devised the ever-clever bird trap which consisted of an overturned shoebox balanced on a stick, and a piece of string tied to the stick. We then emptied an entire box of Raisin Bran cereal underneath the shoebox, and we waited. And we waited. And we waited.

A good tip for any kids trying to catch a bird: make the string longer than three feet. No bird would go near the trap because we were near the trap. The advantage went to the bird when he figured out that our intentions were not to feed him, but to trap him. No bird would willingly fly into a trap.

But people do all the time. We know that Satan is holding the other end of the string, but that Raisin Bran just looks so good. This Proverb is funny to me because birds have very small brains and are not known for being the brightest animals, and yet they will avoid a trap. Like the bird, we have an advantage because we know that sin is a trap, and Satan’s goal is not to feed us, but to trap us.

Let us always be on the look out for the enemy’s traps, and like any dumb bird, avoid them at all costs.