Roots of the Silencing

Playing the Devil's Game

“We cannot help but notice that it grows in power as it devours its victims. In the beginning, it isn’t so dramatic, but over time, it demands more and more and more. It is never sated and cannot ever be, because it exists to accrue power and to destroy anything that gets in its way. So the more we do or say nothing against it, the more power we allow it to amass, until at last it comes for us.”

- Eric Metaxas, Religionless Christianity, p. 62

In this passage, Metaxas is discussing cancel culture. Many have fallen into its vile and despicable trap. It fades now. But that culture’s foundation is something much deeper, distilled in the human soul: pride.

Death resulted from pride, making it the most lethal of sins. The serpent yielded to its power. It seeped into his bones until he coveted cosmic rulership, sought to become divine (Ezekiel 28). His plan backfired, destroying the established order.

When the Teacher in Proverbs tells us that “pride comes before a fall,” that’s no mere quip. He’s pulling from the Genesis story where pride came before the Fall.

“Take pride” is a slogan for both right and left. Some celebrate it with a vibrant spectrum of colors—a blatant hijacking of God’s symbols. Anything to make it appealing to opponents.

The ploy worked for a long time. Many in America and the West accepted appalling acts as normal. This continued until some saw their countries subverted, while others narrowly escaped. The horrors were abetted by a silent church, the only institution equipped to stop evil in all its forms.

“Woke” is a creative label devised to identify the supposed mind virus plaguing said nations, but since pride is involved, the situation is much more dire than it may seem. The virus of pride affects more than thoughts. Let the church, the sleeping giant, awaken.

The Nature and Depth of Pride

It is easy to mistake pride as simple self-centeredness, but this is a limited view. Adam, Eve, and the serpent tried to become gods. As mentioned, this was an act of rebellion against God’s authority. As Sandra Richter puts it in her book The Epic of Eden, they could choose their sovereign (that upon which they would depend) and chose poorly.

Such behavior or disobedience goes beyond self-centeredness.

Pride is the lust for power and control over something perceived as valuable. Fueled by the illusion of self-reliance. Intellectual and moral blindness undergird the vice. And pride leads to deception, destroying order and progress.

That spirit isn’t solely a left-wing phenomenon. Deep within each human soul, it infests every atom of the flesh, easily masked by the false impression that everyone is good. Our rebellion resulted in death and sin. We should not have been so proud.

Chess Match with Satan

The serpent, crafty and knowledgeable, posed a threat because of pride. He mastered it. A seraph, guarding the tree of knowledge until Adam and Eve were ready, he positioned himself for a thorough attack. They were oblivious, like children, unprepared for universal secrets.

The early church fathers, after the time of the Apostles, seem unified in their interpretation of Adam and Eve’s lowly state. Theophilus of Antioch summarized it well in one of his writings to Autolycus:

“The tree of knowledge itself was good, and its fruit was good. For it was not the tree, as some think, but the disobedience, which had death in it. For there was nothing else in the fruit than only knowledge; but knowledge is good when one uses it discreetly. But Adam, being yet an infant in age, was on this account as yet unable to receive knowledge worthily. For now, also, when a child is born it is not at once able to eat bread, but is nourished first with milk, and then, with the increment of years, it advances to solid food. Thus, too, would it have been with Adam; for not as one who grudged him, as some suppose, did God command him not to eat of knowledge. But He wished also to make proof of him, whether he was submissive to His commandment. And at the same time He wished man, infant as he was, to remain for some time longer simple and sincere.”

Theophilus echoes the Letter to the Hebrews. Both texts criticize the audience for clinging to elementary teachings and not progressing to more advanced spiritual nourishment. They stuck to the basics and refused to dive deeper into the mysteries of the Gospel. Adam and Eve, unlike the audience of Hebrews, were too quick to rush into solid foods. They took knowledge for themselves rather than learn it at the feet of the Creator. Divine trust starts small and incrementally growing.

The serpent was aware. And because of the pride welling within, he sought to tip the scales toward the destruction of creation. God and man stood as the obstacles to absolute power.

Adam and Eve went to the tree, unaware they had entered a high-stakes game of chess. Newbie players against an expert tactician, targeted because of their inexperience. Satan’s plan hinged on the complete destruction of goodness and its defenses.

The serpent was the first child predator. He preyed on the innocent to seize power. Life was undermined by his betrayal. Hatred of purity is the ongoing fatal flaw. We played the Devil’s game and lost.

Idle Idolatry

Removed of our innocence, we became susceptible to every bad thing. The nothingness began to once again encroach on the created order.

Adam’s and Eve’s was an idle idolatry, taking for granted the perfectness of the paradise. There was only one condition guarding their freedom and joy. In their blissful lackadaisical wanderings, they never could have imagined loss. They would tend the Garden and spread out into the world. Bring God’s goodness with them. That was their mission. All they had to do was avoid the tree.

Its simplicity proved deceptive. While the ignorance was bliss, it was not their strength. God was their guide and protector. Their condition demonstrated that, though they couldn’t escape dependence, they could rely on him for true fulfillment and unity with the heavenly host. Pride convinced them independence offered true freedom.

Since then, this complacency has afflicted God’s children. Brooding over scarcity while he provides all has led nations to crumble.

We must never forget the words He issued to Cain: “6 The Lord said to Cain, ‘Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? 7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.’”

Mental isolation morphed into a tormenting cycle, replaying the decision. The question: “Where will my allegiances lie?” While working, Cain faced no such dilemma. He grew proud when resting and enjoying the spoils. Cain, mirroring his parents’ actions, rejected God’s offering. And so he established the pattern.

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A Heart of Stone

Pride’s end is total consumption. It corrodes the soul like a ravenous beast, incarcerating one in bitterness and rage. The resulting obsession is futile, yet unstoppable. Total control offers brief relief, but the desire for more persists. Pride demands self-service, even if by force. Victims go mad.

The biblical archetype is Pharaoh. While enslaving and abusing God’s chosen people, Pharaoh’s cruelty backfired. His descent into madness accelerated, forcing his own people to plead against him. And when the Israelites could leave, the Egyptians heaped upon them mounds of wealth. God defeated the Egyptians, and Israel looted them, all because their leader refused to relent.

A modern example is the transgender movement. Members and proponents seek to bend reality to fake and fluid feelings. Since most adults refuse to bow, they target children and spread their contagion. Courageous voices are defeating them, defying the acidic ideology. Their agenda cannot stand up to intellectual and moral scrutiny, so they mock, berate, and slander. They label dissenters as transphobes, bigots, and sexists. Yet, every image of proponents shows telltale signs of wasting away. Having bought the lie that they will be as gods, they kill themselves in pursuing self-worship.

The coldness of pride is the epitome of darkness. Blind ambition conceals consequences. One barrels forward on autopilot, bulldozing blockades. When filling the inner void with self-elevation, all else becomes dispensable. The father of lies smiles and celebrates, basking in the destruction of all God adores.

Fear the Lord: Check Mate

Satan got used to winning until Christ stepped on the scene. He established Mount Hermon, north of Israel, as the kingdom of fallen angels—the gates of hell. From these heights, overlooking Jerusalem and Sinai, he reigned throughout the ages, proud and haughty, wielding pride like an iron fist. Though earthly kingdoms faded away, his control never faded. Amid the chaos, he and his legions thrived, thinking they had overcome the Maker.

The incarnation of God renewed the fight. Only our representation was far stronger this time. The Author of all reality had joined his forces on the front lines, to sacrifice his own life and reverse sin and death. Prideful leaders faced God’s condemnation. Jesus approached hell’s gates, underwent a transfiguration, resisted the Devil, and became our holy sacrifice. Then he rose again. The badges of his life were selflessness, humility, compassion, and righteousness. And in his wake, an impenetrable force emerged.

God granted the Jews their foretold compassionate heart. Christ’s disciples received that gift, forging a strong and influential community lasting eons. Mathetes details in is his Epistle to Diognetus:

“To sum up all in one word – what the soul is to the body, that are Christians to the world. The soul is dispersed through all the members of the body, and Christians are scattered through all the cities of the world. The soul dwells in the body, yet is not of the body; and Christians dwell in the world, yet are not of the world. The invisible soul is guarded by the visible body, and Christians are known indeed to be in the world, but their godliness remains invisible. The flesh hates the soul, and wars against it, though itself suffering no injury, because it is prevented from enjoying pleasures; the world also hates the Christians, though nowise injured, because they abjure pleasures. The soul loves the flesh that hates it, and loves also the members; Christians likewise love those that hate them. The soul is imprisoned in the body, yet preserves that very body; and Christians are confined in the world as in a prison, and yet they are the preservers of the world. The immortal soul dwells in a mortal tabernacle; and Christians dwell as sojourners in corruptible bodies, looking for an incorruptible dwelling in the heavens. The soul, when but ill-provided with food and drink, becomes better; in like manner, the Christians, though subjected day by day to punishment, increase the more in number. God has assigned them this illustrious position, which it were unlawful for them to forsake.

“For, as I said, this was no mere earthly invention which was delivered to them, nor is it a mere human system of opinion, which they judge it right to preserve so carefully, nor has a dispensation of mere human mysteries been committed to them, but truly God Himself, who is almighty, the Creator of all things, and invisible, has sent from heaven, and placed among men, Him who is the truth, and the holy and incomprehensible Word, and has firmly established Him in their hearts. He did not, as one might have imagined, send to men any servant, or angel, or ruler, or any one of those who bear sway over earthly things, or one of those to whom the government of things in the heavens has been entrusted, but the very Creator and Fashioner of all things – by whom He made the heavens – by whom he enclosed the sea within its proper bounds – whose ordinances all the stars faithfully observe – from whom the sun has received the measure of his daily course to be observed – whom the moon obeys, being commanded to shine in the night, and whom the stars also obey, following the moon in her course; by whom all things have been arranged, and placed within their proper limits, and to whom all are subject…under the influence of clemency and meekness.”

Defeating pride required a weapon beyond this world. Pride impeded the sacrificial love of God. Only its reappearance in full divine splendor and humility would break the hold. It had to be ingrained in the hearts and minds of Man. Receptive souls formed God’s new kingdom. Boundless unity, energized by God’s Spirit, offers an alternative to the isolating pride of self-obsession. Unmatched selflessness conquered self. Hell’s gates proved ineffectual.

Christians are the answer if they cling to the Holy Word. But they have failed in recent times. We, like the first couple, embraced complacency and spiritual ignorance. Became isolated and stifled courageous virtues. Humility, grace, and truth. Time for that to change.

Conclusion

Pride fuels all evil. The grotesque disease of self-divination craves perpetual dominance. Its tools are censorship and deception. The serpent is owner and wielder. Playing chess with the Devil is a rigged game. Inescapable torment awaits all who play, and that hell will seep into our homes, neighborhoods, streets, cities, states, and nations. Societal corruption begins small and then explodes. But we can defeat it.

God has charged Christians with combating pride. And the neurosis and psychosis it constructs. In a world spiraling in chaos, we must maintain life and sanity. We achieve our goal by following Christ with selflessness and courage. We are salt and light, and no one can hide our city-on-a-hill when we embrace the mission and execute it boldly. As long as God leads, Satan remains defenseless. Though he kills the messengers, the Gospel will spread. The battle rages on, and we’ve already won the war. Unchained from the dominion of sin, what cause have we to fear? If God is for us, who can be against us?

Recommended Sources

Heiser, Michael S. 2015. The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

Metaxas, Eric. 2024. Religionless Christianity: God's Answer to Evil. New York, NY: Regnery Faith.

Richter, Sandra L. 2008. The Epic of Eden: A Christian Entry into the Old Testament. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic.

Schaff, Philip. 2017. Ante-Nicene Fathers Vol. 1. Eternal Sun Books.

—. 2017. Ante-Nicene Fathers Vol. 2. Eternal Sun Books.