So, which is it?

John 8
43Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. 44You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

I met Satan last week.

Those were the words that she began with during our prayer request time in Sunday school. And stupidly, the hair raises on my arms and I start to hear ominous music in my mind and look around for the axe slinging maniac. That's what evil looks like. Right?
As she went on to explain, Satan came in the form of a person who got into a very serious discussion with her on the existence of God. People were formed from the stars and the dust and there is no God. Incorrect, yes. Misguided, certainly. Hopelessly lost right now, yes. Satan? I don't know. This seems to be a very straightforward conversation for Satan to be starting. Why would Satan send that person up against another willing to share the truth? Why would he make it so easy to refute? Why would the father of all lies start this when this guy is clearly in his camp already? As she spoke, a couple of thoughts ran through my head.

We meet Satan every day of every week, whether it's in an unsettling conversation or not. He's there, maybe not boldly with flaming evil, but he's there in much more dangerous ways. This is what Paul says in 2 Corinthians
2 Corinthians 4:4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
2 Corinthians 11:14 And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.

We know we'll encounter him...in philosophies that look so much like ours that it's hard to show how dangerously wrong they are and in people who put obstacles in the way because this faith is too easy or even in believers who would rather have the temptations of this world, but a head-to-head confrontation like this seems a little more rare. Even when he tempted Christ, his manner was deceptively logical. And really, I think my question is...is this Satan? Or is this God at work? Satan already has that one so it's a battle he can only lose.

And in the end, it probably doesn't matter who started the battle although I'm always going to hope for my own sake that God's already there working because it's not an argument I can win on my own anyway. The answer is still the same...see that person, that lost person, as God sees him. Don't be distracted by heated arguments or confused theories. See that person as God sees him, lost...but not without hope. That conversation means hope.