The Siren Call of a Satanic Culture

Have you ever been in a situation where you needed a trustworthy friend or a voice of wisdom to help keep you from making a bad decision? Isn't it always better to talk with someone before making a substantial purchase, or asking a girl out, or getting a tattoo? In the moment those things can be very desirable and seem like good things. But, if you aren’t prepared in those situations, you can end up with something you never really wanted.

For instance, before going to a car dealership you have to prepare yourself through research and wise counsel, or you can be talked into buying a car you don’t really want. We need help to keep ourselves from making self-destructive choices with how we live.

The Sirens' Call

This reality makes me think of the Sirens' Call from Homer’s Odyssey. Odysseus is sailing with his men back home from the Trojan War, when he comes to an island inhabited by Sirens. These creatures sing a song that is known to hypnotize and draw men to sail their ships into the rocky shoals to their deaths. Having been warned about this, Odysseus had his men stop up their ears with wax so they wouldn't hear the Sirens' Call. He, however, kept his ears unplugged, but had his men tie him securely to the mast of the ship. When he heard the call he desperately begged his men to untie him! With their wax-filled ears they were safely protected from the temptation of the Sirens and left him tied until they were out of earshot. In many ways, our culture calls to us like those Sirens, and without help, we will hear the call and sail our lives into a ship-wreck.

There are many aspects of culture where people are being temptingly called to self-destructive lifestyles all the wile thinking they are living their “best life” or being their “authentic self”. To some extent, it seems like some of this self-destruction could be mitigated by carefully considering what makes life truly good. But that’s the very problem; we are all being lied to about what makes life good, and we love the lie.

Where is this lie coming from? Who is singing this “Siren song?”

The Satanic Call

There are no such things as Sirens. But there is such a thing as Satan. He is the adversary and the great liar (John 8:44). From the very beginning he has been lying about God and about man. Satan wants us to be deceived about our purpose and what makes our lives good. He wants us to think that trying to seize autonomous self-determination is the key to being fulfilled and having purpose (Genesis 3:1-5). Satan wants to rob God of His glory by getting us, God's image-bearers, to give in to temptations and stay dead in our sins (James 1:12-15). He is the great dragon who uses the cultural and political authorities to push his satanic call upon us (Revelation 12, Ephesians 6:12). He is a far greater threat than some mythological singers. Simply plugging our ears will not keep us from gladly welcoming our own doom.

The most popular way we see the seizure of autonomous self-determination being played out in our world today is in the arena of our culture's sexual ethic. People are under the hypnosis that gender, sexual partner, reproductive ability, personal pronouns, etc. are all completely under their own personal authoritative sovereignty. They think that taking control of these things and manipulating them to fill their current desires outside of God's design will be a more effective way to give them a good life. Humanity is being lured to abandon God's good design for sexuality and relationships for the ship-wreck of their own design.

Christ's Call

If we are honest with ourselves we would have admit that we cannot reject this temptation in our own power. The problem is that we are tempted to reject God's design not only by pressures without, but also by our sin nature within. We want to hear the satanic call of the culture we live in. The only way to overcome this is to be rescued by someone who has overcome the temptations. We need to be warned, protected, and empowered by someone who is unaffected by the Siren Call of a Satanic Culture.

Thankfully, Jesus is the one who perfectly warns, protects, and empowers us. He has overcome the world, and He has given us the Word, the Holy Spirit, and the Church. Through the Word we are warned of the wages of sin, given the gospel of salvation, and called to put our faith in said gospel. Through the gift of the Holy Spirit by faith in the gospel we are empowered to fight against our temptations (Ephesians 6:10-17) and resist the devil. At all times we need to resist (James 4:7). Sometimes we will successfully avoid succumbing to temptation (1 Corinthians 10:13), but others times we will need someone to drag us away kicking and screaming (Matthew 18:15-17). Through the body of Christ we are protected and built up to perseverance in Christ (Jude1:20-23).

It is incumbent on us to realize that our whole lives require a good friend to warn, protect, and empower us to avoid destruction. Jesus is that friend and Savior who rescues us from destruction and gives us all that we need to avoid making self-destructive decisions. All we have to do is listen to His call instead of the Satanic call of the world. Are you listening to His voice through the Word of God?