you can't handle the truth

 

So we were watching Power Rangers Super Samurai the other day (judgers gonna’ judge) and the episode was the Power Rangers vs. the evil Negatron.  Negatron’s great power was to speak uncomfortable negative truths to people that they didn’t want to hear.  If they were in denial about these truths then his negative words would translate into literally blowing them away.  The Power Rangers turn up to show him who’s boss but he picks them off one by one.  He starts by telling the perfect pink ranger that she can’t cook and she is blown away.  He laughs at the green guy because he had training wheels on his bike till he was 10 and he’s blown away.  Negatron easily picks off the blue and red Power Rangers by revealing their undesirable attributes, then he turns on the yellow one and tells her she’s clumsy and embarrassing and she’s NOT blown away.  Now why is that?

After the battle the Rangers sit around wondering why everyone was blown away except for the yellow one.  They figure out that it was Negatron’s words that were hurting them so they try to comfort each other.  The pink cook asks “am I really a bad cook?” to which they reply “no, you’re a great cook.”  But is this response going to help her next time she goes up against Negatron?  NO!  He will be able to defeat her just as easily with the very same words.

This scene reminds me that too often when we are struggling with sin or not being very good at stuff our friends seek to help us by reassuring us that we are OK.  So often we try to be good friends by making each other feel better instead of speaking the truth in love to one another, and it doesn’t solve the person’s problem; like it didn’t for the power rangers.  We find out in the episode that the reason the yellow ranger was successful against Negatron was because she accepted the truth about herself, despite her friend’s false assurances to the contrary.  It WAS true that she was clumsy and embarrassing and she knew it.  

There is a Negatron (Satan/the Devil) in our world too.  He isn’t dressed up in a ridiculous rubber costume but he sure knows how to try to blow us away into despair and there is only one way to defeat him. 

The first line of defense is to accept that what the bible says about us is true – we ARE sinners, we are liars, we arewicked in our hearts, we do seek to sin continually.  This acceptance will make us realize we need someone to rescue us from the consequences of our sin.  The second and most important line of defense is knowing that this rescuer, Jesus Christ, came not for the good people, butfor sinners - you.  By His death He has made you perfect in God’s sight.  This means God won’t hold you accountable for any sin you have or will do and so the devil’s accusations have no power left to condemn you.  

So next time the devil throws his fiery darts of accusations against you, stand up and say “yes Negatron devil, what you are saying is true.  I am everything bad you say that I am but your words won’t blow me away into despair because I have a saviour and he accepts me despite all of my sin.”  There is now no condemnation for those who arein Christ Jesus!