October 3^rd, 1992 marks one of the more controversial episodes of Saturday Night Live. At the height of her career, musical guest Sinead O’Connor was scheduled to perform in front of a live television audience. She gladly took the opportunity to express her regard for the sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church. Her latent hatred for the entire scandal, and the figurehead of it, was about to boil over. As planned, she sang her song that night, held a picture of the Pope in front of the camera, and with all the fervor of an Old Testament prophet, tore it into pieces, threw it on the floor, and boldly petitioned America to “fight the real enemy”.

The nationwide outrage that ensued made it obvious that her message was heard loud and clear. The NBC network received thousands of phone calls criticizing her actions in the days to follow, while the New York Daily News called her performance a “HOLY TERROR”. Considering the reaction she got, you would’ve thought Ms. O’Connor had actually tried to murder the Pope, but she didn’t. She just tore up an old picture of him that used to hang in her mother’s bedroom.

As assassination of the Pontiff was out of the question for Sinead, she did the next best thing to express the depth of her hatred: She destroyed his picture. And by doing so, there was no mistaking the point: When you hate someone, but aren’t allowed to kill him, you can placate your loathing by vandalizing the thing that bears his image. …Sound familiar?

WE’VE SEEN IT ALL BEFORE

A performance like this is nothing new. Satan’s been expressing his disdain for The Creator in a similar way ever since the beginning. He abhors God and would kill Him if he could, but he can’t, so he does the next best thing: He harasses, attacks, & destroys His image-bearers. It all started with Eve, but that same sad episode has been re-run billions of times over in one long season of sin and death. Anything that resembles God is a visible reminder of the One Satan hates, which is why he relentlessly attacks mankind…Christians in particular.

There are dozens of ways to desecrate a photograph: You can rip it, shred it, or tear it to bits. You can flush it, bury it, or light it on fire. You can deface it, erase it, or stain it beyond recognition, and the devil’s tried it all. In fact, the only thing he won’t do, is ignore it, and the better the quality of the picture, the more desperate he is to get rid of it. His method is hardly the point, he just wants the job done. He’s ruthless, relentless, and manic. It’s who he is and what he does. He is Apollyon, the Destroyer.

But too much talk of the devil and you’ll begin to think he’s everywhere when he’s not. And yet, too little and you’ll forget that he’s around at all. Interesting how he’s both easy to overlook and impossible to ignore at the same time. Like a small plastic ball under only one of three shells, he’s never everywhere, but always somewhere. So, we ought to be on our guard.

When you hate someone, but aren’t allowed to kill him, you can placate your loathing by vandalizing the thing that bears his image

WE’LL SEE IT HAPPEN AGAIN

Satan is conscious of all that’s happening at our church, and it irritates him to say the least. If we’re feeling the heat lately, let’s remember that it’s because we bear God’s image. It’s no wonder then, that Satan would be so adamant about destroying us. He’s been strolling through world history leaving massive piles of torn photographs behind him, and now he’s looking at us. He’s opened up our page of the photo album, and he doesn’t like what he sees. We keep reminding him of the God he hates. 

Sinead O’Connor’s disgust for sexual sin is understandable, commendable, and just. No one should be too upset about what she did. What we should be upset with is what Satan is doing. He’s waging a war against His Creator by destroying His creation; He’s mocking the Father by torturing His children. He’s showing his spite for a righteous God by spitting at His picture. If we’re to be outraged when someone attacks the Pope, how much more so when it’s God? People aren’t the real enemy, Satan is.

One day his controversial attack on the human race will be nothing more than a memory…something of the past. But until then, it’s a reality. Our reality. So, hold it together. Be sober. Be vigilant.