The Devil Wears Prada

The Devil Wears Prada




I have heard of a movie of this title but I had no idea what Prada was – maybe “after shave”? But by using Google you can find that Prada is a high class Italian fashion company known for it’s original designs and product lines. Their webpage has two black and white videos that are really kinda’ boring. Watching these you will notice that something is missing from the commercial. Guess what’s missing? It said ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about Prada’s clothing or product lines. All it showed was several young men standing around (supposedly in Prada clothing) all trying to look excessively cool in the sunglasses and playing guitars.



But the commercial said nothing about Prada’s product line. They obviously weren’t selling clothes in the commercial. So... what were they selling? They were selling prestige, style, status, significance.



Essentially, that’s what all fashion houses have always sold. Their clothes are not that significantly different from what you’d buy at WalMart or Target. But fashion houses aren’t selling clothes and accessories… they’re selling an image. An image of what you could be like... if only you wore their clothing, and accessorized with their products. They’re selling an image



And that’s what Satan does…. He sells an image.

As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 11:14, “These people are false apostles. They are deceitful workers who disguise themselves as apostles of Christ. 14 But I am not surprised! Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.”



Most of the time Satan is portrayed as some scary dude running around in red tights and horns.

Now, seriously … would you really buy anything from this guy? Of course you wouldn’t

He looks evil, scary... and very untrustworthy.



AND Satan knows that… so he’s not going to show up at your front door like that. He masquerades. He dresses himself up in an appealing fashion. Because his objective is to sell an image. An image of what he wants you to think he is like. And an image of what he wants to embrace about yourself.



It’s all about packaging. Satan packages his product in such a way that you see what he wants you to see... not what his product would actually do to your life.



Satan tries to sell you the products that most reflects what people really want in life

Popularity.

Acceptance.

Manliness for men

Attractiveness for women.

Pleasure, success, achievement. Etc. etc.



But Satan is very careful how he packages those products because if you ever really caught on to where his product line would lead - you’d never buy it!!!



Just as an example of how effectively Satan packages his product, a pastor told the story of a young girl that had been part of their church’s youth group a couple years back. Now, she’s a pregnant unmarried teenager. The dad was not in the picture… probably never would be. And there she was. Pregnant, faced with raising her child alone without a father. And she’s not happy.



But she wasn’t unhappy because she was pregnant. She wasn’t unhappy because the baby’s dad was not going to be in the picture. She wasn’t unhappy because her child probably won’t have the advantages that two parents would have given it. No, she wasn’t unhappy because of those difficulties. She was unhappy because the only clothes she could find that will fit were sold at Target or Wal-Mart. She couldn’t find her American Eagle and Tommy Hilfinger kind of clothing… because those companies didn’t make their product for pregnant teenagers.



Satan had sold her the image so effectively that she was not disturbed that she was unmarried and pregnant… only that she was out of style.



You see… Satan did his job right with her. She never knew guessed how much heartache was ahead for her because Satan had gotten her eyes fixed on “the image” that became so important to her.



Now, what Paul is telling us here in 2 Corinthians is: Satan is selling image. And he’s trying to sells us the same image he sold to Eve in the garden. “But I fear that somehow your pure and undivided devotion to Christ will be corrupted, just as Eve was deceived by the cunning ways of the serpent.” 2 Corinthians 11:3



So, how was Eve deceived? What was the image Satan tried to sell to Eve that day in the garden?

He told her "God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it (fruit the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.), and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.” Genesis 3:5



You see, Satan wasn’t selling a piece of fruit. He was selling her “an image”. “You will be like God!” he said.



Now – of course – that’s not going to happen! Satan tried it once, and it didn’t work out real well for him. (Read Isaiah 14:12-14)



But people who’ve been sold Satan’s bill of goods… try to do it anyway. They’ve been sold the image that they can be like God. And so, they try remove Him from the picture… somehow. Because once they’ve done that - they can be in charge. They’ll ignore God. Deny God. Make fun of God

They do whatever they have to do to get God OFF the throne … so they can sit there themselves.



Satan’s message is: to become great, you got to be God. You’ve got to CENTER on YOURSELF

You’ve got to meet YOUR needs. You’ve got to lift YOURSELF up



But Christ’s message is: to become great, you got to be a servant. You’ve got to CENTER on GOD and OTHERS. You’ve got to center on somebody other than yourself.



Satan’s product: YOU as God of your life.

God’s product: YOU as a servant of God..

Those two messages will NEVER coexist together. They won’t work together.



In 2 Corinthians, Paul tells us that Satan doesn’t do all this on his own..Satan doesn’t slip into our bedrooms at night and whisper wicked things in our ears. Oh, no… Satan’s got himself a sales staff.



Paul writes in 2 Corinthians - that SINCE Satan can pass himself off an angel of light, “… it is no wonder that his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness....” (2 Cor. 11:15)



Satan has a sales staff. He’s got folks working for him.



And Satan knows it’s important to have the RIGHT people working for him. Just like we wouldn’t buy a product from a demonic looking creature, neither are we going to accept guidance from someone we don’t know.



So, Satan works through people we know and trust. People we work with. People we work for.

Our friends. Our relatives.



WHy does this work? Because, if you’re around certain people long enough, they start to matter to you. Their opinion becomes important to you.



Satan has his own salesmen. And if he can surround us with enough of those salesmen… he can change our minds. That’s the genius of what Satan does. If he can surround us with enough people who tell us that wrong is right, that evil is better than good, and that God either isn’t there, or He doesn’t care, THEN eventually - we begin to listen… even though we know they’re wrong.



Over and over again, Satan sells the same bill of goods..You will become like God knowing good and evil. The only problem is that the good Satan would have us embrace is the evil God has always condemned… because of the damage it can do our lives and our souls.



So Satan tries to surround us with HIS sales people, knowing that if he can get you to listen to them long enough, he can sell the image he wants in our lives.



But that’s why God created the church.

When we spend time with God’s people,

Reading God’s Word,

Praying in Jesus’ name

Taking communion to celebrate Jesus’ sacrifice

and singing songs of praise to our savior

Then we learn to take care of each other and strengthen each other.

And learn the holy and perfect will of God.



It all depends on which sales staff we listen to: Satan’s or God’s