Diabolos

Diabolos (Greek)

1) prone to slander, slanderous, accusing falsely
1a) a calumniator, false accuser, slanderer,
2) metaph. applied to a man who, by opposing the cause of God, may be said to act the part of the devil or to side with him.
Satan the prince of the demons, the author of evil, persecuting good men, estranging mankind from God and enticing them to sin, afflicting them with diseases by means of demons who take possession of their bodies at his bidding.

from diaballo
1) to throw over or across, to send over
2) to traduce, calumniate, slander, accuse, defame
                                                           (Strong’s Revised Lexicon)

It is odd that those who would stumble at the existence of a good and powerful personal God because there is too much evil in the world, seem to have even more difficulty with the existence of a supernatural evil being. Like many Biblical names, Diabolos is a description, with the imagery of throwing things. God (Father, Son, Spirit) is pictured in such terms as the Creator, Author, Finisher, Sustainer, Builder, or Advocate. Diabolos, on the other hand, does not create, but merely accuses and twists / perverts what has already been created. There is no evil in the world that is not merely a perverting of something that was originally good.

Mankind has a unique ability to imagine something that never was, plan how it might become a reality, and then work to make it so. The resulting creation becomes an expression of the person/s who did it. They are identified with each other, and for better or for worse, we take ownership of what we have done. Possibly one of the greatest senses of satisfaction comes from carrying through on such a creative plan, and some of the most acute disappointments at seeing it crash and burn.

Children start out as imitators. Most of our kids’ actions that appear cute to us, are actually just attempts to do what they see us doing. The first signs of the dawn of adulthood (“adolescence”) are often marked with a newfound ability to criticize. Growing children feel freedom to move beyond mimicking the parent, and proceed to find fault, and to add their own twist to how they perceive things. Done well, this process leads to a deeper understanding of how to function as an adult, and to dream and create what even their parents could not have imagined. Gone awry however, it can get stuck on looking for more ways to pervert and break down what others have risked to do. This may happen when early attempts to dream and build were met consistently with criticism and smashing down by parents or others who never learned themselves to move beyond this stage. At the other tip of the horseshoe from adolescent whining is senescent bitterness. In practice there is not much difference, the former feeling overwhelmed at the challenges life is throwing at them, and the latter despairing that they cannot do anything about it anymore.

Criticizing and accusing is about as easy as breathing. If we don’t speak it, we likely have thought it anyway. We are immersed in it. The workplace and media ooze with it. Acknowledged, it is not without benefit. Dreams without critical analysis are folly. Diving in without consultation is reckless. The very act of criticizing is part of our creative ability. But most criticism and accusation is not that. It is only tearing down what someone else is building. And it is done as a cheap attempt to make ourselves feel more important, to feel better about our own failure to do what we should be doing, or from jealousy of someone with the imagination and courage to follow through.

How can we respond to this? First, with a good dose of humility before we arrogantly presume to be the authority on someone else’s observations. It is possible to look for the constructive element contained in any criticism, and the truth communicated by any accusation. That gives us an opportunity to move on to the next step we might not otherwise have seen. When we feel the irritation of someone else just wanting to tear down, we can see that as an expression of an emptiness in them, rather than a signal for us to lash out in self defense or to despair and give it up. When a thought of criticism or accusation comes to us, which it will do by the hour, we can pause and consider our own motive before we express it. Is it from Diabolos, who comes to “steal and kill and destroy”, or from our God-given ability to build up? Then, if we do let our criticism be known, it can always come with a realistic suggestion of how things might be better. -philw