Sometimes, the Lord will lay it on your heart to do something you usually would not do. To get outside your comfort zone, follow Him into the uncomfortable, and declare His Gospel in ways you could not imagine. Be open to whatever He calls you to do, be engaged in His Kingdom at every level, and pray that we will see it expand.
As a wild-eyed, inquisitive young lad, I often found myself in very precarious situations. With a couple of green acres of the Piedmont plot to plod around and enough imagination to get me into a heap of trouble, it’s a wonder I made it out of childhood alive. From crashing bicycles, catching black widows in dixie cups, climbing and falling out of trees, and pouring gasoline into the underground nests of unsuspecting miner bees, my younger years were filled with all sorts of unsupervised and unsafe adventures.
If there was a limit, I was the one testing it. If there was a line, I was usually crossing it. If there was some cue the average person was supposed to pick up on, I was oblivious to it. And, on more than one occasion, my grandpa dutifully came outside delivering a message that likely originated with grandma, saying: “Kendall, don’t you think you’d better leave well enough alone?” The point he was getting after was that my life’s homeostatic balance hung in the balance of my next move. A nervous grandma was inside shuddering over the safety of her pride and joy, and a man who wanted to please her had detected that “well enough” was somehow in danger. The status quo was being threatened. Peace and vitality were in jeopardy, and the one accosting it all was me.
As an adult, I realize there are many occasions where “leaving well enough alone” is good. We do not need to poke every sleeping bear, throw rocks at every bee hive, or go to war with every enemy. Sometimes doing nothing is the exact right thing to do, and knowing when that applies takes wisdom and discernment.
Yet, there are other times when doing nothing would be morally wrong, strategically unwise, or giving into cowardice. In truth, there are some hills we need to die on, some enemies we need to face, and some risks we need to take. Again, wisdom and discernment are required here.
In what follows, I would like to sketch out why I cannot leave well enough alone when it comes to Satan Con coming to Boston.
If you are unfamiliar, the largest Satanic conference in human history will be hosted on April 28-30 by The Satanic Temple right in our backyard. In this article, I will provide a few reasons why I am going to Boston, preaching the Gospel on the streets, handing out tracts, and praying like crazy that someone down there will be delivered from darkness and rescued by the Light of the World. As you read this article, I hope it will also encourage you, and by that, I mean to give you the courage to find creative ways to get involved in Jesus’ great mission where you are.
Sometimes, you cannot leave well enough alone because
God is Sovereign
When I heard that the largest Satanic conference in human history was coming to Boston, my first thought was gratitude that I would not be there. I do not go to Salem in October, I do not watch horror movies with occult rituals or pagan symbolism, and I am certainly not inclined to be a stone’s throw away from a burgeoning bevy of Baphomet’s best buddies in the belly of Bean town. I stay away from such things because, you know, leaving well enough alone, right?
But as I thought about it, I realized I was acting in fear. You could have invited me to preach in any church in New England, storm any library, or skydive out of any plane, and I would have relished the opportunity. But, intentionally traveling to a gathering of secular Satanists had unnerved me.
I was then reminded that God is sovereign over all things, which means He has the right, power, and ability to control all things. Nothing occurs outside His administration, governance, and will. Because of that, even Satan cannot afflict us unless He has divine permission to do so (Job 1). His absolute sovereignty is the reason demons shudder (James 2:19). This is why they necessarily obey Him when He issues forth commands (Matthew 8:31-32). And this is also why unclean spirits cannot even speak unless King Jesus allows it (Mark 1:34).
