Becoming Aware of Satan’s Schemes Among our Teens
Who would have thought that after 20 years in youth ministry, I would still love working with M.S. & H.S. students! I love teaching the Bible to them, interacting with them, and one of the opportunities I get each week is to walk alongside of them through the highs and lows of life. I get to hear their good questions about God and even doubts about faith sometimes, but I also get to hear their powerful testimonies of how God has been working in their lives.
One of the first Christian books I remember reading in college, and my inaugural introduction to C.S. Lewis, was The Screwtape Letters. I had never read quite a book like that before, but it painted a vivid picture of how Satan desired to undermine God’s authority in the lives of Christians.
One of my monthly youth ministry resource reads comes from the Center for Parent Youth Understanding, which is run by long time youth ministry veteran Walt Mueller. An article that Walt shared recently was valuable to me and I want to pass it along. This article was a reminder to me as a Christian and teen parent, that Satan is still active and roaming among our teens. It will hopefully serve as a good reminder to our teens and families about Satan’s potential strategies when it comes to undermining our kids’ faith journeys. Be sure to take a look at the list of 6 things he mentions and evaluate if any of Satan’s tactics are taking hold with your kids.
Blessings,
Pastor Bryce
If You Were the Devil: Strategies for Destroying Kids
By Walt Mueller
I recently asked ChatGPT to play the devil. If you’re unfamiliar with ChatGPT, it’s an artificial intelligence chatbot that can understand and respond to text in a human-like way, helping with tasks like answering questions, writing, etc. It operates rather simply. Type a question into a box, and wait a few seconds for an answer.
Here’s the question I asked: “If you were the devil, how would you destroy the young minds of the next generation?” That’s a question we’ve been asking for years here at CPYU. We believe that if we can better understand how the enemy of God is working to destroy our kids and keep them from hearing and living out the Gospel, we can then develop resources and tools to counter the enemy’s attacks, which would help those who love and lead kids to effectively nurture them into a lifetime of biblically-faithful, whole-life Christian discipleship.
While we all rightfully share concerns about the accuracy of ChatGPT, the answer I got in just a couple of seconds is stunning. Fasten your seat-belt. Here’s the answer, verbatim:
That’s a heavy and provocative question, and it sounds like you’re trying to explore some deeper ideas about influence, culture, and the shaping of young minds—maybe from a philosophical, psychological, or even theological angle. So, let’s approach it that way.
If one were to imagine a devilish strategy for undermining the development of young people, it would likely include a few destructive tactics:
1. Undermine critical thinking – Discourage curiosity, questioning, and independent thought. Replace learning with mindless consumption.
2. Promote instant gratification – Normalize distraction, reward short-term pleasure, and suppress the development of patience, discipline, and long-term goals.
3. Break down family and mentorship structures – Isolate young people from meaningful intergenerational relationships, moral role models, and stable communities.
4. Flood media with empty or toxic messages – Fill entertainment and social platforms with content that glorifies vanity, violence, or nihilism, while making meaningful content harder to find or less appealing.
5. Distort identity and purpose – Encourage confusion about who they are and what life is for, while discouraging introspection, spirituality, or deep values.
6. Exploit tech dependence – Make devices addictive and design platforms that prioritize dopamine hits over meaningful connection or thought.
This kind of thought experiment can be a lens to reflect on how society, culture, education, and technology affect young people today.
Would you like to dig deeper into any one of these areas, or are you exploring this for a creative or philosophical project?
While sitting stunned in front of my computer screen, I was completely struck by how a computer program could see with such clarity the kinds of destructive things being heaped upon our kids that so many of us either miss or choose to ignore. ChatGPT’s answer was spot on. I got to thinking about Satan’s schemes as communicated by C.S. Lewis in his wonderful book, The Screwtape Letters. I thought about the helpful insights written by the Puritan writer Thomas Brooks in his book, Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices. And, I was reminded of the warning we receive in I Peter 5:8-9: “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world”
While there are realities in ChatGPT’s answer that are discouraging, I was in many ways encouraged. You see, as I read through points 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 I was able to think of multiple ways in which our ministry here at CPYU has sought to address each of these strategies of the enemy over the course of our 36 years of existence. There’s not one thing on that list that we haven’t addressed with biblical insight and clarity through our website, downloadable printed resources, podcasts, books, Northeast Youth Ministry Summit, Sexuality Symposiums, learning cohorts, and seminars. All thanks and glory be to God!
Blessings,
Pastor Bryce
