Every story has a villain

A few days back I wrote about the power of storytelling and how I think stories often resonate to the extent that they reflect THE story.  Well, while doing sermon prep the other night I was skimming through John Eldredge’s Waking the Dead and was struck by this passage about spiritual warfare:

“Think of it– why does every story have a villain?

Little Red Riding Hood is attacked by a wolf.  Dorothy must face and bring down the Wicked Witch of the West.  Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi go hand to hand against Darth Maul.  To release the captives of the Matrix, Neo battles the powerful “agents.”  Frodo is hunted by the Black Riders… Beowulf kills the monster Grendel, and then he hs to battle Grendel’s mother.  Saint George slays the dragon.  The children who stumbled into Narnia are called upon by Aslan to battle the White Witch and her armies so that Narnia might be free.

Every story has a villain because yours does.  You were born into a world at war…

You have an Enemy.  He is trying to steal your freedom, kill your heart, destroy your life.  As Satan said through Salieri, “I will hinder and harm your creature here on earth as far as I am able.  I will ruin Your incarnation.”"

The villain is one aspect of The Story.  I’ve managed to track down the outline of The Story I referenced before (and incidentally, it too is referencing spiritual warfare).  Once I get a chance I’ll type it up.

Oh, and if you don’t get the Salieri reference, you really need to see Amadeus, preferably on stage.