“For we battle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and power, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” – Ephesians
Working out our salvation with fear and trembling means that each of us needs to earnestly seek God as to what it means for us to be His follower in the location, and time frame and circumstances that he has placed us. Just as no two snowflakes are alike, so no two Christians are alike. God has created each of us with unique gifts, strengths, personalities. In His sovereignty, He has placed us into selected family and country situations. Each of us was born for such a time as He believes is most fitting. Therefore, it is not possible for each of us to know categorically how another Christian should strategically respond to the battle we fight against our common enemy – the devil and his demons.
A key question for me is how do we battle?
- Some Christians are built as warriors who designed to stand in confronting combat with ideas
- Some Christians are built as medics who nurse the injured back to health
- Some Christians are guerrilla fighters who strategically engage when the time is right.
- Some Christians are built for the foundational support of prayer and distribution.
The common thread is that we are all engage in the war for the hearts and minds of the souls of this world.
To often we take pot-shots (friendly fire) at our own team, without respecting that we are on the same side and fighting a common enemy. Taking a lesson from when Gideon defeated the Midianites because they turned on each other, it would be a shame if we let the devil gain ground because we took down our own.
So, in this spiritual war, we are all called to be activists, but the roles we perform will all be slightly different.
Blessings
-JC
Truth is not determined by which ‘worldview’ wins or loses. However that is defined.
3 Comments
Liz
Jeremy,
Often it is those we take pot shots at (within our own team) who are in fact not on our side but are wolves dressed like little lambs.
It breaks my heart.
How quick we are to forget all the warnings in Scripture to “be not deceived” and “take heed”.
As one Christ follower who has just walked away from yet another institution of Clergy worshippers (as opposed to Christ followers) , I agree that this war is indeed a Spiritual One.
We need to return to the word of God and get our heads out of books plural and off Youtube watching sermons and heaping up teachers.
I write this in Love.
Jason Harris
Good post. It’s easy to judge people who have a different role. Fighters can look down on medics and medics on fighters. But both are necessary.
Liz has raised the difficulty when it comes to “friendly fire.” It’d be nice if everyone wore the correct uniform, but they don’t sometimes. Makes it very, very tricky. Like being stuck in a paintball firefight and losing track of who’s on who’s team because the colours are too similar or the glasses are fogged up.
Jeremy
Liz,
There is a ditch on both sides of the road. We need to respect that not everyone will do ministry in the same way we do. However, the answer is not to say ‘whatever goes’ – particularly when it comes to doctrine.
I totally agree that not everyone on ‘our side of the battle-lines’ are saved. We do have wolves who infiltrate. We need discernment to be able to see those who have impure motives around us.
I can’t go into much detail at the moment, but I have a situation I am dealing with at the moment where I am standing for truth. To the outsider it may look like a bit of ‘friendly-fire’ going on. I would appreciate your prayer for both the outcome and the manner in which this is carried out.
Jeremy