*Posted by Joe Wooddell
Believers are always at war, and the enemy is personal: Satan (the devil) and his demons. We also fight against worldly influences (the world) and our own sinful nature (the flesh), but Satan is the father of it all, the “father of lies” (Jn. 8:44), always prowling about like a lion, “seeking someone to devour” (1 Pet. 5:8). I am not looking for a demon behind every bush: a demon of lust, alcohol, or anger, for example. It is true, however, that our battle ultimately is not against other people, but against the rulers, powers, and forces of darkness, “the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12). Our weapons, therefore, are not primarily physical but spiritual, “divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses” (2 Cor. 10:4). The battles take place primarily in the mind, and we fight them by “taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ” (2 Cor. 10:5). Battles are also fought with prayer (Mt. 9:29), study (being transformed by renewing our minds; Rom. 12:1-2), and other spiritual disciplines (silence, solitude, worship, celebration, etc. See Richard Foster’s Celebration of Discipline). Of course, when evil ideas take root in society, believers should work to overcome those forces with godly, biblical ideas, and this means action: getting involved in society, in “the world,” and changing it for the better (i.e. being salt and light; Mt. 5:13-14).
Every second of every day takes on new significance when we begin to see our lives through this lens of “spirituality” or “eternality.” There is no secular/sacred divide. All of life is sacred. Every activity is potentially an act of worship. I can, in my leisure time, watch the NFL playoffs to the glory of God. I can eat a pizza (or at least a few slices of one), teach a philosophy class, read Narnia, take a walk, exercise, work on an assembly line making widgets, kiss my wife, hug my children, thank the waiter at a restaurant, fix my broken dryer, and any other (non-sinful) activity, thought, or word to the glory of God, as an act of worship. I can “eat or drink” to the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31). In word or deed I can do all “in the name of the Lord Jesus” (Col. 3:17), doing my work “heartily, as for the Lord” (Col. 3:23). I can give thanks in everything (1 Thes. 5:18) and “pray without ceasing” (1 Thes. 5:17). For what or whom can I pray? Personally, I pray every day over my family, for very specific things: their physical, mental, and spiritual well-being, and for opportunities for ministry. We should pray for “kings and all in authority” (1 Tim. 2:2). We may pray for favor with bosses, colleagues, and subordinates. We may pray that we don’t get ripped off at the auto repair shop, or that we won’t rip people off if we own one of those shops. We should pray for the salvation of family and friends (Rom. 10:1). Every time we are tempted to worry we should pray instead (Phil. 4:6). I have never forgotten what my college pastor (Rob Jackson) used to say: “use worry as a prompter to pray.”
Nearly everyone wants to be part of something big and dramatic. This is why we love Superbowls, national championships, great novels and films, Beethoven’s ninth and Dvořák’s New World symphonies, why we ache inside when we watch William Wallace free Scotland or Oscar Schindler free Jews, why some people join the CIA, the Navy Seals, or become UFC fighters, and why others enjoy true stories about such persons. Believers, however, should remember that their lives are more inspiring, important, and dramatic than any earthly drama. Your intentional decision to avoid a lustful glance is a crushing blow to the enemy. When you say an encouraging, loving word to your less than perfect husband, Satan hates it and God’s Kingdom is advanced. When you wake up a few minutes early, or stay up a few minutes late, in order to read your Bible and pray for your family, friends, church, country, and missionaries around the world, you become a significant, supporting actor in God’s grand narrative, of which Jesus is the Star.
The holidays are over, winter is setting in, and many are going back to work or school dreading how dull and insignificant it all seems. If this is you and you are a believer, take heart! Change your perspective. Put a sticky note on your bathroom mirror reminding yourself that you are part of the greatest story ever, that your contribution matters even if no one ever realizes it, and that after a short or long life of faithful service, Jesus will welcome you into His eternal rest as He smiles and announces “well done good and faithful servant” (Mt. 25:21). Such a mindset and such actions demonstrate that you are fighting well, and that you are seeking a city “which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God” (Heb. 11:10), that you are a stranger and exile on the earth, that you desire a heavenly country, and that God is not ashamed to be called your God (Heb. 11:13-16).
Recommended reading: C. S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters
So true. We recently read Lord Foulgrin’s Letters by Randy Alcorn (based on the Screwtape Letters) which spoke to the very real spiritual battle as you cited from Scripture. I find that I am easily defeated without ongoing awareness of this. Thank you for the reminder. Cris
Thanks, I appreciate the response.
So your war is in your mind with the unseen Satan? Well I guess that is better than being at war with social liberals, the non-religious, and atheists. You also say that there is no ‘secular/sacred’ divide. I believe this is true, however I challenge Evangelical religion to live up to this. What I see and have experienced from calling into your radio station is that you are quite separated from the rest of us. One premise of the PBS special ‘God In America’ is that after the Scopes trial, you guys simply starting building your own separate world so that secular ideas would not get in. This makes me sad. I believe it is getting harder for you, however. You will need to expend greater and greater effort to get kids into your beliefs early when they really have no choices and then move past the dangerous dose of the outside world that they get when they leave home. Not all evangelical parents can send their kids to special colleges like yours. I think you will continue to see youth conversions and retentions drop off for what I see is a far more reasonable belief system. I am not asking you to be defeated, I am asking you to change, to talk openly to folks who might seem to be your enemies, to debate, and to think. Bishop John Shelby Spong wrote a book called ‘Why Christianity must change or Die’. This includes you guys. If you want to wage a war against Satan, I suggest that you not do it just by yourselves in your mind. Talk to us, talk to the outside. I would love you or any of your readers to friend me on facebook where we can continue this discussion. – John Rigler
Some good points, John. You are extremely late in your advice, however. We’ve already been given this advice by those inside (and outside) Evangelicalism. Specifically inside, J. P. Moreland advised cultural engagement in his book “Love Your God With All Your Mind.” Mark Noll did the same in his book “The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind.” And I did it in my book “The Beauty of the Faith: Using Aesthetics for Christian Apologetics.” And of course Francis Schaeffer did it back in the 60s and 70s and C. S. Lewis modeled it both in his writings and his life.
To address your point about losing our young people to more “reasonable” positions, you are quite mistaken. The reason we often lose young people when they go off to
College is not because they finally realize how to reason, but because we didn’t teach them how to reason in the first place! If they knew how to reason, they would learn how reasonable their Christian faith is, and how unreasonable opposing worldviews are. (See William Lane Craig’s book “Reasonable Faith,” Kelly James Clark’s “Philosophers Who Believe,” and Tom Morris’s “God and the Philosophers, and also C. Stephen Evans’s “The Historical Christ and the Jesus of Faith.” If you’re up for it, see also Alvin Plantinga’s “Warranted Christian Belief.” I could go on and on.) C. S. Lewis said the person who led him closest to Christ was his atheist tutor when he was an early teenager, because this guy taught him how to THINK.
And, by the way, we are not losing people. We are gaining. I don’t have the statistical data, but I think it’s safe to say evangelicalism is growing; that’s why everyone on the left hates it and points it out all the time. It’s a force to be reckoned with.
Finally, you misrepresent my position on the battle against Satan being in the mind. I said it’s “primarily” in the mind against things like temptation, but if you read the original article closely, you’ll see that I also say that when godless ideas seize the masses, then the battle must be taken to the culture as well. Not with force, of course, but with political activism, educational reform, etc. This is how the left stole the culture in the first place. I hope this helps address your comments. Thanks for reading.
I know that we are at war- but it seems like many are unaware or willing to even hear. At times my heart breaks but God is able. May God open our eyes to see Him and know the seasons.
Well said, Thelma. Keep praying for God’s people (including you and me) to see and hear! And pray for many to be saved. We are only responsible for our own thoughts, words, and actions. We can’t control what others do. I have to be faithful to speak the truth in love, to work hard, to pray hard, and then trust that God will work things out according to His perfect plan.
I thank you for this post because it hits home with me in many ways. I always said I wanted to be a part of something greater than myself and by the grace of God I get to do that at times. Every time I hear about spiritual warfare I am reminded that I am a warrior for God and not like the definition the world has. I am a warrior that does what I do because of what Christ did for me. I do what I do for those who do not do for themselves because they live in bondage and as slaves believing the lies they are told and deceived by. I do not show up in armor seen by mankind but I give credit to God, every time someone’s life was changed when I was out being a part of God’s work. I have learned sometimes I have to persist and keep driving on only motivated by knowing I was a part of something greater than myself.
Good word, Kevin. The hard part, I suspect, is living it out for decades, if God allows you to live that long. I am relatively young, and I only hope and pray I can wage war for a lifetime. I know I can only do this through relying on God’s supernatural strength each day.