All Dressed Up with Nowhere to Go
Posted in Nick's Posts, Witnessing 2 comments
Ephesians 6:14-17:
“Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God.”
This is the full armor of God that we are called to wear as Christians. But what I have to ask is this: after you have put on all of this armor, where do you go? Where is the battle? Nobody is shooting at us and we aren’t really being persecuted (in America anyways). You have your shield, so what are you going to defend against? You have your sword, so who or what are you going to attack?
Satan’s one and only weapon is deception, and this is how he is using that weapon in our generation. There is no clear enemy. Where are the oppressors who are driving us toward the Red Sea? Where are the powerful people occupying our land?
Satan has created a culture of acceptance, tolerance, and live and let live. These are all certainly good things, but like most other things, it can be taken too far. Consider the song “Imagine” by John Lennon, a very powerful, classic song that heralds these principles. Have you ever listened carefully to the lyrics though? Consider the first two stanzas:
Imagine there's no Heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace
Lennon is telling us that if there were no Heaven and hell and if there were no religion, our problems would be solved. Everyone could live for today (see my last two posts for the problem with that). And the way the song is presented, it makes it seem as if anyone who disagrees with him is a peace-hater.
It may seem extreme, but I’d be willing to go so far as to say that these ideas are our enemy (among others). Our culture has set up tolerance to mean the same thing as peace. We are asked to tolerate all manner of sins. As Christians, we’re getting confused. Since tolerance is associated with peace and is considered a good trait, we think we’re not being Christ-like if we don’t tolerate sin. But remember! Jesus forgave sin, but he did not tolerate it. He would never tolerate it. And he certainly would not tolerate a lie against God and the Kingdom of Heaven (such as the lie in the song).
Another area we’re getting confused is in the area of witnessing to others about Christ. Since our culture is sending the message that tolerance and peace go hand in hand, if we bring up the subject of Jesus, most of us feel like the response will be, “Hey, you need to respect the fact that we’re different and you need to tolerate those differences.” A very small number of people would respond this way, but the vast majority of people we come in contact with would not, especially if we’re following Christ’s lead by showing love first and then speaking. In the end, everyone needs to come to know Christ. Satan knows this, and so it is a battleground. Satan fuels our fears to keep us silent. ALL Christians are called to witness, though, as we see in Matthew 5:14-16, “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”
Don’t allow yourself to be fooled. There IS war going on and we DO need to USE our armor.
Ephesians 6:12
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the Heavenly realms.”
“Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God.”
This is the full armor of God that we are called to wear as Christians. But what I have to ask is this: after you have put on all of this armor, where do you go? Where is the battle? Nobody is shooting at us and we aren’t really being persecuted (in America anyways). You have your shield, so what are you going to defend against? You have your sword, so who or what are you going to attack?
Satan’s one and only weapon is deception, and this is how he is using that weapon in our generation. There is no clear enemy. Where are the oppressors who are driving us toward the Red Sea? Where are the powerful people occupying our land?
Satan has created a culture of acceptance, tolerance, and live and let live. These are all certainly good things, but like most other things, it can be taken too far. Consider the song “Imagine” by John Lennon, a very powerful, classic song that heralds these principles. Have you ever listened carefully to the lyrics though? Consider the first two stanzas:
Imagine there's no Heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace
Lennon is telling us that if there were no Heaven and hell and if there were no religion, our problems would be solved. Everyone could live for today (see my last two posts for the problem with that). And the way the song is presented, it makes it seem as if anyone who disagrees with him is a peace-hater.
It may seem extreme, but I’d be willing to go so far as to say that these ideas are our enemy (among others). Our culture has set up tolerance to mean the same thing as peace. We are asked to tolerate all manner of sins. As Christians, we’re getting confused. Since tolerance is associated with peace and is considered a good trait, we think we’re not being Christ-like if we don’t tolerate sin. But remember! Jesus forgave sin, but he did not tolerate it. He would never tolerate it. And he certainly would not tolerate a lie against God and the Kingdom of Heaven (such as the lie in the song).
Another area we’re getting confused is in the area of witnessing to others about Christ. Since our culture is sending the message that tolerance and peace go hand in hand, if we bring up the subject of Jesus, most of us feel like the response will be, “Hey, you need to respect the fact that we’re different and you need to tolerate those differences.” A very small number of people would respond this way, but the vast majority of people we come in contact with would not, especially if we’re following Christ’s lead by showing love first and then speaking. In the end, everyone needs to come to know Christ. Satan knows this, and so it is a battleground. Satan fuels our fears to keep us silent. ALL Christians are called to witness, though, as we see in Matthew 5:14-16, “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”
Don’t allow yourself to be fooled. There IS war going on and we DO need to USE our armor.
Ephesians 6:12
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the Heavenly realms.”
2 comments:
Great message!
Amen...and amen! If we call ourselves Christ followers, we ARE in a war, plain and simple. And it is much better fought if we are clothed properly and know who our enemy is!
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