The Urgency of Christian Warfare
Throughout the passing decades of the
last half-century the church has, quite ironically, battled itself as much or
more than it has battled the world.
Frequently, rather than engaging
the world and confronting the world,
the church has instead often taken up arms against itself! Strong opinions about a variety of issues
have led to deep divisions, animosity, and even church splits. This effectual “turning against one another”
has been cause for Satan to break out the celebratory champagne.
Paul wrote to the Ephesian church in
6:12 “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against
principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this age,
against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Petty battles
albeit defending deeply held convictions may have felt like spiritual warfare
to those involved, but frequently these engagements have served to drain the
church of its spiritual, emotional, and physical energy and sometimes it’s
monetary resources. Not to mention,
caused many pastors sleepless nights.
And it has certainly been cause for delight to the enemy of our
souls. Quite simply, believers in recent
decades in particular, have struggled to identify the real enemy and the real battlefield
worthy of their attention.
Much of the language found in the New
Testament is of a militant nature.
Believers are often referenced as soldiers. Warfare is a common overarching theme and
words like battle, fight, and defeat are regularly used. The real enemy is Satan and this worldly,
fleshly system he superintends.
Believers are called to be warriors
in this conflict– not spectators.
Further they are expected to properly identify the true enemy and his tactics.
A warrior is “A brave or experienced soldier or fighter.” It takes skill, resolve, and determination to
defeat any enemy. Our opponent is formidable
and should never be taken lightly by the church of the Lord Jesus.
Sabine
Baring-Gould wrote the great hymn “Onward Christian Soldiers” in 1865. (Follow this link to listen to hymn: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mG78M7g9wRo ) The hymn has served as something of
a “call to arms” for Christians engaged in the battle for Christ in this
world. Debates raged in the 1980s among
some denominations as to whether to even include this hymn in new editions of
hymnals citing the violent language and militaristic tone.
When Winston Churchill and Franklin
Roosevelt met in August 1941 on the battleship HMS Prince of Wales
to agree on the Atlantic Charter, a church service was held for which Churchill
chose the hymns. He chose "Onward, Christian Soldiers" and afterwards
made a radio broadcast explaining this choice.
He said “We sang ‘Onward, Christian Soldiers’ indeed, and I felt that
this was no vain presumption, but that we had the right to feel that we were serving
a cause for the sake of which a trumpet has sounded from on high. When I looked
upon that densely packed congregation of fighting men of the same language, of
the same faith, of the same fundamental laws, of the same ideals . . . it swept
across me that here was the only hope, but also the sure hope, of saving the
world from measureless degradation.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onward,_Christian_Soldiers) While
this may have been highly appropriate for this occasion, the ultimate cause of
freedom and of nations is not as great as the cause of Christ. Churchill and Roosevelt were primarily
concerned with earthly battles and earthly victories, but Christians have a
much greater cause for which to fight.
Warfare is never as glamorous as some
romanticized depictions present. Paul
wrote to Timothy in 2 Tim. 2:3 “You therefore must endure hardship as a good
soldier of Jesus Christ.” A soldier’s
life is far from easy. There are
certainly plenty of hardships, but Paul admonished Timothy that he must endure. Unfortunately, to look at the attitude and
approach of many professing believers, one might easily get the impression the
war had long since ended. Charles Thomas
“C. T.” Studd (1860-1931) the great British cricketer and missionary who served
in the Belgian Congo captured somewhat of the urgency when he famously wrote
“Some want to live within the sound of a church or chapel bell; I want to run a
rescue shop within a yard of hell.”
Studd also wrote a ditty that gave, rather tongue and cheek, a depiction
of how some so casually approached the great daily battles. With words meant to be sung to the tune of
the famous hymn “Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus,” he wrote “Get up, get up for
Jesus, ye soldiers of the Cross, a lazy Sunday morning surely means harm and
loss; the Church of God is calling; in duty be not slack; you cannot fight the
good fight while lying on your back.”
Many Christians today have lost sight
of who the real enemy is and are not keenly aware of what he is actually
doing. The second stanza of “Onward
Christian Soldiers” optimistically states “We are not divided; all one body we;
one in hope and doctrine, one in charity.”
Sadly, we could only wish those words were true in our times. We are deeply divided across denominations,
within our own denomination, and even many times within our own local
churches. An army battling within its
own ranks is music to the ears of the enemy.
While many argue over issues, preferences and other minutia that will
not even exist in a few years, the enemy is advancing and the church is often
in retreat. Before we are going to be
effective soldiers we must first realize there is a war raging and too many believers
are not carrying out their assignments.
In Christ,
Dr. Allen Raynor,
Pastor
