I began reading a book a
couple of days ago by Ray Stedman titled Spiritual Warfare: How to Stand
Strong in the Faith. Stedman emphasizes the fact that the enemy never
wants us to see things the way they really are. In other words, he wants
to hide the truth or reality. All around us a war is raging and we are
not acting like soldiers or as even though there was a war in progress!
That needs to change and change fast. We need to be intentional,
determined, and ready to stand up for God’s truth in these last days as a
faithful soldier of Christ our King. Three years ago this summer I wrote
the following weblog about the need for this urgency.
Allen Raynor Weblog: The
Urgency of Christian Warfare
(June 5, 2014)
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
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