Spiritual Warfare

Aug 3, 2005

Did the title of the post grab your attention? I’ll bet it did (obviously—you are still reading aren’t you?)

America is obsessed with the spiritual. (Did you see the craze about the new Harry Potter book?) It blows my mind when I ask an unchurched person to come to church and their excuse is that they are not interested in spiritual matters. I always know that the person who responds in that manner is lying. Don’t take my word for it—books that deal with spiritual issues ALWAYS top the New York Times best sellers list.

In spite of all of this it seems that the church has not been able to grab the attention of a world without Christ. Why—because many times we do not focus on the spiritual—we would rather stage a boycott of Disney World or fight over whether or not our children should attend public schools…you know…things that REALLY matter in regards to the kingdom. However, in doing this we miss an opportunity to engage people at their deepest level—their spiritual level.

And then there is another problem…when you talk about spiritual warfare their are often two responses. The first response usually being that people become obsessed with the subject, begin to see a demon behind every tree, and rebuke everything from stray cats to stop lights…and the other response is that people claim that teaching on spiritual warfare does not belong in the church but rather in fairy tales and movie scripts. (For those of you who are C.S. Lewis fans…you will recognize his influence here.)

I had to wrestle with this subject myself. In doing so I did not seek to read books on the subject or go to countless conferences…I simply read the Bible, especially focusing on the Gospels, to figure out what I believed about the subject. I have a few thoughts…

#1 - Spiritual Warfare Is Real - There is no getting around this from a Biblical perspective. Study the Gospels and see for yourself—Jesus encountered an incredible amount of resistance from spiritual and physical forces (that were influenced by the spiritual.) You see warfare in other places as well.

#2 - Angels, Demons, and the Devil Are Real - Now most of Americans have no problem believing in angels; in fact, many of us are obsessed with them. However, I believe we have the wrong perception about them. Let me explain…

We have these little pictures of statues of angels in our homes…and they are usually small, chubby creatures wearing a toga and playing a harp. My question is, “Where in the world did this idea develop?” In reading through the Bible I see over and over that every time an angel appeared to someone they always had to say something like, “Do not be afraid!” In other words, “I am sorry you just messed your pants…but listen, I have a message…” Angels are powerful and often people were even so in awe of them that they would try to worship them.

And demons—they are not just in Hollywood—they are real. There is debate on their activity and their abilities…and I will not get into that here…but I will say that they have influence over our society…if you don’t believe me just watch the news.

#3 - God and satan ARE NOT EQUALS - Many people imagine God and the devil as two prize fighters going back and forth, getting in good punches on each other…and that one day God will get in a good sucker punch and finally win this epic battle.

Uh, nope!

According to Scripture…God created satan…satan can’t do a thing without God’s permission…and God will ultimately destroy him and all of his work!

#4 - We Should NEVER focus on the size of the enemy—But rather the size of our God! All too often Christians will cower in the face of the enemy. Don’t get me wrong—the devil is powerful…but he’s nothing compared to how HUGE God is. In times of fear or frustration I have learned to focus on how big God is…and I have found that in doing so I am released from fear.

In the words of the famous theologian Forest Gump, “That’s all I’ve got to say about that.” See you Sunday…and oh yeah, if you like ice cream then sit close to the front!