Spiritual Warfare

A guest post by Mark Windsor. Thank you Mark, for your prayers and support.

“My name is Legion, for we are many.”

We tend to think of spiritual warfare in either grand terms or in Hollywood clichés. On the larger side, we see it as the good versus evil of modern culture war, abortion, defense of marriage, etc. On the cliché side, we get the likes of The Omen or The Exorcism of Emily Rose. These have one significant thing in common – the evil is an abstraction in both cases. It’s at a distance, and in a form we can deal with psychologically.

But there are moments when evil becomes small and exact and free of cliché. It often comes with surprising speed and clarity, unfathomable fear, and leaves great sadness in its wake. It can come in many forms. It might be the whisper of a welcome temptation or the bluntness of a gunshot. It’s at moments like this that evil can be caught in a bright light and seen for what it really is. But we only see it after the fact, after it’s too late. We feel the bullet strike before we hear the shot.

An event like this took place in Julie’s world around 9:00 this morning. A mother, her eight year old son, and four year old daughter, were shot to death in a quiet, unassuming neighborhood of Dallas. But this seemingly random event echoes to my northern suburb, and to wherever you’re sitting right now, reading these words.

Who did it and why are the questions that first spring to mind, and that’s perfectly natural. But a more pertinent question is - “How”? I don’t mean the how of mechanism. The police already know that – it was a series of gunshots. I mean the how of, “how did this happen in such a quiet place?”

It’s senseless to seek the answer in the obvious. This would lead back to cliché and an abstraction of what really happened. “He had a bad childhood.” “His father beat him” “Poverty is the root of all crime.” “He felt a judgment was unfair.” “He was driven to it by the circumstances of his life.” These are the root causes of the politician or those who seek answers in humanism or sociology. They offer us nothing more than the opportunity to turn our backs, walk away, and resume your lives as if nothing had happened.

The how of this ghastly event is far more fundamental to every human being. For our own peace of mind, sometimes for our own psychological well being, we turn away and hide. But this how is really quite simple.

Evil.

It’s all around us. While it’s true that the law of God is written on every human heart, it’s also true that the baseness of evil is always around us. No human being goes from having the law of God written on their hearts to a terrorizing murderer in one simple step. The evil that he became grew within him over time. Maybe his first temptation was to steal a candy bar from the grocery store just because the thought he could get away with it. Undoubtedly it was something small and long ago. For whatever reason, the temptations kept coming and the will lost the capacity to say no, or even to care. From a first temptation as a child, to this last temptation as an adult, it grew and festered and utterly overcame what was written on his heart by the hand of God himself.

People call this random violence. It’s not random. There’s a pattern. We just can’t see it. This is the nature of evil – to start small and lure men ever so slowly to their doom.

How do you fight evil like this? How do you wage spiritual war against an adversary so cruel?

There is an answer, but it is hard to hear and even harder to live. Who knows what difference it might have made to the man that pulled the trigger if, at just the right moment in his life, someone had spoken to him like Matthew 25:40 really meant something.

And the king will say to them in reply, 'Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.'

Matthew 25:40

Take Luke 6:32-38 to heart and live it totally – like your salvation depends on it.

For if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them.

And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do the same.

If you lend money to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit (is) that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, and get back the same amount.

But rather, love your enemies and do good to them, and lend expecting nothing back; then your reward will be great and you will be children of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.

Be merciful, just as (also) your Father is merciful.

"Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven.

Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you."

Luke 6:32-38

This is what Paul meant in Ephesians 6:13-19 – the armor of God isn’t made of Kevlar. Be righteous. Live like righteousness matters. It mattered to Paul. It mattered to Christ.

Therefore, put on the armor of God, that you may be able to resist on the evil day and, having done everything, to hold your ground. So stand fast with your loins girded in truth, clothed with righteousness as a breastplate, and your feet shod in readiness for the gospel of peace.

In all circumstances, hold faith as a shield, to quench all (the) flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. With all prayer and supplication, pray at every opportunity in the Spirit. To that end, be watchful with all perseverance and supplication for all the holy ones and also for me, that speech may be given me to open my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel for which I am an ambassador in chains, so that I may have the courage to speak as I must.

Ephesians 6:13-19

That is, ultimately the answer – Christ and his Word.

Live your life like Matthew 25:40 really means something. I don't know the people who died today, but I have learned a few things about them in the past eight hours. I may be wrong, but I think they would appreciate that as a testament to their lives.

May God have mercy on us all.