You’ve probably heard the expression, “don’t bring a knife to a gunfight”. If you’ve ever watched Indiana Jones in “Raiders of the Lost Ark”, you may recall how that turns out. No matter how appealing our favorite weapon may be, it isn’t always the right choice. It all depends on the nature of the fight.
We are in a war
As followers of Jesus Christ, we are in a battle. Our enemy is not a nation, a culture, or any human being (Ephesians 6:12). Rather, we wage war against the spiritual forces of darkness that hold people in bondage through lies, deceit, and false wisdom.
As with any battle, weapons are required. But which weapons do we choose? And who sets the terms of the fight?
The world’s weapons
The world lays out its weapons of choice. Power. Control. Wealth. Fame. Distortion. Entrapment. Intimidation and threats. Shutting down dialog. Marginalization. Cover-ups. Abuse.
This is perhaps seen most clearly in the way that leaders gain and hold onto power. The world demands that its leaders be aggressive, self-confident, powerful people who command every room they walk into. Just think of who gets chosen as president, CEO, job foreman … and why.
We let the world choose our weapons
But what about those of us who follow Jesus Christ? Which weapons will we choose? Far too often, we let the world dictate the terms of engagement. And so we attempt to wage war using their weapons.
For example, we try to grab power to counter their power. We make caricatures of them since they’re doing it to us. We shout them down, just without their bad language. Deep down we believe whatever they can do, we Christians can do better. We can beat them at their game.
The true nature of the battle
But here’s the two-fold truth. First, this war was never meant to be fought with the weapons of the world. And second, we won’t win the battle if we fight with their weapons.
2 Corinthians 10:3-4 says this: “We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do. We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments.”
Only God’s weapons allow us to win. Weapons such as the Word of God, prayer, faith, humility, obedience, sacrificial giving, turning the other cheek, suffering, loving our enemies, and servant leadership. The world has no answer for these.
Our choice
If this is true, why do we find it so hard to keep using God’s weapons? Because the way the kingdom of God works is often a paradox to us.
How can it be that the last shall be first? That we’re strong when we’re weak? That it’s better to give than to receive? That the prayer of faith really moves mountains? That the greatest must be a servant?
To believe in Jesus Christ is to follow a King whose kingdom is not of this world. In faith, we must embrace the apparent paradoxes of His kingdom and believe that His weapons really are “mighty”. And as we die to self and choose to fight with these powerful, other-worldly weapons, we will participate in and better experience the truth of yet another paradox: that it is in Jesus’ crucifixion that He will draw all people to Himself (John 12:32).
Two continents, one heart 