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For our fight is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, and against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:12)

I find a huge variety of responses to the state of the world today, from apparent blissful ignorance to extreme paranoia. My own response is seeing a 180-degree realignment, which is extremely disorientating. But I think I am finding my balance again!

Christians, we are at war!

Israel’s Response to the Hamas Atrocities

The Israelis have been united in their trauma and anguish, but the ‘civilised’ world has been divided. The West has lost its compass as it has simplistically fallen back to leaping to the defence of its designated ‘oppressed’, which in this case is Hamas.

Think back to 9/11. The West got behind the Americans, and many would argue that they were far too gun-happy with their support. But now, the West is so in love with woke ideology coupled with the flood of Islamic immigration that chants, ‘Gas the Jews’; ‘From the river to the sea.’

Western nations have lost their moral and rational compass. The United Nations found it hard to acknowledge that terrorism took place on 7 October, and it took two months to acknowledge the fact that Jewish women had been brutally raped by Hamas.

It is increasingly difficult to separate fact from propaganda in this war, but I am sure that acknowledging the ‘propaganda wars’ is half the battle! I have found Oren Cahanovitc most helpful in this regard.

My interim conclusion to this Israel-Hamas War is that Israel is doing the right thing in its push to eradicate evil in the form of Hamas. And that Christians should:

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem! “May they prosper who love you!
Peace be within your walls, and security within your towers!”
For my brethren and companions’ sake I will say, “Peace be within you!”
For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek your good.
(Psalm 122:6-9, Revised Standard Version)

I believe that at this time of terrible grief and anguish, whatever our theology might say, we should stand with the Jews with all we have, and our most powerful weapon of warfare is prayer.

The Enemy Within (1)

The diabolical acts of Hamas terrorists are a flagrant display of evil. But I see this tragic war of over two months now as a parable for the war on our values, principles and beliefs. In fact, a war on all that we have enjoyed and taken for granted.

I go further: the enemy within has infiltrated and captured every single pillar of our society that has been built on Judeo-Christian values. Above all, the supremacy of the all-powerful God of the Bible has been dethroned, and the god of man has been erected in His place.

We can see the enemy’s fingerprints from the content of children’s books, the academics who are still permitted in universities, the corporate endorsement of ‘yes’ in our recent referendum, and the two-party political system here in Australia without differentiating policies.

The Enemy Within (2)

As well as the enemy taking over our society from within, there is the enemy within every one of us, seeking to render us powerless.

• The argument that says, ‘What can we do? Our voice will never change anything; what will be will be.’
• The ‘fear of men’. We have seen what happens to those who speak up; we rationalise away — ‘I have responsibilities, I need to provide for and care for my family.’
• The ‘urge to fit in, to conform, and to be liked’. Such a powerful force we exert on ourselves to be part of the crowd, and to be a compliant follower.
• An upbringing that has taught us ‘not to be critical of others, always to be accepting of others’ views, and to doubt our own convictions.’
• We value our freedom so much that ‘we can never be seen to be seeking to control or diminish anyone else’s freedom.’
• Echoing back to my first point, ‘we deny it’s ever our responsibility, it’s always someone else’s. Untimely, we say, it’s the government’s responsibility.’

So, before we know it, we have become entrenched in passivity and operate out of a mindset of denial that there is anything wrong. We say, ‘Our culture is still fundamentally the best in the world; I have freedom to live my life, and internally, my foundational values are intact.’

How to Enlist in God’s Army

I will never forget 1975. I moved to my new church family home (where I met my wife and where we got married the following year). In one of the first few weeks of my joining the church, I found myself out the front, singing a Christian chorus I had learnt that summer on a Bible Week in the Lake District, England:

“God’s Got An Army” (through E. Leroy Baker)

Chorus
God’s got an army marching through the land
Deliverance is their song, there’s healing in their hand
There’s everlasting joy and gladness in their heart
And in this army I’ve got a part.

This is the whole purpose for us as followers of Jesus. He wants us to enlist in God’s army. Christian, I am sure you are saved, but are you under his command?

If we are not, how do we enlist? I think the first step is to count the cost, and to discuss the cost with our loved ones. I think we must accept the l possibility that enlistment may cost us our lives, may cost us imprisonment, and certainly will cost us persecution.

Then we must ask God: where does He want us deployed? We most assuredly need to know our calling.

Next, God wants to equip us with weapons of warfare and the armour for defence:

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armour of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Therefore, put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.

In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. (Ephesians 6:10-17)

For most of my Christian life, I have subconsciously thought this was a passage for the future (when the day of evil comes). It’s not. It’s about now! If only I had fully enlisted back in 1975 when I sang my song. It’s not too late with God.

Let me be as blunt as I can (and I pray this gets past the editors). We have let the enemy take so much ground. We have been blinded to his deception. But now I believe that every day, we are to take the battle up to the enemy.

We can’t live our nice Christian lives anymore. Let me put it this way. If the enemy is now brazenly calling for the annihilation of the Jews, doesn’t that remind us of Germany’s past? This time, I don’t believe they will stop at the Jews; they will come for the Christians too.

I am not debating versions of end-times theology. Neither am I singling out any one demonic war cry, such as the calls from the pro-Palestinians. No, I am saying that the diabolical weapons of warfare are to be found everywhere, all marching to the same drum. But so many of us have been deaf to the beat, including me.

Will you sign up with me?

Postscript

Doesn’t all this talk of warfare depress me? Doesn’t all this watching the times and the seasons fill me with fear?

A resounding ‘no’ to both questions! I don’t think I have ever felt better, more inspired and more alive. Yes, what is going on around me and within me is diabolical, but I am on the victor’s side. I am on Jesus’ team!

‘How to enlist in God’s army’ is a huge topic. I hope to come back to it again in future posts as I wrestle with what it means:

So, here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life — your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life — and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for Him.

Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognise what He wants from you, and quickly respond to it.

Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you. (Psalm 12:1-2 MSG)

Finally, a plug for Warwick and Kurt’s latest book Jesus: The Centre of It All! When I read this book, the challenge of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus gives us all abundant, overflowing, and exuberant life.

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Photo by Oană Andrei.