War analogies can go too far. However great the rivalry between the righteous Packers and the minions of Halas called the Bears, it is not the equivalent of war. Nothing is.
We are in a real battle, but the battle is not against flesh and blood. No human is so depraved he justifies a Christian’s hatred and no nation consists of orcs that we can simply despise. My Dad tells me, with shame, that in our just war against Imperial Japan, it was too common for American propaganda to dehumanize the Japanese.*
Still there is a spiritual war that exists at this very moment. The line between good and evil runs directly through my heart. I battle my own desires to do as I wish and not as I ought, but we have it on good authority that there is more to it. We face an enemy that is spiritual, principalities and powers, siding with the tyranny of evil and against liberty and justice. I am bad enough, but my evil is petty compared to the infernal Tyrant who would use my folly for his ends.
Simple minded people wish to be “spiritual” and engage in all sorts of religious experiments with a guide or training. This is akin to entering a chemical laboratory and messing about without any training. The playful amateur might find something awesome, but more likely will do something awful. Just because God is a spirit and He is good does not mean every spirit is equally trustworthy.
There is one God, but many gods, and these are best avoided. The All Powerful is also All Good and secure enough in this omnipotence to not fear our blunders. The devils are not so nice having all the insecurity, paranoia, and worries of the petty tyrants they are. They will take pyrrhic victories when we let them have them since those are the only victories they can get.
And so we face a civil war within and a war without against justice, excellence, and human flourishing.
And yet God would encourage us. The war is not only winnable, but is won. The battle can be our own or we can give it to God and God never loses even when He appears to do so! He is no petty tyrant seeking empty victories while forgetting the war aims. He never destroys a human to save him, but brought great pain on Himself to save any of us who wish to be saved.
The aim of the war is the liberation of humanity from internal evils and external temptation into perfect liberty of spirit and joy. We need be oppressed by no tyrant.
The faithless sits and brews over his enemies. He becomes known for what he is against and sees foes in every corner. He becomes tyrannical over what he thinks he can control to make up for a sense that he is losing control. He is haggard with fear, doubt, and worry. In the end, he becomes what he hates because hatred has conquered love in his heart.
God, help me, for the roots of this fear are deep in every person.
Instead, God has given us an analogy for the situation. In the words of a great song based on a Biblical story: “An army had arisen against Israel, the Moabites and Ammonites from Edom.” Things looked bad for the people of God as they had no hope in war but “the Spirit of the Lord spoke through His prophet: the battle is not yours but it’s God’s!”**
Think of this truth!
We can stop the losing and see victory because when Jesus broke the power of death at Easter, He won all the warfare to come. We need only appropriate the victory and sing praises to our commander! Does this mean we will never lose again? Yes, the truth is that if we fight in God’s army in His cause, then we can never lose. Our foes can kill us and then we are holy martyrs with special honors in Heaven. Our foes can persecute us and we will bless them. If any human tries to be our enemy, then we will meet them with loving justice. No man is so far gone that he cannot be saved to join the Lord’s victorious army.
We do not need guns for this battle but musicians and artists. We create beauty and the devils and our own ugliness will be chased away and transformed. We can accept short term pains (and pains there will be!)because we have allowed God to appropriate our petty defeats into God’s plan of reclamation and victory. There will be no gratuitous pain because if we give God the battle, all of our losses will be made good in eternity.
I cast out fear with love. I turn my defeat into His victory. I shake off my doubts for His praises. Jesus Christ is victor!
*Let’s not forget that we interned thousands of Japanese citizens during the War. This was wrong. War does not justify wicked means in order to win it.
**I was lucky enough to get to sing this song with the author, the brilliant Bob Sorge. I was not much of a singer, but he was a great friend in a hard part of my life.
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