The Christian Life is War: We Must Stop Playing Church

The Conquering Truth

When you think of the Christian life, do you immediately think of warfare? It’s all throughout scripture. So much of the Old Testament was about battles and soldiers, and armies waging war. And in the New Testament, we’re told that while the warfare continues, it’s a spiritual battle that we are to be fighting. But so often, we want to pretend that the spiritual battle shouldn’t disturb our comfort. We are tempted to prize unity over truth, to desire to compromise so no one gets offended instead of understanding that the way is narrow to eternal life. But even more than that, very often, churches and the Christians that fill them, have very little love for their neighbor, because they would rather have pleasantries than salvation. The other metaphor that gets used a great deal in scripture is of sheep and shepherds. And sheep are not something you think of as mighty. They get hurt easily. They got lost. They have to be looked after. But we’ve taken our favorite parts of these two very different metaphors and instead of being warriors who fight for the righteousness of God, and humble shepherds and sheep who care for those who are hurting and wounded, we stand around polishing our armor while the battle is being lost, and laughing and playing in the sun while wolves are ravaging the flock.

In this episode, we want to issue a wake-up call. If we could, we would reach through the screen and grab you by the shoulders and shake you, as we shouted, “Stop playing church! There are men and women in your midst who are suffering!”. This is for pastors and laymen, for men and women, for the old and the young. For everyone who claims the name of Christ, WAKE UP! As the Apostle Paul commands in Romans 13: “The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light,” and similarly in Ephesians, “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”

This wasn’t an easy episode to record in some ways. Each of us on the panel can look back at grave mistakes we’ve made in the past. At times when we should have spoken but didn’t, when we should have pushed on an issue but instead just gave slight healing. Repentance from a lack of care almost always requires action on our part. These are not light things. The church in America is in dire straits and those who love God must turn from our apathy. Please join us as we discuss these important topics.