Spiritual Warfare, Part 1
StreetWise - February 2014 by Paul Hazelden
Dear friends,
We are constantly encouraging people
to follow Jesus - not just to believe in
Him, but to do what He says and to join
in with what He is doing.
But as soon as you start to follow Jesus in practical ways,
things start to go wrong, and other people (often Christians!)
start to criticise and attack you. In theological terms: you
cannot be involved in Christian ministry without some practical
theology of spiritual warfare.
The Bible's teaching on this subject is
simple, clear and consistent; but
somehow the church tends to approach
spiritual warfare in one of two common
ways, both of which are wrong and very
dangerous.
The first error is Practical Atheism: we
believe in God, but we don't expect Him
to do anything. This is never taught as
such, but is expressed in our policies
and procedures, in our Codes of Good
Practice and Principles of Governance.
The trouble is that it all looks like
common sense: you don't commit to
anything you can't deliver, you don't
promise to buy anything you can't
afford. One one level, it is true, but it is
only a half-truth.
We should not ditch common sense, but
we can't be ruled by it. As Christians,
we are called to do the impossible. If we
can achieve our goal without divine
intervention, then we don't need God.
Of course, we say we need Him, we
pray that He will guide and empower us;
but if He does not turn up, we still have
our check-lists and chequebooks to fall
back on.
The second error is Magic: we believe
that God performs miracles, so we want
to make sure that He does the right
miracles, at the right time. This is
taught, and taught in many places, even
if the word 'magic' is never used.
Much of the teaching involved is true,
but again, it is only a half-truth. You are
taught it is God's will that you are
happy, healthy and successful; you are
never taught to ask if those really are
His top priorities for your life. You are
taught that God wants to answer your
prayer, and you are taught He will do so
if you can achieve some combination of
fervent prayer, holy life, deep faith, and
obedience to my (God-given) authority.
We don't believe that either of these
paths communicates God's character or
teaching. As for what the Bible actually
says on the subject... that will have to
wait for the next StreetWise.