The War We’re Waging
Introduction
God’s word is constantly reminding Christians that the sinful world and this sinful world’s systems are continually attempting to encroach upon the mind of the church; we are perpetually reminded of where to orient our eyes as well as what to fix our hearts upon. For instance:
Romans 12:2 “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
John 17:16 “[Jesus’ disciples] are not of the world just as [Jesus is] not of the world.”
2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”
Philippians 3:20 “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ…”
1 John 2:15 “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”
It is evident from these passages alone that being a Christian means we follow a new way and whatever you want to call this new way, we can undisputedly conclude that it is diametric to the world and everything in it, otherwise these passages would be incoherent. The way that we follow is the way of Christ; it is the way of righteousness; it is the way of obedience. Notice, however, where the war is. The war does not exist in the material realm, but rather in the immaterial (Ephesians 6:10-20). We are not fighting against people, per se, but against the ideas that propel them. People are not forced at gunpoint to convert to heretical groups and cults, instead, they are won by cunning arguments, being deceived by the deceitfulness of sin, and being led away from the living God by their evil and unbelieving hearts (Hebrews 3:13). When God says that we are not to love the “things in the world,” therefore, he doesn’t mean you can’t love your home, your job, your children, marital harmony, or that vacation to Italy coming up. These things are all in the world, but this is not what John is pointing us to. After all, the church is “in the world.” The point is, the war we are in is an immaterial war manifesting itself materially - a metaphysical war which is evidenced through physical means - which we are to hate and seek to destroy through the overthrowing power of Christ and his spiritual weapons - spiritual weapons, which, also, manifest themselves through the physicality of life.
The Things of This World
The church, for too long, has neglected this reality and has been too comfortable cozying up to the culture and adopting its ideas. Certainly, Israel took from Egypt (Exodus 12:36), but only their material possessions as God instructed them. They didn’t take their ideology or their worldview, instead they took their gold, goods, and animals. Like them, the church today is to use the things in the world that the Lord has given us for our flourishing and the continual subduing of the world (Genesis 1:28).
When we’re commanded away from loving the things of the world what does this mean? It means that we are to look at everything in the world (all the leavers of power, institutions, ways of thinking, belief systems, varying perspectives, political movements, work models, laws, religions, etc.) and we are to judge with right judgment whether it complies with God’s word or not. If it does not, we are to abhor it and recognize it contrary to the only infallible rule for all of life: Holy Scripture.
What this means practically is that we do just as the Apostles command. John commands the church, saying, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1). Notice what John is saying. “Spirits” are the teachings and influences (both good and bad) that people receive from various teachers. Teachings and influences are immaterial. They are thoughts verbalized. They are worldviews expressed with sound. In another place, Paul instructs us in the same way, saying, “Do not despise prophesies, but test everything” (1 Thessalonians 5:20-21). We are commanded to test what we hear and see from all sources because this is the chief deception that our enemy runs upon God’s people. Just like he tempted Jesus in the desert by making counterfeit blessings, and quoting scripture in deceptive ways, those in the world blinded by his lies do his bidding by doing the exact same thing (Matt. 4).
The church, then, becomes duped by the world to believe its lies because it fails to obey the commands of the Apostles to test everything against the word of God, and only the word of God. Anything, in other words, that is contrary to God's word is fundamentally demonic, and sinful, and should be rebuffed by all Christians everywhere.
Examples of Worldly Practices
These examples are not meant to enrage anyone (although I’m sure that will happen) but they are meant to be examples of how the church has been fooled and lulled into the world's system. These are common practices of Christians in America that are not founded on biblical grounds, they are errors of practice but are nevertheless participated in within the church.
Public/Christian/Private School
Women working outside the home
Psychology
Mental health
No-fault divorce
Using sex as a bargaining chip in marriage
Complementarianism
Egalitarianism
In vitro fertilization (IVF)
Surrogacy
A five-day workweek
Jails and prisons
Short hair on women
Free will
The Pro-Life movement
Bachelor’s and/or Master’s degrees for pastoral ministry
Karma
Sex outside of marriage
Living together before marriage
Dating
Choosing to have no children
Choosing to only have one child
Christian women proclaiming the gospel to their lost husbands
Beauty pageants
Bodybuilding competitions
This is not an exhaustive list, and no doubt many reading this list are going “Is this guy nuts!?” And I understand. However, none of them have biblical justification but are rather inventions of the world, foisted upon the church while she lay on her back waiting for a scratch. For some, there could be a tangential case made for its practice (requiring an MDiv for pastoral ministry for instance) but this is merely a personal (or denominational) implication nowhere prescribed in scripture. Reading the list above may cause a visceral reaction in some, but this is because these practices or ideas have become so deeply ingrained in our lives (and our churches) that we have simply adopted them as legitimate. The church has embraced them because she has refused to test everything against the word of God as she is commended (1 Thessalonians 5:21; Ephesians 5:10; 1 John 4:1).
Conclusion
The sooner the church lives how her Lord has decreed by shunning the world and its practices, the sooner we will realize an overwhelming Christian strength in the world for the Kingdom of God.
In another blog, I’ll go through each of the items listed above and explain why they are unbiblical, as well as why and how the church ought to reject them entirely while adopting faithful practices. It is important to note, that when we talk about these things one may try to argue and posture for their perspective, even defend their positions against the plain understanding of scripture. When this happens it is for precisely this reason – this one is allowing their traditions or the world to dictate how we think, live, and understand the Bible rather than simply reading the Bible and understanding it the way the author intended. Some may say “It’s not that easy to understand the Bible” to which I would respond “No, it is, you’re just allowing the world to complicate things rather than submitting to the Holy Spirit.” The scriptures are not some uncrackable code, but are plain and clear, given to us in love by a good Father who abhors confusion.
