Articles
The Challenge that Confronts Us
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We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. (Eph. 6:12)
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If you pay any attention to the news these days, you're probably gloomy about the future.
The rates of murder and other violent crimes are soaring in our major cities. Activists are aggressively pushing sexual perversity on our children--and those who protest are labeled as haters. The flames of racial animosity are being stoked by radicals who profit from the chaos that ensues. Our politics is all but broken, with our national leaders shamelessly reveling in the graft and corruption that threatens the integrity of our government--and the media mostly looks the other way. In Canada, church buildings are being burned to the ground; is that coming here, too? Our very way of life seems to be disintegrating before our eyes.
In such an environment, it's easy to become depressed. Those of a more assertive nature may be tempted to strike back against the forces that are tearing our nation apart. Surely, God's people cannot stand by and allow evil to triumph!
But in this text, Paul reminds us of the greater narrative that is playing out in the background. Our struggle is not "against flesh and blood"--that is, it's not a physical battle that can be won using brute force against the people involved. Rather, our struggle is against the "spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places." Those spiritual powers are the real enemy. The people around us who embody evil are merely pawns in a much larger war of cosmic proportions.
In practical terms, this means that waging political campaigns, boycotts, or media blitzes against our enemies is largely ineffective. Physical retaliation is absolutely out of the question. If this is a spiritual battle, it can only be won using spiritual weapons.
But what does that warfare look like? Throughout the book of Ephesians, Paul provides a battle plan. It starts with each one of us personally. Before we can be agents of peace in the world, we must make our own peace with God through His Son (2:11-22). That requires a transformation, not just of allegiance, but of our deepest intentions (4:17-25). That change of heart will spark a change of life, a life devoted to integrity, kindness, purity, and gratitude (4:26 - 5:21). That new life will, in turn, gradually penetrate all our relationships, beginning with our families (5:22 - 6:4) and our work (6:5-8). Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, hope, prayer (6:10-20)--these are the weapons that can have the greatest impact in turning the tide against the armies of Satan.
The challenge that confronts us in these trying times is to keep our focus on the real enemy and not get distracted by all the noise around us. The Lord will ultimately win this battle; our task is to model His character in a world that does not know Him.
--David
