The Church at War
Friendly Fire
The bible tells us that the church is also the army of God. Ephesians 6:11 “ Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.” We are warring against the devil and his schemes. The armor as described in Ephesians 6:13-18 is what we need in order to be victorious in this battle.
Each part of the armor plays an important role. Some parts represent knowledge, some protection, some for offence. Without the helmet of salvation, none of the other parts of the armor come into play. We have first to be saved and receive the Holy Spirit for the armor of God to operate. In this spiritual battle we must rely on the Holy Spirit for wisdom and guidance
The bible tells us that there will be wheat and tares growing side-by-side. It is not our job to separate the wheat from the tares even though we can determine who is following the Holy Spirit by their actions. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth. If someone is turned away to fables and false conspiracy theories they are not following the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit knows all things and therefore will not believe a lie. When we listen to Him, we will not believe lies.
In war there is something called “friendly fire”. This is when someone in the same army causes harm to another. We must not engage in “friendly fire”. It is not ok to be a stumbling block to another born-again believer. We are fighting on the same side against the same enemy. I have found that the solution to most of the world’s and the church’s problems is love. No wonder Jesus taught so much about loving each other. Love is self-sacrificial; love deals fairly with others; love rejoices when others are triumphant. Without love the church will not be able to work cohesively to fulfill its mission.
The bible tells us that no matter what great spiritual feats we are able to perform, if we do not have love, it does not profit us (1 Corinthians 13:1-7). This love is already in us in the form of the Holy Spirit, all we have to do is let Him show us how to love.