Spiritual Warfare II

Before we get too far, let me assure you that I am not one of those people who think that Christians should stay out of politics.  More to the point, I think that Christians, like other citizens, ought to exercise their right and obligation to vote.   


Now, I know, some of you are already thinking "what does this have to do with spiritual warfare?" Well, stay with me for a minute.


While politics have been an extremely polarizing subject in this country for years, we seem to be at a new high (or depending on how you look at it, a new low) since the 2008 election.  Love him or hate him, President Obama seems to be a figure who provokes a strong emotional response.  And, to be fair, it is probably also true that we live in a pivotal time -- our values, beliefs and priorities as a nation are changing. 


The national debate about our values, beliefs and priorities has at times gotten ugly, and all too often "Christians" have been in the midst of that ugliness.  It seems to me that it is hard to truly show the love of Jesus when your are slinging mud.  But, again to be fair, I think Christians have been both vocal and emotional because of the understandable frustration with a country that is surely drifting away from the Christian principles on which it was founded.


I do think that as Christians we need to put politics into perspective.  I think it is a mistake to put too much faith in the political process or in the potential for any one man or woman to effect meaningful change in our lives.  


If you are now scratching your head, ask yourself this:  What would have a bigger impact on this country?  (1) If every candidate on your dream ballot won; or (2) if true revival swept through America -- if the country suddenly decided to turn its face back to God?


We might also ask ourselves what all of our hand wringing and debate about the next election has accomplished?  If you voted in the 2008 election, you got one vote of the approximately 132,600,000 votes that were cast that day.  In the next election you will still only get one vote. 


Again, I firmly believe that we all ought to vote and that the next election is an important one.  I also think that as a general matter we should assess candidates through the lens of a Christian worldview.  That is, we should be asking ourselves which candidates, if any, support policies and views that are most consistent with "Christian values."  But I also believe that the real battle is not being fought in the voting booth, it is being fought in the prayer closet.


Maybe the time we spend debating about the next election would be better spent praying for our current leaders, praying for our country, praying for the nations and praying for God's will in our lives.  Maybe we should be praying for God to give us wisdom and discernment before we cast our votes in the next elections, and that He would raise up leaders in this country who are men and women after God's heart.  Maybe we should spend our time praying that our nation would turn its eyes back to Christ.


I just don't think that the ballot box, or the political system, or the candidates are the answer to the problem.  The reason is simple: at the end of the day the struggle is a spiritual one.






^"10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. ¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ¹³Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. ¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵ and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶ In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷ Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. ¹⁸ And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints."   


Ephesians 6:10 - 18.

Spiritual Warfare

First, I just want to say thanks again for your support -- particularly for your prayers -- over the past couple of months. It has been a difficult time and, unfortunately for our extended family, the challenges continue.

In times like these it is natural for us, at least temporarily, to give more serious thought to things like our mortality, our priorities, and our legacy. It is sobering to think that some day each of our lives will likely be summarized in a relatively brief eulogy and perhaps a slide show of photographs from some of our more meaningful, or at least pleasant, moments on the earth.

Perhaps it is because this is the current subject of our Wednesday night class, but as I have thought through some of these issues in my own life it has occurred to me how each relates to "spiritual warfare." In his second letter to Timothy, Paul writes: "For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing." 2 Timothy 4:6-8 (KJV)

The fight that Paul talks about, of course, is not a physical one -- although Paul certainly had his share of unwanted physical altercations! Paul's real fight, and the one we all really face, is spiritual. For this reason, we are told to "[p]ut on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." Ephesians 6:11-12 (KJV)

As Christians, our legacy depends on how we fight this fight. And fighting the good fight largely comes down to our priorities.

During his "Christian phase," Bob Dylan (yes, that Bob Dylan -- guitar poet, voice of a generation, hippie guru) said in one of his songs (the title escapes me) "you either got faith or you got unbelief, there ain't no neutral ground". I totally agree that is true about faith -- you either have it or you don't -- and I believe it is largely true about our priorities. How we use our time, our gifts and our resources either serves God or it serves the enemy. I just don't see a lot of neutral ground there.

In this sense, the spiritual battle is inward.  It is about understanding who God is and what he desires for our lives.  It is about preparing ourselves for the fight daily through prayer and the study of His word.  It is about putting our study and meditation into action -- doing our best to live a Godly life and not a worldly life.

And, a big part of that inward battle is understanding that the enemy has so many weapons at his disposal.  Even the most innocuous of things -- television, an interest in sports, computers, or an interest in politics -- can be used to distract us, to mislead us and, ultimately, to destroy us.  It is not that any of these things, or the countless other things that the enemy uses, are inherently evil.  Just as our fight is not against flesh, it is not against television, sports, computers or politics.  It is against the dark forces that can use those things to do us spiritual, and sometimes physical, harm.

I am certainly not suggesting that we should give up any of these things.  I am just saying that God needs to come first.  Let's prepare ourselves for the fight, and not let the enemy use these "things" to take our focus off of the real prize.

Of Pastors and Teachers

We recently had a consultant speak to our executive staff about ways to manage church growth. This man had a number of interesting and helpful ideas and observations. He also had one idea, though, that did not sit particularly well with me. More importantly, this idea did not sit particularly well with Pastor Dan.

The consultant observed, correctly, that as the church grew PD could not spend the kind of personal time with our partners on an individual basis as he had in the past. Common sense tells you that is true. He then observed that PD will have to prioritize his time differently, which common sense also tells you is true.

And here is where the train fell off the tracks for me. The consultant suggested that the areas PD should leave to others included weddings, funerals and hospital visits.
This suggestion immediately reminded me of a story I had heard some time ago about a pastor from another church who announced to his congregation one Sunday that they should hope to never see him in their hospital room. This pastor said if anyone ever saw him in their hospital room it meant that they were dying, because he did not have time to make hospital visits for anything less serious.

This particular pastor is by no means alone. I have heard many pastors express the same attitude. In fact, I am afraid that there are many pastors out there who think that when their congregation becomes big enough that they can no longer personally do weddings, funerals and hospital visits it is a good thing -- it means they have arrived.

As an executive staff we have recognized for a long time that as Heartland Church grows Pastor Dan will not personally be able to make every hospital visit or officiate over every wedding or funeral. He cannot even do that now. So, we have prepared for that reality by spreading those responsibilities among all of our pastors.

The difference, though, is that instead of feeling a sense of freedom from being relieved of some of this responsibility Pastor Dan is pained by the thought. Why? Because PD truly has a pastor's heart. He wants to be there to celebrate the most important events in our partners' lives. He wants to be there when our partners get married and when their children are born. He wants to be there in their moments of crisis. He wants to be there when our partners are sick and in need of prayer or to bring comfort to grieving families who have seen loved ones go home to be with the Lord.

From what I can gather, Jesus spoke to some pretty large crowds. And maybe I missed it, but I just don't remember reading anywhere of Jesus telling any of these crowds that he no longer had time to minister to them individually, and that if they had any questions or needed prayer and healing they should see one of the twelve.

What I do remember is that after He gave His sermon on the mount large crowds followed Him. And yet, when a man with leprosy emerged from the crowd Jesus not only spoke with that man but healed him. I remember reading about disciples being surprised that Jesus would take the time to minister to a Samaritan woman at Jacob's well. I remember Jesus washing the feet of His disciples shortly before going to the cross.

I am not at all suggesting that pastors of very large congregations take on impossible burdens. There are obviously practical limitations on what one person can do. At the same time, I believe there are very real dangers when even the most "successful" pastors remove themselves from the flocks they serve.

First, there is the very real danger that the pastor will lose the ability to relate to the realities of life faced by their congregations. How can you effectively minister to people if you no longer understand their worries, their pains and their frustrations?

Second, success can be a very dangerous thing, and I think the problem is compounded when pastors decide that their time is too important to spend time with the people that God gave them to shepherd. I think the enemy often takes advantage of that situation, and convinces some pastors that their success is, well, their success.

Maybe it's just me, but arrogance in a pastor is just really hard for me to take. Jesus spoke often of the importance of humility and of having a servants' heart. I don't remember Him ever exempting pastors with large congregations from these critical virtues.

I apologize. This has become somewhat of a rant. But it is a subject that has been on my heart of late and it's one of the important reasons why I choose to worship at Heartland Church.  I hope you value your pastor's heart.




<sup>Luke 14:7-11


7</sup> When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: ⁸ “When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. ⁹ If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this man your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. ¹⁰ But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all your fellow guests. ¹¹ For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”