“A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free…” – John Stuart Mill
Philosophical Side Note: As a beginning statement to this post, I would like to point out that John Stuart Mill did not intend this quote to have the meaning in which I am about to use it. The Utilitarian mindset, while being communally based, does not have the same focal point as Christianity. The communal aspect of Utilitarianism is based in the notion that we follow the desires of the community to increase pleasure for all people, not necessarily permitting the morally correct action (in “Christian” terms). Christianity disagrees with Utilitarianism on the basis that certain actions which mankind has an obligation morally to carry out, will not always provide pleasure to the individual (or community), but we are responsible for executing these actions simply because they are morally correct (Immanuel Kant/Kantianism).
The concept of using warfare or battle to protect and further a certain set of ideals have been installed in human behavior since the beginning of history (post-fall). Man, when possessing the notion that he has discovered a universal truth or ideology, will defend that set of beliefs with all the power and might he can possibly muster up. These views are held so strongly that certain individuals will risk, and ultimately lose, their lives in order to progress these unalienable truths forward to reach as many people as possible. This concept of defending truths is not intrinsic only to Christianity, but it is laden throughout history as a basic human nature for defending what is believed to be true and honorable. However, the Bible presents fighting and warfare in such a manner that is foreign to many nations and civilizations.
The Bible, while being filled with numerous amounts of valiant kings, soldiers, and warriors, does not only address fighting from a purely war-based mindset in the manner that mankind views war. The war of the Bible is a war based in the spiritual realm, it is a war with its origins found in God in Heaven, and only one theater of this war is found on the Earth, as we know it. This war is unlike any war mankind has or ever will face, and there is only one Victor that has been decided before the bounds of time ever fell upon us. This war includes servants, missionaries, martyrs, and those willing to stake their lives in Christ in order to see his glorious victory in the hearts of those willing to surrender. Those who are willing to surrender, according to God’s unending grace, are called to live a life worthy of His Gospel, and in turn lay down our lives for Him.
“By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.” -1 John 3: 16-18
In order for there to be progress, of any kind, in the war which plagues Christ-followers, we must surrender our entire lives to the one who gave His life to save us from the beginning. Without Jesus Christ, we would have no war to fight, we would be mindless, soulless, moral-less animals wandering this earth aimlessly, living out our meaningless existence in hopeless abandon, slowly waiting for death. Alas, we have a God, who loved us so much, that he defined love for us by dying on the cross, in the most excruciating manner, obliterating Death in this war, and giving all of His disciples our commandment as our faithful leader in this war. As soldiers, we now have a “Call to Arms” from Christ himself, to put on the Armor of God (Ephesians 6), fight the good fight (1 Timothy 6: 12), and to ultimately allow Christ to be our shield (Psalm 5:12) in order to extend His truth to the ends of the earth. We are called to be fearless followers of the Lamb, who sacrificed himself on the altar for atonement of all sins, and exert all our efforts to surrendering our lives to Him in order that He may work through us to reach all peoples and people-groups.
The failure of Christians, since the death and resurrection of Christ, is that we fail to surrender our fleshly desires, and we, therefore, do not allow Christ to abide in us. Christ, throughout his three-year ministry, presented His followers with every possible doctrine and truth that we would ever need to fight the war in a manner pleasing to Him. We, in turn, attempt to fight the battles in our own manner, and defeat our demons while excluding the Creator of the demons himself. Christ called us to love unselfishly, live for Him, and allow Him to live within us, causing us to do greater things on earth than even He did, through the working of the Holy Spirit (John 14). The ONLY way we can achieve success in our war to spread truth and defend our hearts and salvation, is to allow the one whom IS TRUTH and who created our hearts to dwell within us, and provide the salvation we so desperately long for.
A CODE TO LIVE BY: The Athenian Army, at the height of its power, enforced a code to fight by for the soldiers within its ranks. The desire was to instill in the minds of the soldiers that they were to fight at all costs to protect the City and the glory within it. For emphasis of my point, I am modifying the original to Code of Arms by replacing the term “City,” which is in the original transcript, with “Christ” because I believe this to be the Code of Arms for believers:
We will never bring disgrace on CHRIST by an act of dishonesty or cowardice.
We will fight for the ideals and Sacred Things of CHRIST both alone and with many.
We will revere and obey CHRIST’S laws, and will do our best
to incite a like reverence and respect in those above us
who are prone to annul them or set them at naught.
We will strive increasingly to quicken the FOLLOWERS OF CHRIST’S sense of duty to
THE GOSPEL.
Thus in all these ways we will transmit this CHRIST, not only not less,
but greater and more beautiful than it was transmitted to us.
Martin Luther claimed, “Faith is a living, daring confidence in God's grace, so sure and certain that a man could stake his life on it a thousand times.” We are called to have the mindset of the Athenian soldiers in our daily lives for Christ. We are called to be willing to stake our lives on the truth of the Gospel as many times as necessary to further His truth, and allow him to work in us. We must fight as a community of believers, defending truth at all costs, not fearing death or destruction, but trusting that Christ is within us and in control of all things. He will not allow you to fall away from Him if you are truly following after Him (John 10), but instead He will encourage you in Love and Truth, allowing you to complete on earth what He has already begun.
Christ loved us enough to descend from His Heavenly throne, take on the flesh of man, spend His entire life preparing and teaching his disciples, sentence Himself to mockery and ridicule, allow himself to be brutally murdered at the hands of His own people, allow himself to be buried, and three days after his excruciating murder, defeat Death and rise from the grave, granting salvation to all those who believe in Him. The war can only be fought and won by Christ, without Christ we are unarmed on the battlefield, awaiting death. Yet, with Christ, we become one well-armed, well-protected body of believers capable of incredible things through His power, and His power alone. Trust in His plan, fight His war, using His power and protection. Lean not on your own understanding and power, but delighting in His truth and Grace.
“But you, O LORD, are a shield about me,
my glory, and the lifter of my head.” – Psalms 3:3
God Bless,
Trip Starkey
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