Morning Thought: Tolerance Has Its Price
I saw in a recent IFA email that President Trump was going to change the name of the Department of Defense back to the pre-World War 2 era name of the Department of War. At first, I thought that would sound a little aggressive, but then I began to think about something I had just read concerning Mt 16:18 when Jesus said the gates of hell would not prevail or conquer the Church/Ekklesia. This always felt a little defensive on the part of the church, as if the church is constantly being bombarded with the assaults of the enemy and is in a perpetual defensive mode. Bruce Barton’s commentary states, “These words may be interpreted, in light of other passages on the power of Satan, as Satan’s domain in the offensive against the church. Christ promises that Satan will not defeat the church; instead, his sphere of operation (death) will be defeated.” In other words, rather than a constant state of defense, the body of Christ will be on the offense, destroying the work of Satan in the earth. In the process, the church will not fear destruction, defeat, or death, but will be the conquering force on earth.
How often do Christians stay in a “defensive” mode against the devil, always fearing we are going to be hit at any minute? We are not told to be defensive, but to be sober, alert, watchful, because the devil is roaming around looking for an opportunity to strike. (1 Peter 5:8) Paul told the church of Ephesus to give no opportunity to the devil, referring to unresolved anger. (Eph 4:27) He tells the church of Corinth a similar thing concerning unforgiveness in 2 Cor. 2:10-11. Ephesians 6:10-18 instructs us on how to prepare ourselves so that we are not always on the defensive, but standing firm against Satan’s strategies, thereby taking the sword of the Spirit (the Word of God) and Prayer to advance the Kingdom of God.
According to MWD, the word defensive means “devoted to resisting or preventing aggression or attack.” This is important, but if we are all consumed with defending ourselves from another’s attack, that indicates a constant attitude of fear. We need to be taking the offensive to remove threats, especially ungodly threats against our lives. If we only prepare ourselves for defense, when do we train ourselves for war to advance the Kingdom of God?
While we were sleeping, our city was contaminated with numerous witchcraft businesses. These businesses openly promote fortune telling, spells, demonic symbols, witches, etc. While we were sleeping, the enemy planted weeds in our city. Our war is not with flesh and blood but powers, principalities, and forces of evil in high places. (Eph. 6:12) We do not use fleshly weapons, but divinely empowered weapons of God to destroy strongholds of evil. (2 Cor 10:3-4) A spiritual battle can never be fought with fleshly weapons.
How many Christians would back away from such a battle and only be concerned with defending against such an attack? How many Christians tolerate what the Bible clearly states is destructive sin for a life, family, city, or nation? It is much like tolerating a sickness in our body rather than making the necessary life changes or getting to the true root of our issue to heal. Or it may be like ignoring the disobedience of our children because it’s just too exhausting to discipline them. So we endure, not realizing the devastating effects this has on all of our lives. It just doesn’t hurt enough, yet! What price will we pay? The Scriptures tell us!
