Growing up in grammar school, grades 5-8th, I had a favorite book I would always check out of the library which was, “Air War Over Hitlers Germany”. It had tons of picture of B-17 bombers fighting during WWII. My reading skills were pretty poor back then, but I could look at those pictures all day long and dream of being a pilot or door-way gunner fighting against the evil of Hitler and the Nazi’s.
Even growing up in a non-religious family, I knew you have to confront evil or evil will overtake all that is good. At every school I attended before high school, which were five, there would be one bully that would terrorize all the other boys. One particular bully ruled for two years at one school, until we all graduated to high school. He would always pick a fight with a guy smaller than himself to prove he was the toughest. This time, now in high school, he picked a fight with a kid that was trained in boxing and the smaller kid cleaned his clock! The bully lost his reputation and transferred to another school because of shame and embarrassment.
Somehow, Christianity has gotten confused about what God requires of us and has embraced a pacifist ideology, but if a burglar came into our house and threatened our family with a weapon most of us would fight back, theology or no theology.
God wants us to do the hard work of thinking through hard issues like this, whether to confront evil or just pray for guidance. We need to embrace the whole Bible, both Old and New Testament. The Old Testament deals with how the people of God were meant to handle social issues as well as spiritual ones, and how to confront things like injustice.
Micah 6:8 (NASB)He has told you, O man, what is good;
And what does the LORD require of you
But to do justice, to love kindness,
And to walk humbly with your God?
God says through the prophet Micah that first we should be just. That is, we should be concerned with good and evil and choose the right. Secondly, He says we should love kindness and mercy. Mercy says, though a person has done wrong, we don’t want to punish if it is safe to grant clemency. Finally, we should walk humbly with God – admitting we always need His help because He sees the big picture and we only see a small part.
There are verses in the New Testament were Jesus says we should turn the other cheek and to love our enemies, but he expects us to incorporate both the need for standing for justice and the need to love our enemies.
Europe challenged Hitler only after he had become so powerful and he had started to take countries by force. The Americans almost the same were forced to entered WWII after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Had America and Europe confronted the evil of Hitler and his brown shirts earlier hundreds of thousands of lives would have been spared.
Let me finish with reflecting on my opening about B-17 bombers. These planes were developed in the early 1930s way before the war started. Boeing, the manufacture, almost went bankrupt developing the plane for the military, but in the end they helped to win the war against Hitler and the Third Reich. We will have to pay the price if we don’t train for war in our own souls. Satan and his schemes will not be overcome by pacifists. We must learn to stand firm in God’s armor so that like Paul says in Timothy, so that we can fight the “Good Fight”. The only good fight is one you can win.
Ephesians 6:10-11 (NASB)Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.
Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. I know I often let my guard down because I feel secure in my walk with God, but that doesn’t mean Satan is taking a break from his attacks against my soul.
Questions
1) Am I seeking God daily or coasting on yesterdays blessing?
2) Is my prayer life active or passive?
3) Am I making the body of Christ stronger by my engagement or just looking out for myself?
Pastor Dale
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