THE WEAPONS OF OUR WARFARE

“For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God…” (2 Corinthians 10:4).

I can’t remember all the good sermons that I have heard on this subject; I’ve even preached a few of them myself. (Of course, I say that with great humility—no sarcastic comments from anyone reading this, thank you!) Along with the sermons are scores of books and articles teaching us about the weapons of spiritual warfare available to all God’s people. Most of this emphasis happened ten or fifteen years ago; the church has been eerily quiet on this subject for the last five years.

So why is it that the church in North America is so crippled and bloated that the culture is overtaking the church more quickly than the church is overtaking the culture? Instead of the church defining the culture as it has down through history, we have lost that war and the intrusion of culture is now redefining the church. As this new church “emerges,” in some cases what is emerging is more defined by business models and surveys than it is by the Word of God or anything sacred. Church services sometimes looks more like the world at a rock concert than they do a meeting of the redeemed!

What has happened here? Is it a lack of quality teaching? I don’t think so! Is it a lack of finances? I think not! So if the church is armed and ready, why are we steadily marching—backwards?
Perhaps this story will help us to understand. In his book Men Against Fire, S.L.A. Marshall, a military historian, writes that on D-Day (June 6, 1944), by the best estimate, only one man in five (twenty percent) of the combat troops that landed on Omaha Beach actually consistently fired his weapon at the enemy. Here is a quote from Marshall’s book:

“Only five infantry companies (on Omaha Beachhead, June 6, 1944) were tactically effective. In these companies, one-fifth of the men fired their weapons during the day-long advance from the water’s edge to the first row of villages—a total of not more than 450 men firing consistently.”

In further research Marshall found that in a few instances, in other battles on D-Day, the percentage of combat troops actually firing their weapons rose slightly from one in five to one in four. Marshall’s interviews with the soldiers and insights he gleaned helped the U.S. military change its training, and by the time the Korean War broke out in 1950, fifty percent of combat troops were using their weapons in fighting situations. But to bring about the change, the military had to acknowledge that it had a problem and then adjust their training accordingly.

In Texas, where I live, it is entirely possible to carry a concealed hand gun legally. With just a few hours’ training, you can get a concealed handgun permit and are thereby allowed to carry it on your person. It is one thing to have a handgun and a permit and something else to actually use it when needed. If there is no will to use the gun, then you might as well have a banana in your holster! An undrawn weapon is not a threat except in a Hollywood fantasy.

Is it possible that with all our excellent teaching about “spiritual weapons,” we have forgotten to teach people that you actually have to point and fire? Have we forgotten to tell people that in order for the power of prayer to actually be released, you have to pray? Have we forgotten to tell people that fasting involves more than skipping that extra helping of cake? The power of God is resident in God’s people but unless we actually acquire a target, take aim, and pull the trigger, the power remains “holstered” and is not a threat—“to nobody, nowhere, nohow”!

We seem to have come to a time when large segments of the church in North America have embraced the teaching about “the weapons of our warfare” but they seem to lack the will to use them. The church has been told that we are “armed and dangerous” and in theory we are and in practice we should be! However, it is one thing to be armed and another to actually be inflicting damage on the enemy. An undrawn, unfired weapon is not going to do any damage; no strongholds will be torn down, no evil displaced…nothing is going to happen. Sadly, much like many of the churches in our fair land!