Christians in the present day are often distraught over the loss of the Christian consensus in America. This is indeed a sad development. But we must, in our zeal to be faithful soldiers in the war for the kingdom of God, know what battle we are actually fighting.
Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world, else would my servants fight.” Sadly many of Jesus’ servants do fight as if they were fighting for a kingdom of this world. The battle that is actually being fought, the battle that matters eternally, is the battle for the hearts and souls of men. This is why the battle cannot be fought with the weapons of this world, because those weapons are only useful for fighting battles in the name of kingdoms of this world. The real battle is to free my mind and heart from the rule of Satan. But if Satan can convince me to fight a battle for earthly cultures and nations, then he’s halfway to convincing me to use his weapons to do so, and then I will come to find that I have been serving Satan’s kingdom all along even as I thought I was serving Christ’s.
We should engage with the world, because Christ commands us to, and it’s part of learning what it means to be faithful Christians. But we must not engage in wrath, slander, deception, mockery and the like as we engage with the world. We should not engage in corrupt political practices, in manipulative or abusive use of words, of covering up the sinful deeds of our allies. All of this is to misunderstand what battle we are actually fighting.
We should fight the battle with the weapons God gave us. They will be most effective. He gave us the weapons of the gospel, as it plays out in our lives. That means that the most effective and powerful way we can fight the cultural rot we see all around us is to love our wives, raise our kids, do an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay, excel at what we do, be kind, gentle, forgiving, not greedy, self-controlled, chaste, and the like. To be faithful at the calling we have been called to; to be faithful in whatever business God has given us. To live quiet lives minding our own business, and to be ready to answer when someone asks the reason for the hope that lies within us. To love, to forgive, to bless those that curse us. That is how the battle will be won, because if it’s Christ that wins the battle (and it is), then we need to use the weapons and tactics He has given us.
