What Should Christians Do?
It’s the topic of conversation all across the country. It comes up at our dinner tables and in our devotions. It follows us through our daily lives, “So…our nation is at war. Now what are we supposed to do?”
What are we supposed to do? We must be like Jesus. We must catch His vision, allowing His purposes to penetrate our hearts—and master us.
A Samaritan village once rejected our Lord Jesus. His disciples, James and John, came to Him, demanding justice by having the village burned in a great display of God’s power. “Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of,” Jesus rebuked them. “For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.” Jesus had something different in mind than destruction.
Jesus still has something different in mind for His children.
The drum roll is sounding in the distance, coming from the very heart of God. As the world marches off to war for freedom and justice, we march as agents of reconciliation to the world. We are with God in a holy pursuit of man. Our duty has come.
Our war is not a war with bombs and embargoes, nor rifles and poison. It is a war against the spiritual forces of darkness in this dark world. As Christians dealing with the conflict in the world today, we must peel back the surface layers of physical war and bloodshed. We must lay them aside—they are for God to deal with—and look at the deeper, the graver and the fiercer realities.
We, as Christians, are locked in a heavenly war between good and evil. Jesus has destroyed the power of the devil. Daily He is rescuing souls from the devil’s dominion. While the war against terrorism is waging all around us, it should not be our main focus. As heavenly soldiers, the heavenly war should consume us.
As soldiers, it is our duty to grapple with this war on our knees. Prayer changes things. It will change the world. How cruel a reality if this current conflict has no intercessor! No person pleading for mercy. Nations have been destroyed for lack of an intercessor before. (Ez 22:30,31) Will it happen again? Must the wrath of God fall upon Afghanistan or the United States? Shall they receive the just recompense of their sins?
Spiritual battles are still waging. The exhortation to pray has not been revoked. We must pray for the leaders of the world. We must pray that the people of God may live quietly, peaceably without persecution. We must pray that the tender, holy winds of the Spirit may blow across the hearts of all people. We must thank God for His victory and intercede for more.
We must pray for harvesters. “Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest.” The fields are ripe. The carnality of war disillusions mankind. It sobers mankind. It forces him to rethink his values and ideologies. It causes him to question God. Who is going to bring God’s answers to a freshly disenchanted humanity?
Saints, we must prepare to let God use us. Earthly soldiers all around the world are preparing as they march into a deadly war—willing and ready to give their lives for patriotism and freedom. No less is our call to be soldiers for God. Our God is high and holy. He is calling us into battle. We cannot sit back in our pampered American homes and churches believing that God is satisfied with us unprepared for our war. He is not.
Will we give up everything to follow God into the mountains of Afghanistan? What about Iraq? Or Sudan? Are we ready to be God’s minutemen? Will we be willing to drop everything at a moment’s notice when these countries open to the Gospel? Will we be ready?
We must be vessels, ready and wholly consecrated to the Lord. The world with all of its pandering trifles, empty amusements, and alluring debauchery must have no grip left on our souls. We must be uncompromisingly holy, uncompromisingly devoted. The vessels of our bodies must be washed and possessed by a fierce purity. Calvary, the place of absolute surrender, should be ours. As earthly soldiers give up everything for the cause of their country, we must give up everything for our Lord. We say we are willing. It is time to do it.
We must train for the battle spiritually. The Gospel of Christ has to penetrate every aspect of our lives. The heavens must be open over us so we can march in step with the Spirit of God, ministering His message to the people around us. Leading souls to Christ, ushering in conviction, counseling friends to victory need to be familiar ground for our spirits to tread. We must become actively involved in outreach at home.
We must endure hardship as a good solider. Our hearts must be so in love with Jesus that we are willing to take up our cross and lay down our lives in painful and tangible ways. Not only must we possess a willingness to be martyred; we must bring that kind of consecration to our lives today.
The saints of God must decide to make real and radical sacrifices to fit them to face the rigors of spreading the Gospel abroad. We must seriously evaluate our possessions and monetary obligations in light of their usefulness in wartime. The good must be sacrificed for the best. The comfortable, livable life traded for that of a solider.
We must prepare ourselves mentally and physically for the mission-field. We must be ready to wrestle with the issues of culture and language. Undue ignorance of God, His Word, or His creation should be far from us. We must shake off our pride and self-reliance, adopting the spirit of a learner. Our minds must be disciplined.
As Christians during this time of war, we must prepare. We must pray. We must catch a vision of Jesus and His love for all humanity.
See Jesus at the right hand of God in heaven! His eyes are on something far greater than the surface struggles that are in the world today. He sees heaven opened, glowing with the fire of God’s holiness. He sees Satan, with his dark, craven following, boldly clutching onto the souls of men—the souls that He has bought with His own blood. God sees His people shackled in darkness. His eyes are on the spiritual war. We must join our Lord.
“Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway even unto the end of the world. Amen.”
What are we supposed to do? We must be like Jesus. We must catch His vision, allowing His purposes to penetrate our hearts—and master us.
A Samaritan village once rejected our Lord Jesus. His disciples, James and John, came to Him, demanding justice by having the village burned in a great display of God’s power. “Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of,” Jesus rebuked them. “For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.” Jesus had something different in mind than destruction.
Jesus still has something different in mind for His children.
The drum roll is sounding in the distance, coming from the very heart of God. As the world marches off to war for freedom and justice, we march as agents of reconciliation to the world. We are with God in a holy pursuit of man. Our duty has come.
Our war is not a war with bombs and embargoes, nor rifles and poison. It is a war against the spiritual forces of darkness in this dark world. As Christians dealing with the conflict in the world today, we must peel back the surface layers of physical war and bloodshed. We must lay them aside—they are for God to deal with—and look at the deeper, the graver and the fiercer realities.
We, as Christians, are locked in a heavenly war between good and evil. Jesus has destroyed the power of the devil. Daily He is rescuing souls from the devil’s dominion. While the war against terrorism is waging all around us, it should not be our main focus. As heavenly soldiers, the heavenly war should consume us.
As soldiers, it is our duty to grapple with this war on our knees. Prayer changes things. It will change the world. How cruel a reality if this current conflict has no intercessor! No person pleading for mercy. Nations have been destroyed for lack of an intercessor before. (Ez 22:30,31) Will it happen again? Must the wrath of God fall upon Afghanistan or the United States? Shall they receive the just recompense of their sins?
Spiritual battles are still waging. The exhortation to pray has not been revoked. We must pray for the leaders of the world. We must pray that the people of God may live quietly, peaceably without persecution. We must pray that the tender, holy winds of the Spirit may blow across the hearts of all people. We must thank God for His victory and intercede for more.
We must pray for harvesters. “Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest.” The fields are ripe. The carnality of war disillusions mankind. It sobers mankind. It forces him to rethink his values and ideologies. It causes him to question God. Who is going to bring God’s answers to a freshly disenchanted humanity?
Saints, we must prepare to let God use us. Earthly soldiers all around the world are preparing as they march into a deadly war—willing and ready to give their lives for patriotism and freedom. No less is our call to be soldiers for God. Our God is high and holy. He is calling us into battle. We cannot sit back in our pampered American homes and churches believing that God is satisfied with us unprepared for our war. He is not.
Will we give up everything to follow God into the mountains of Afghanistan? What about Iraq? Or Sudan? Are we ready to be God’s minutemen? Will we be willing to drop everything at a moment’s notice when these countries open to the Gospel? Will we be ready?
We must be vessels, ready and wholly consecrated to the Lord. The world with all of its pandering trifles, empty amusements, and alluring debauchery must have no grip left on our souls. We must be uncompromisingly holy, uncompromisingly devoted. The vessels of our bodies must be washed and possessed by a fierce purity. Calvary, the place of absolute surrender, should be ours. As earthly soldiers give up everything for the cause of their country, we must give up everything for our Lord. We say we are willing. It is time to do it.
We must train for the battle spiritually. The Gospel of Christ has to penetrate every aspect of our lives. The heavens must be open over us so we can march in step with the Spirit of God, ministering His message to the people around us. Leading souls to Christ, ushering in conviction, counseling friends to victory need to be familiar ground for our spirits to tread. We must become actively involved in outreach at home.
We must endure hardship as a good solider. Our hearts must be so in love with Jesus that we are willing to take up our cross and lay down our lives in painful and tangible ways. Not only must we possess a willingness to be martyred; we must bring that kind of consecration to our lives today.
The saints of God must decide to make real and radical sacrifices to fit them to face the rigors of spreading the Gospel abroad. We must seriously evaluate our possessions and monetary obligations in light of their usefulness in wartime. The good must be sacrificed for the best. The comfortable, livable life traded for that of a solider.
We must prepare ourselves mentally and physically for the mission-field. We must be ready to wrestle with the issues of culture and language. Undue ignorance of God, His Word, or His creation should be far from us. We must shake off our pride and self-reliance, adopting the spirit of a learner. Our minds must be disciplined.
As Christians during this time of war, we must prepare. We must pray. We must catch a vision of Jesus and His love for all humanity.
See Jesus at the right hand of God in heaven! His eyes are on something far greater than the surface struggles that are in the world today. He sees heaven opened, glowing with the fire of God’s holiness. He sees Satan, with his dark, craven following, boldly clutching onto the souls of men—the souls that He has bought with His own blood. God sees His people shackled in darkness. His eyes are on the spiritual war. We must join our Lord.
“Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway even unto the end of the world. Amen.”
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