Weapons and Warfare

"For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but have the divine power to destroy strongholds."

What's a stronghold?

It is those things that hold us back, that keep us from being who we were created to be. A stronghold is a lie that we believe - a lie with some supernatural support. Picture this...

A young girl from a broken family eagerly awaits her next birthday. It is one of the few times she sees her father, one of the only times she sees her parents in the same room anymore, one of the only moments she feels normal. Leading up to the big day she gets a call from her dad and he asks what she would like for her birthday. She tells him she would love a new pair of jeans. She tells him her size and says it doesn't matter what brand or shade, just that they were from him. She tells him how excited she is, how much she misses him and how she can't wait to be a year older.

Finally the day arrives, the party is a success, everyone is there. There is cake and ice cream and balloons and dresses and toys and laughter. There are no jeans. When the party is over and the crowd has passed, she looks back on the day. She smiles at the fun and friends, she remembers the balloons and the cake. She realizes there were no jeans.

Soon, the other memories fade and all she can think about are the missing jeans. Why? Why didn't he buy me the jeans? Doesn't he love me enough? The days go by and the questions persist. What did I do wrong? What is wrong with me? How can I be so worthless that my own father won't even get me a pair of jeans for my birthday? Over time, the questions grow and become stronger. If he can't love me, how could anyone love me? I must not deserve to be loved. How could anyone love me? I must not be lovable.

When Jesus was on the scene, demons were apparent. His very presence brought them to light and flushed them out. We don't see that today. In fact, we've got scientific explanations for some of those demons. Epilepsy. Disease. Schizophrenia. Even if we can't explain their expulsion, we can reason away the causes of the demons we see in the Bible. Can we do the same with how a small slight becomes a life-changing belief?

Satan is the father of lies, that is his native language. When he works in the world today, he works with these lies. He uses the fallen world we live in, the broken homes, the broken relationships, the diseases and disasters we face. He uses our flesh, the clothing we need, the stuff we desire and the people we admire. And he uses lies. He speaks into them and makes them grow. He puts them in front of us, knowing we'll fixate on them, knowing we'll feed into his plan by feeding the lie. He helps us jump to the next conclusion, the next assumption and he makes our landing there seem safe and secure.

If you want to see demons today, look at the lies you believe. That's where you'll find them.

"We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ."

Tough

At today's funeral, for a gentlemen I never met...

Little Girl: May I ask your professional opinion?

Me: Sure.

Little Girl: Would you say that my Uncle is, you know, up there?

Me: Um...

Mud

Love God and Love People. That is what we are called to do.

Sin rails against both of these. The classical definition of sin says that it is the violation of a moral or religious command. If we're trying to love God, it becomes obvious how violating what He's all about would be problematic.

Sin and people is a little bit murkier, muddier and more painful. There are times when we sin against someone - we gossip, we offend, we abuse. These are painful, but for the most part clean-cut and obvious. Both parties know something wrong happened. One person must repent and one must forgive. Hard but simple.

There are other times when sin tears people apart tangentially. Sin isn't just a wrong. It is a stain and a scar that tears deep into the fabric of our being. It doesn't just harm those we've sinned against, it harms us. We find ourselves guilty. Obviously, painfully guilty. We know that we've messed up someone's life and that just sucks. Even if we go through the divine process of finding forgiveness with God and then the painful process of repentance and seeking forgiveness of those we've wronged we're still left with the lingering, debilitating problem of shame.

Shame tells us not that we've done evil, but that we are evil. Not that we have messed up, but that we are messed up. Not that we've done wrong, but that in some way we ourselves are wrong. We don't measure up, we're not perfect, we're not worthy, we're not good enough,

We can fight these feelings, we can work through them and deal with them, but some part of our psyche makes them nearly impossible to eradicate. When we meet new people, when we are in tough situations, when we are stressed and worried those shame statements come creeping in - they speak up and tell us to run, to hide, to retreat, to embellish, to deflect, to lie. There's no way they will accept you. (Not if they knew.) There's no way they'll understand. (Don't bother trying.) You're not good enough. (Not anymore.) I can't tell them the truth. (That's not what they want to hear.)

These thoughts and feelings push people away from us. They cause us to create masks, false identities that we hide behind as we try to get by. They keep us from letting people truly get close, they keep us isolated and alone - vulnerable and weak. We rely on false intimacy and fake relationships to get through the day while the whole time we are scared that someone will find out and everything will come crashing down around us.

That's not a life, it's a collision course with disaster.

Unfortunately the church not only allows it to happen, we foster it. We put up false fronts and pretend to have it all together. We hide our own warts and imperfections, bury our past sins and smooth over our faults. When someone does have the courage to admit a mistake or more likely when someone's mask falls off we rush to "fix" them, to correct the problem to make everything status quo once again - always teetering on the brink wondering which gust of truth will send things crashing down.

What if we all just admitted we've crashed already? What if we were the place where past failure was a badge of honor, a purple heart that shows where we've come from? What if sinners were more welcome in our midst than Pharisees? What if we loved people the way Jesus did? What if we loved like we've been commanded?

That would be loving God by loving People.

Luke 2 - Bad Sign

"This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed."

So, this kid is good news for all people, yet he will also cause the falling of many in Israel. Hmm. Sometimes a fall is good news. For all of us. If I may quote a wise old scholar, "Why do we fall, Bruce? So we can get back up again." Our lives must be constant falling and rising. It is in falling that "the thoughts of our hearts" can be revealed. This is where we learn the truth, where our false ideas can be RESET and the truth can take hold.

Lord, make us fall and then help us to rise again stronger.