defiled by the fleshâ (Jude 23).
So we are ambassador-soldiers, reaching out to sinners with the truth even as we make every effort to destroy the lies and other forms of evil that hold them in deadly bondage. That is a perfect summary of every Christianâs duty in the Truth War.
Martin Luther, that noble gospel soldier, threw down the gauntlet at the feet of every Christian in every generation after him, when he said:
If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ. Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved; and to be steady on all the battlefield besides, is mere flight and disgrace if he flinches at that point. 15
2
SPIRITUAL WARFARE: DUTY, DANGER, AND GUARANTEED TRIUMPH
To those who are called, sanctified by God the Father,
and preserved in Jesus Christ: mercy, peace,
and love be multiplied to you.
âJude 1â2
W ar is hell.â
So said General William Tecumseh Sherman. By the time Sherman retired from active duty, that famous aphorism had already become virtually synonymous with his name. There were several conflicting accounts about when and how he said it. Near the end of his life, Sherman himself said he couldnât remember exactly where he first said it, but he still agreed with the opinion.
In fact, Shermanâs contempt for war was well-known throughout most of his career as a soldier. A month after the American Civil War ended, while Sherman was at the height of his fame and the pinnacle of his success as a soldier, he wrote to a friend, âI am sick and tired of fighting.â 1
He was not yet finished fighting, however. His next major duty was a fourteen-year-long stint as commanding general of the U.S. Army. Those years saw some of the most difficult battles in the horrible Indian wars that marred the settling of the American West. As much as Sherman despised warfare, he couldnât seem to get away from fighting.
General Sherman has been described by various historians as a brilliant strategist, an uncompromising combatant, and a ruthless fighting man. His career was highly controversial, and historyâs judgment has been mixed regarding his personal character and the conduct of the armies he commanded. As a soldier, he was by no means an ideal model in every sense. But one exemplary fact about him is clear from all the accounts of his life: although he really did despise warfare, few soldiers in all of history have been more determined or more tenacious warriors.
Whatever we might think of General Sherman as a man, there is something commendable and courageous about his soldierâs perspective of battle. We ought to despise warfare with every fiber of our souls. War is one of the most calamitous consequences of evil. It is catastrophic. It is always ugly. It should never be glamorized, and no sane person should ever desire the conflict or savor the strife of war. There are times, however, when evil makes warfare absolutely necessary. And when we have a moral obligation to fight, we should never shirk that duty, compromise with the enemy, or enter the battle halfheartedly.
As detestable as warfare of any kind might be, there are causes for which not fighting is a far greater evil.
WHY THE WARFARE IS NOT CARNAL
We need to be perfectly clear about what kind of fighting Christians are supposed to be doing. The spiritual warfare described in the New Testament is not a literal flesh-and-blood battle waged with earthly weapons and physical violence. There was a time not long ago when that practically went without saying. No more.
We live in an era when religious fanatics routinely blow themselves up, fly planes into buildings, or commit unthinkably evil acts of barbaric terrorism in the name of religion. The biblical strategy for
So we are ambassador-soldiers, reaching out to sinners with the truth even as we make every effort to destroy the lies and other forms of evil that hold them in deadly bondage. That is a perfect summary of every Christianâs duty in the Truth War.
Martin Luther, that noble gospel soldier, threw down the gauntlet at the feet of every Christian in every generation after him, when he said:
If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ. Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved; and to be steady on all the battlefield besides, is mere flight and disgrace if he flinches at that point. 15
2
SPIRITUAL WARFARE: DUTY, DANGER, AND GUARANTEED TRIUMPH
To those who are called, sanctified by God the Father,
and preserved in Jesus Christ: mercy, peace,
and love be multiplied to you.
âJude 1â2
W ar is hell.â
So said General William Tecumseh Sherman. By the time Sherman retired from active duty, that famous aphorism had already become virtually synonymous with his name. There were several conflicting accounts about when and how he said it. Near the end of his life, Sherman himself said he couldnât remember exactly where he first said it, but he still agreed with the opinion.
In fact, Shermanâs contempt for war was well-known throughout most of his career as a soldier. A month after the American Civil War ended, while Sherman was at the height of his fame and the pinnacle of his success as a soldier, he wrote to a friend, âI am sick and tired of fighting.â 1
He was not yet finished fighting, however. His next major duty was a fourteen-year-long stint as commanding general of the U.S. Army. Those years saw some of the most difficult battles in the horrible Indian wars that marred the settling of the American West. As much as Sherman despised warfare, he couldnât seem to get away from fighting.
General Sherman has been described by various historians as a brilliant strategist, an uncompromising combatant, and a ruthless fighting man. His career was highly controversial, and historyâs judgment has been mixed regarding his personal character and the conduct of the armies he commanded. As a soldier, he was by no means an ideal model in every sense. But one exemplary fact about him is clear from all the accounts of his life: although he really did despise warfare, few soldiers in all of history have been more determined or more tenacious warriors.
Whatever we might think of General Sherman as a man, there is something commendable and courageous about his soldierâs perspective of battle. We ought to despise warfare with every fiber of our souls. War is one of the most calamitous consequences of evil. It is catastrophic. It is always ugly. It should never be glamorized, and no sane person should ever desire the conflict or savor the strife of war. There are times, however, when evil makes warfare absolutely necessary. And when we have a moral obligation to fight, we should never shirk that duty, compromise with the enemy, or enter the battle halfheartedly.
As detestable as warfare of any kind might be, there are causes for which not fighting is a far greater evil.
WHY THE WARFARE IS NOT CARNAL
We need to be perfectly clear about what kind of fighting Christians are supposed to be doing. The spiritual warfare described in the New Testament is not a literal flesh-and-blood battle waged with earthly weapons and physical violence. There was a time not long ago when that practically went without saying. No more.
We live in an era when religious fanatics routinely blow themselves up, fly planes into buildings, or commit unthinkably evil acts of barbaric terrorism in the name of religion. The biblical strategy for
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