How can we be warriors for God?
Discussion question for July 15, 2011.
Many of the Psalms were written by King David, a man after God’s own heart and a warrior. What can we learn about the role of warrior from his writing? Why does God enlist warriors? How do you know you are invited to do battle or enter a skirmish? What changes must you consider for your life to be useful in spiritual warfare? Is there a place for pacifism?
Here’s my summary of our discussion.
God has historically used obedient men to destroy evil and defiled things. It is the response of a loving God to put a limit to sin and its consequences.
God used the great flood to destroy unimaginable evil (Genesis 6 and following). He used fire and brimstone to destroy the evil cities in Abraham’s time. He allowed plagues and pestilence to do the work in other situations.
He had a special way to redeem the land of Canaan from the evil infecting it because it needed to be preserved as part of the Abrahamic Covenant. He used the obedient Israelites to drive out the sinful and rebellious inhabitants. God commanded that all the defiled things be utterly destroyed.
God still uses us as His warriors to destroy defiled things. Since the New Covenant the scope is spiritual in nature, although not entirely. We are enlisted to tear down strongholds, use the Sword of Truth to destroy lies, and rule in Christ’s authority over the principalities of the air.
The warfare described in the Psalms is appropriate for our spiritual battles as well. They speak differently to a Christian in Pakistan or Afghanistan than they do to us, but the principles are the same. We can take courage in the promise of refuge and deliverance through God. We can be motivated by the description of victory and the peace that God brings as a result.
Every Christian is engaged in battle, but mature Christians must also fight for the sake of others. We are conscripted and commanded to take back spiritual ground. We are to act boldly with the power of God. We are to take authority as one under authority. This makes a difference in the spiritual realm (Eph 3:10) just as it does in the physical realm.