Scripture is full of references to the spiritual battle that rages around us; sometimes we see glimpses of this battle, but often we do not. As we live in our comfortable homes and go about our peaceful lives, it may be hard to remember there is a war going on. The Lord has been impressing upon my spirit the intensity and reality of spiritual warfare. We must remember, we do not “wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:12)
    I would like to share with you an experience which helped me realize the reality of war and the valor to which we are called. About two months ago I watched the movie Saving Private Ryan. (This movie is not recommended for children!) The purpose of the movie was to realistically portray the experiences of the GI’s of World War II and to recognize the sacrifices they made for our freedom. Men who were in combat in World War II, the Korean Conflict, and Vietnam tell me this movie comes the closest to actually portraying their horrible experiences. The movie graphically depicts the brutality of war; people are killed and wounded physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Unlike so many of the movies made over the years, Saving Private Ryan displays war for what it is. We need to realize people are killed in war; war is not glorious or romantic. The same is true of spiritual warfare. Our enemy, Satan, is out to steal, kill, and destroy. (John 10:10) How can we thwart his efforts? How can we defend the Church and even go on the offensive for God?
    As I contemplated the battles of World War II, a pain and destruction far more devastating than the horrible death and destruction of traditional war came to my mind: the death of souls condemned to hell because of their rejection of Jesus Christ. Every time a soul dies without a living relationship with Christ, Satan wins a battle. This is the real war we are fighting; we are fighting for souls!
    In order to successfully fight for the Kingdom of God, we must recognize the tactics of the enemy, assess our losses, and learn how to spread the light even amidst such darkness. As we look at the world around us, the blatant immorality and lack of faith is daunt­­ing. We live in a world fueled by greed and self-focus, a world increasingly void of relationship with the one true God. We live in a world where violence and death have become a plague. We have not only lost our sense of our need for God, but by tolerating the murder of the innocent through abortion, by permitting assisted suicide, and by excusing the practice of euthanasia, we are actually destroying our sense of the value of human life.
    We have filled our churches with people but have often required little of them in the way of service to Christ. American Christianity has become so cultural it is often difficult to distinguish a Christian from a non-Christian. The enemy has sought, and has succeeded to a large degree, to weaken our moral and spiritual fiber.
    Through immorality and apathy Satan has invaded our churches. The believer often falsely takes the attitude of “what I do does not really have an eternal effect so I will just go do as I please.” This attitude negates the concept of personal responsibility. Apathy also results in a growing population that simply ceases to get involved in the world around them. Even the church has largely neglected to take seriously her responsibility to make disciples of all men, to baptize them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and to teach them to live out the Gospel. Instead, church leaders have often watered down Christianity so as to make “church” more palatable to a reprobate culture.
    The spiritual offense of the enemy has sought to lull us into passivity. By causing Christians to become overly confident and complacent, Satan is able to work quietly, both inside and outside of the church. The culture has become more self-absorbed and greedy for pleasure while churches have become more seeker friendly, watered down, and bent toward the culture. The result however, is interesting: churches begin to die spiritually, they become more entertainment oriented in order to draw people in, all the while the culture grows in its contempt for the Church.
    I believe we are to stand strong as the Church once again. To do so we must take several important actions. First, every Christian must live a life of continual discipleship. We must make no provision for ungodly compromises. God has not called us to comfort or to compromise but to truth in love even when it is inconvenient!
    We must submit ourselves to the believing Body of Christ. Christianity without church membership and church attendance is a pretense. As long as we are physically able, we are called to worship God with the greater body at least once a week. It is in the context of other believers that discipleship occurs. Through the godly fellowship of the Church, we are kept accountable and given instruction on how to live a holy life. Discipleship is also enhanced through biblical and historical preaching and teaching. Most importantly, in the Church we receive the supernatural grace to grow in discipleship through the Sacraments — primarily Baptism, Holy Communion, Confession, and Confirmation.
    Within the context of the Church we should also receive the baptism or release of the Holy Spirit. Through both the natural and supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit, we are then prepared not only to follow Christ in our own life, but are also equipped and empowered to minister to others in the power of the Holy Spirit.
    Secondly, we must not only grow in holiness through discipleship, but we must take seriously our call to be evangelists. Evangelism is one of our mightiest weapons of spiritual warfare. We must be prepared to bring people to Christ, to bring them to church, and to lead them along the path of discipleship.
    Recently, while driving along Maryland’s Eastern Shore, I was aware that each house I passed contained souls. How many of the people in the houses we drive past know our Savior? Each person is a soul loved by God, but without knowledge of Jesus they are another casualty of the battle. We all come into contact with people who do not know the Lord; we must show them the love of Christ.
    Mother Theresa of Calcutta told her Sisters they must choose to smile. She told them if they could not smile perhaps they were not called to be Missionaries of Charity. Even in photographs of the Missionaries of Charity you can see the joy welling up in their souls, emanating from Christ. Their joy is attractive. Our faith ceases to be contagious when we lose our joy. Smiling with great love is a tool of evangelism.
    Finally, we should pray for a spirit of evangelism to sweep over the church. I believe the days of mass evangelism are waning and that the time has come for evangelism to become a grassroots movement as it was in the early Church. The power of prayer can never be underestimated; do not let the enemy deceive you into thinking your prayers are ineffective.
    In II Corinthians 10:4-6 we read, “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.” Let us never forget we are at war against the forces of evil which rage against God, His saints, and His angels. Let us also remember that the war will rage until God’s Kingdom is firmly established on earth. (Matthew 6:10) Therefore, let us stand firm in the battle line knowing that Satan and the gates of hell shall never prevail against Christ’s Church, but let us also know that in each generation we have to take responsibility for our actions and never become spiritually lazy or complacent. God’s Kingdom will prevail because Christ has won the victory, but we must take responsibility to run the race and fight the good fight.
    May we turn neither to the left nor to the right, but march forward into the spiritual battles that rage about us. Let us not be complacent about our salvation. May we endure to the end, and may we never be deceived by the enemy. If we remain faithful, in the end we shall stand with Christ in the fullness of His victory and Kingdom.